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The Blue Vein

For Vedran Smailovic, the cellist of Sarajevo who, when twenty-two of his neighbors were bombed in a breadline, played his cello in that crater for the next twenty-two days. He played an adagio that had been recovered in pieces from the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War. A celebration of the redemptive power of art, specifically music and the impact of fire, The Blue Vein explores the honesty and pure storytelling of human and natural disaster.

Poem by Sandra Alcosser; etchings by Michele Burgess. Text on Arches watercolor paper, hand dyed by Merilyn Britt. Etchings printed in several colors by the artist on Kitakata. Bound by the artist in custom made Cave paper and housed in a tray case covered with rust-dyed linen made by Sonja Jones. 11 1/2" x 7 3/4". Edition of 30. 2004.

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