Artist: Sirlei Caetano Title: Dreams Techinques & Materials: Monotipia, bordado, costura de bulas sobre tecido. Monotype, embroidery, stitching of medicine leaflet on tissue. Artist Statement: Nascida em Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brasil. Participa de Exposições nacionais e internacionais de…
Continue ReadingAuthor: Insiya Dhatt
Mary Kritz – Dreams Of World Travel
Artist: Mary Kritz Title: Dreams Of World Travel Techinques & Materials: I created this book using Fabriano hot press and cold press water colour papers. I coloured eight 4 x 6 inch hot press paper panels with water colours. Thinking…
Continue ReadingMarjon MUDDE – It is better to give
Artist: Marjon MUDDE Title: It is better to give Techinques & Materials: Techniques: paper cut outs, letterpress on monotypes done by children 30 years ago during one of my workshops. Materials: Rives etching paper, Ingres d’Arches, cotton fabric, string, magnet.…
Continue ReadingMaria do Carmo Toniolo Kuhn – My dreams
Artist: Maria do Carmo Toniolo Kuhn Title: My dreams Techinques & Materials: colagem sobre tecido, costuras coloridas e escritos. Artist Statement: Nascida em Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brasil..Formada em História Natural, dedica-se ás artes visuais desde 2000, participando de exposições de…
Continue ReadingMara Caruso – Of Heavenly Things
Artist: Mara Caruso Title: Of Heavenly Things Techinques & Materials: Drawing, painting, cutting and collage. Canson paper. Artist Statement: Colored pencil, black pen, brush, drawing on tissue paper and collage. Born in Erechim, RS, Brazil, she resides in Porto Alegre.…
Continue ReadingMagdéleine Ferru -Bleu comme le chat, l’oiseau et plus encore (Blue like the cat, the bird and even more)
Artist: Magdéleine Ferru Title: Bleu comme le chat, l’oiseau et plus encore (Blue like the cat, the bird and even more) Techinques & Materials: Wool covered flat rock, with little cardboard book on the front of the rock; cyanotype base…
Continue ReadingLeigh Blom – 3 AM
Artist: Leigh Blom Title: 3 AM Techinques & Materials: This book is an accordion book with pop up features using scrap book paper to create the images within. The four pages of the book allow the book to either be…
Continue ReadingLuiza G P Gutierrez- Dreams, softs and sweets
Artist: Luiza G P Gutierrez Title: Dreams, softs and sweets Techinques & Materials: Desenho, recorte e dobradura. Artist Statement: Nascida em Cruz Alta, RS, Brasil. Formada em Artes Visuais, no Instituto de Artes da UFRGS. Dedica-se ao Livro de Artista…
Continue ReadingLaurel Rogers – Fleeting Transparent Images from the Night
Artist: Laurel Rogers Title: Fleeting Transparent Images from the Night Techinques & Materials: The technique started with making wood block rubbings and then coating the paper with beeswax. This created a transparency with each image. Each image was placed in…
Continue ReadingKristi Galbraith – Montana Dreamin’
Artist: Kristi Galbraith Title: Montana Dreamin’ Techinques & Materials: Photo Art, Marbled paper, paper weaving, triaxial weaving, wooden covers with Dremel lettering, leather straps, long stitch binding over leather straps, thread woven into some page, beads and charms added to…
Continue ReadingKazumi Seki – bittersweet
Artist: Kazumi Seki Title: bittersweet Techinques & Materials: This is a Coptic accordion book. Hand drawing images with matcha are applied on hand made cotton paper. Matcha is one of my favorite teas which has bittersweet taste and scents. Bitterness…
Continue ReadingJussara Leite Kronbauer- FENIX, NOTRE DAME
Artist: Jussara Leite Kronbauer Title: FENIX, NOTRE DAME Techinques & Materials: Papel canson, vegetal, pintura, desenho e dobradura Artist Statement: Nascida em Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. Formada em arquitetura. Dedica-se às artes visuais desde 2004, participando de exposições nacionais e…
Continue ReadingJane S Balconi – Livre para voar
Artist: Jane S Balconi Title: Livre para voar – Free to fly Techinques & Materials: canson paper 300gr, drawing of birds clipped and glued. Artist Statement: Nascida em Caxias do Sul, RS, Brasil. Dedica-se às Artes Visuais desde os anos…
Continue ReadingInsiya Dhatt – Dreams
Artist: Insiya Dhatt Title: Dreams Techinques & Materials: All the materials to build the mobile are enclosed in a box shaped like a book adding an element of anticipation and storytelling to the experience. One gets to weave their own…
Continue ReadingErminia Marasca Soccol – Navigate
Artist: Erminia Marasca Soccol Title: “Navigate” Techinques & Materials: carimbo, dobradura sobre tecido.Ruber stamp, folding upon tissue Artist Statement: Nascida em Garibaldi, RS, Brasil. Dedica-se às artes visuais desde o ano 1998. Participa de exposições nacionais e internacionais de Arte…
Continue ReadingAngela Batchelor – Joseph: Dreamer and Interpreter of Dreams
Artist: Angela Batchelor Title: Joseph: Dreamer and Interpreter of Dreams Techinques & Materials: Watercolor, pen, ink, wax, acrylic, Mod Podge Artist Statement: Dreams are one of the ways that God chooses to reveal himself throughout the Old and New Testaments.…
Continue ReadingAngela Batchelor – Jacob’s Dream & God’s Promise
Artist: Angela Batchelor Title: Jacob’s Dream & God’s Promise Techinques & Materials: paper, hand decorated paper collage, ink, mod podge, book cloth, leather, magnet, vellum Artist Statement: Jacob is a pivotal figure in the Old Testament, being the son of…
Continue ReadingAmy Siedenstrang – Perchance
Artist: Amy Siedenstrang Title: Perchance Techinques & Materials: I gutted an old clock and coiled lights inside, creating the night sky by embellishing velvet paper with ink and punching holes for the constellations. Various papers and fabric complete the other…
Continue ReadingAdrienne Momi- Dreaming I was the sea
Artist: Adrienne Momi Title: Dreaming I was the sea Techinques & Materials: Letterpress, gilded relief printing, inkjet prints of original art with haiku. Artist Statement: When I look at the sea, I feel swept into its gente caressing arms. I…
Continue ReadingChallenge Book Viewers Choice Award Voting
View Challenge Book Gallery
Continue ReadingMargo Klass – The Unfolding Box Book
This 3-dimensional book structure requires the artist to imagine how the book will be experienced in the hands of its viewer – from unlatching the cover, to opening the box by unfolding the hinged panels outward in all directions, and discovering at its center the object in a recessed compartment.
Continue ReadingShawn Sheehy – A Satisfaction of Movable
Join seasoned paper engineer Shawn Sheehy in building A SATISFACTION of movable mechanisms that demonstrate a wide range of movement possibilities.
Continue ReadingChallenge Book 2023
June 26th – 30th 2024
SAVE THE DATE!!
Continue ReadingFOBA 2024 New Location
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon
Continue ReadingFACULTY/STAFF EXHIBIT AT VALLEY ARTS
The exhibit opens at the Valley Art Association gallery in Forest Grove on July 1st and will remain on display through August 27th
Continue ReadingSusan Lowdermilk – I Think that the Root of the Wind is Water
Artist Statement I think that the Root of the Wind is Water speaks to the inherent interconnection of environmental elements. Today, as our planet experiences increasing climate instability, Dickinson’s message is a relevant reminder to honor and protect our environment.…
Continue ReadingShawn Sheehy – A Meeting of Mutualists
Artist Statement Typically, paper-engineered structures are built into books that require total collapse. In A Meeting of Mutualists the structures are built into shallow boxes that DON’T require total collapse and therefore allow for novel exploration of engineering parameters. The…
Continue ReadingRoberta Lavadour – Spirit Guide
Artist Statement I’ve been thinking a lot about appropriation, and how materials, techniques, and imagery hold cultural weight. I’m fascinated by the New Age to white supremacy pipeline, and how casual appropriation can push our boundaries. Tapping into my own…
Continue ReadingRhiannon Skye Tafoya -Ul’nigid’
Artist Statement: Ul’nigid’ is a poetic narrative and visual representation of memories about my maternal Grandmother; she was a medicine-woman, a basket-weaver, and a fluent speaker of the Cherokee language. Ul’nigid’ was uniquely designed to represent her being, and each…
Continue ReadingRhiannon Alpers – Vanishing
Artist Statement The imagery in Vanishing revolves around insects currently considered threatened or endangered. They are part of the insect apocalypse. Threats to their survival include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasion of non-native species, pesticide application, and global warming.The poems…
Continue ReadingR D Burton – Company Housing
Artist Statement My artist books portray the reality of change rather than a romanticized idea of the past, and display the economic, technological, and social changes that reshape urban and rural landscapes. Many of my books portray the world of…
Continue ReadingPeter and Donna Thomas – Free Little Bird
Artist Statement One reading the text could interpret it to be the mocking cry of a child saying “Catch me if you can.” But in another reading one could find undertones social justice concerns. We used the colophon to provide…
Continue ReadingNaomi Velasquez – We Never Must Quit
Artist Statement We Never Must Quit is a letterpress print in an edition of 14 created with handmade paper and ink. This print was created for 2022, the 50th anniversary of Title IX in honor of Patsy Takemoto Mink and…
Continue ReadingMary-Ellen Campbell – Rust 2
Artist Statement Rust as a metaphor for aging. Book text:Coarse, pitted spikes, cables,chains welded, water-logged,changing, deteriorating, weakenedpulled from the sea barnacle-bound.Iron-red burnt sienna patina,intricate textures exposed,torn joints, corroded bones,oxidized, ossified, brittle break,out of practice forgotten stepsthe stage no longer welcomes.…
Continue ReadingMarjon Mudde – Le chemin de la petite vicinalité (Country roads)
Artist Statement During an artist residency in the French Alps, invited by the Public library of the Département des Hautes-Alpes in 2013, I spend three months studying landscape, costume, architecture, animals, plants, history of the region. I did many sketches…
Continue ReadingMargo Klass – Preserving Humanity
Artist Statement Preserving Humanity is a tribute to the art of book conservation – the preservation of books as physical objects and as vessels of the human record. The title is inspired by the lecture that opened the 1988 exhibition…
Continue ReadingLyn Patterson – Cora
Artist Statement Cora is an artist book that focuses on themes of identity, ancestry, generational trauma, and personal narrative. It was born from two years of chronicling family history and processing family archives. The artist uses these materials and stories…
Continue ReadingKyleen Greene – Vision
Artist Statement I am particularly drawn to repurpose materials, in an effort to be more sustainable in my art practice, as well as to encourage others to find creative uses for scrap/excess materials. I enjoy creative re-use, and hope that…
Continue ReadingKristi Galbraith – Jeanie
FOBA 2022 Faculty/Staff Exhibit Artist Statement I created this collage in honor of my mom, Jeanie. She encouraged me to pursue art at a young age, and to keep at it. It includes a few of the papers she created,…
Continue ReadingKristen Doty – The Present
Artist Statement The theme for FOBA’s last challenge project was “Where your heart resides”. This inspired the text I wrote and calligraphed in this book. The circles subtly repeated represent the world, travel, and the notion from the T.S. Eliot…
Continue ReadingKaren Kunc – LandEscape
Artist Statement This book began with drawings twisted (literally) in string that established a collaborative landscape realized over two years of conversation and trust. Helen Hiebert created watermarked illustrations in an artist-made cotton/abaca paper, and Karen Kunc responded by producing…
Continue ReadingKaren Hanmer – A Natural History
Artist Statement A Natural History of the most remarkable Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Serpents, Reptiles and Insects by Mrs. Mary Trimmer. Chiswick: C. and C. Whittingham, 1826. Volume 1 of 2. I’ve been binding antiquarian books in the various structures I…
Continue ReadingJessica Spring – Tensile
Artist Statement Tensile weaves together a 19th century poem of seduction by Percy Bysshe Shelley, with current research on bisphenol contamination in our environment and bodies, gathered by biologist Alyce DeMarais. Used to manufacture plastics and resins for food and…
Continue ReadingJamila Rufaro – Circle
Artist Statement Circle is as much about the geometric shape as it is about extending the life of paper—giving paper a new step in the circle of its life. Book pages, sheet music, maps, notebook paper, magazine, catalog and ledger…
Continue ReadingInsiya Dhatt – Seasons I: Summer
Artist Statement Seasons I – Summer is a flag book created to celebrate the abundance of flowers and nature that is alive around us. Materials & Technique The illustrations are hand-drawn, then imported into a computer drawing program, colored, and…
Continue ReadingHelen Shafer Garcia – Cactus Continuum
Artist Statement This book examines the growth cycle of an Opuntia Cactus from my garden. The leaves of the book are the end cycle of Opuntia pads that decayed on the plant. The book spine is a trunk section of…
Continue ReadingGenevieve Kaplan – Soft Book
Artist Statement Soft books, children’s books for pre-readers, offer comforting, tactile interactions. Soft Book, geared for adults, invites both a reading experience and a visual/tactile one. Raised cross stitches create each letter of single-syllable words to reveal insights about the…
Continue ReadingGabby Cooksey – Pangolin Pandemic
Artist Statement Pangolin Pandemic is about two stories scaled into one. The imagery shows the life of a pangolin while it is being poached; alive, curled up in defense, killed, hung up, and then descaled while also telling a story…
Continue ReadingFran McReynolds – Appreciating Bees
Artist Statement With the decline of native pollinators and honey bees over the past decade, I interpreted the importance and variety of native pollinators and how our small actions can help boost populations on a local level. The hive frame…
Continue ReadingElsi Vassdal Ellis – Emma
Artist Statement Emma is part of an on-going exploration for a series of books with some potential overlap of themes examining the lives of women illustrated, in part, using antique and vintage photographs from my vast collection. My collection begins…
Continue ReadingCasey Newman – Abundance
Artist Statement Casey Newman is a naturalist and artist who incorporates natural materials into her work, creating a unique way to connect with the beauty of nature. She prints leaves onto paper and fabric using only the natural pigments found…
Continue ReadingBonnie Thompson Norman – A Tribute to Bill Stewart
Artist Statement This is for Bill Stewart, thoughtful & terrific Tramp, who experienced the WOW! of artist’s books and never looked back. With his vibrant & vital VAMP, Vicky (best of partners), he shared that WOW! with many. Materials &…
Continue ReadingAndrew Huot – Remote with Wilson Allen
Artist Statement Collaboration with Wilson Allen. Remote looks at the shared experience of self-isolating and working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic by journaling and mapping our everyday experiences. These daily activities create vignettes or scenes that show how common experiences…
Continue ReadingAlicia Bailey – Physica: Stones
Artist Statement Physica is a series of 9 artists’ book works, each focusing on one of the 9 sections in the Hildegard von Bingen’s Physica, as translated from Latin to English by by Priscilla Throop. Materials & Technique: Stones was…
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Shā Towers – Tabula Rasa (2021)
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This simple sewn pamphlet structure incorporates 140 lb. watercolor paper and Zanders Mill Elephant Hide paper. I created the hand lettering, mark making, and staining with a variety of calligraphic tools such…
Continue ReadingShā Towers – Seeds of Joy
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Materials include board covers, French Paper Company’s Dur-O-Tone paper for the body and spine and Zanders Mill Elephant Hide paper for the covers. The flags are hand-treated with walnut ink and watercolor…
Continue ReadingShā Towers – Extremists
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This artist’s book features a piano hinge construction using Arches 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper as the pages and pins and Zander Mills Elephant Hide paper as the concertina fold spine…
Continue ReadingSarah Morgan – Vote at Home
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Hedi Kyle’s book, Art of the Fold, provided the structure. I painted Tyvek for the cover. Leftover envelopes from mail-in ballots made up the folded pocket accordion. Colored pencil lettering and postage stamps…
Continue ReadingRhonda Luongo – The Realm
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Book board covered in tea-stained teabag paper, accentuated with gold and copper leaf, antique handwritten letter reproduced on archival cardstock stained with walnut and pigment inks, hand-colored collaged elements on archival paper,…
Continue ReadingPaul Johnson – Happiest in My Workroom
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This is a two-fold pop-up panorama inspired by Lothar Meggendorfer’s International Circus. Dovetail joints join all the individual units so the whole structure can be taken to pieces. It is made with…
Continue ReadingNaomi Velasquez – Patterns
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Materials: Found book, found maps, gesso, ink, acrylic paint, water based spray paint, adhesives, embroidery floss. Techniques and processes: Altered book, handmade stamps, embroidery, collage, spray painted stencils, typewritten printing. About the…
Continue ReadingMichele Vaughan – Casa Colibri – Where My Heart Resides
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: I used this challenge book project to explore all things related to creating an artist book: structure, paper to print photos on, paper to use for the structure, adhesive, and using text. I…
Continue ReadingMichele Kamprath – Desert Dreams/Redwood Home
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This structure is an accordion with a wrap-around cover/enclosure. The paper used for the accordion and the signatures was eco-dyed with maple, alder, redwood, and other local plants. One of the papers…
Continue ReadingMel Hewitt – My Heart Resides
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: The book began by playing with my favorite painting medium, ArtGraf graphite sticks, sanguine color. With Japanese calligraphy brush in hand random strokes reminiscent of chaos and cacophony were thrown throughout pieces…
Continue ReadingMarvel Maring – Taking Flight
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Drum Leaf binding with colored pencil and pop-ups. About the work: This book is in honor of a woman who took care of me as an infant until the age of nine.…
Continue ReadingMargaret Beech – CREATE
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Dylusions spray inks. Star book. Paper punches. Sakura glaze pen. Cutouts and pullouts. About the work: My studio is my happy place. I am my hands and feel driven to create and inspire others.
Continue ReadingMargaret Beech – Be Inspired
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Dylusions spray inks. Star book. Paper punches. Sakura glaze pen. Cutouts and pullouts. About the work: My studio is my happy place. I am my hands and feel driven to create and inspire…
Continue ReadingLorraine Crowder – Wish You Were Here
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: I identified sixteen places in the San Francisco bay area from which I might send a Wish You Were Here postcard. I printed out old USGS topo maps of the area and…
Continue ReadingLaura DeGrace – Portland OR
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: The overall box/book structure is one I learned at a recent Sitka workshop here in Oregon. The teacher was ME Campbell. The paper is Japanese decorative paper (brown and green) and the…
Continue ReadingKazumi Seki – imbued
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Imbued consists of three parts: a crumpled paper, a piece of paper, and a container, and they are a metaphor of something I would let go of, my wish and myself. The…
Continue Readingjudy hurcomb – Spinach, radishes, peas
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This book is made from 2 cardboard “bolts” which are used in retail fabric displays. Both the inside and outside of the coptic bound book is covered in seed packets (that I…
Continue Readingjudy hurcomb – home
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This book is made from 2 cardboard “bolts” which are used in retail fabric displays. It is made of commercial and original images. Original images painted with acrylic paint are torn and…
Continue Readingjudy hurcomb – a mask is a small price to pay
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: This book is made from 2 cardboard “bolts” which are used in retail fabric displays. Cotton fabric was used for many types of masks during the pandemic and is cut to look…
Continue ReadingJackie Patten – Among the Trees
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: During the creation of this book, I had the assistance of friends, family, book arts instructors, and other artists for which I am grateful. It reminded me any form of creativity is…
Continue ReadingGenevieve Kaplan – May I
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: I used a seed catalogue page, yellow cardstock I hand-printed with mint leaves from my garden, double-sided tape, and ink in creating my book. The book form is the “Guest Book” from…
Continue ReadingGay Walker – Secret Places: On the Farm
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: I printed the images and text on card stock and bound the book using the drum leaf style in a dos-a-dos binding. I painted and drew upon the Arches cover and cut…
Continue ReadingElsi Vassdal Ellis – What Makes a House a Home
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: I raided one of my drawers that house book cloth shorts — there is not enough to be used for an edition but too much to toss. I then created paste papers…
Continue ReadingElsi Vassdal Ellis – Tesserae
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: Square Lego tiles used to create a mosaic pattern printed with 3 inks mixed on the press to create different color variations of the tile pattern. The first ink was white. It…
Continue ReadingAngela Batchelor – And Here We Have Idaho
FOBA 2021 Challenge Book Technique and materials used: 12 Idaho State symbols are catalogued with the use of cyanotype images and transparency overlays, while lyrics from the State song are interspersed on each page. The pages are rust printed paper.…
Continue ReadingVirginia Farnsworth – Little Ginnie At Play
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2018 Editions: 1 Dimensions closed: 4” x 6” x 6” Materials: family photos, matte photo paper, card stock 4-ply archival mat board Artist resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Little Ginnie At Play illustrates the depth and…
Continue ReadingStephanie Wolff – Place Memory
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2020 Editions: 4 Dimensions closed: 6.25” x 4.75” x .5” Materials: acrylic ink, paper, bookcloth, board Artist resides in Norwich, Vermont In the first months of the pandemic, I found myself thinking back on moments…
Continue ReadingShā Towers – Invisible Worlds
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2021 Editions: 1 Dimensions closed: 6.25” x 8.5” x 0.5” Materials: paper, board, leather, walnut ink Artist resides in Woodway, Texas Invisible Worlds is a visual and poetic exploration on a text I wrote reflecting…
Continue ReadingRoberta Lavadour – Place
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2021 Editions: 1 Dimensions closed: 5” x 5” x 1” Materials: handmade paper crafted by the artist from daffodil leaves, cattail, tule, sedge, tall oat grass and other fibers, silk and cotton thread Artist resides…
Continue ReadingRhiannon Skye Tafoya -Ul’nigid’
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2020 Editions: 44 Dimensions: 11” x 11.25” closed; 11.25” x 23.5” x 5.625” assembled Materials: handmade paper, paper, ink, book board, book cloth, magnets Artist resides in Lawrence, Kansas Printing was achieved using photopolymer plates,…
Continue ReadingR D Burton – Company Housing
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2021 Open Edition Dimensions closed: 7.25” x 6” x 2” Materials: HammerMill color copy 80#, museum board, Tyvek , magnetic closure Artist resides in Havre de Grace, Maryland Our family moved into company housing at…
Continue Readingnif hodgson – light, contour & exciting the field
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2019/2021 Editions: 33 ev Dimensions closed: 4.25” x 7.5” x 0.5” Materials: letterpress and screenprint ink, surface gampi, peach-fuzz textured paper, hand-backed silk, translucent film Artist resides in Los Angeles, California light, contour & exciting…
Continue Readingnif hodgson – fluid horizons
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2017/2021 Editions: 23 ev Dimensions closed: 3.5” x 6” x 0.75” Materials: screenprint and archival pigment ink on translucent film Artist resides in Los Angeles, California fluid horizons is a visual meditation on the interwoven…
Continue ReadingNancy Hart – Interior
FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition Completed 2019 Editions: 1 Dimensions closed: 6” x 6” x 2.5” Materials: wood, paper, paint Artist resides in Odessa, Texas The book Interior relates to living in and moving from many locations. The spaces shown are…
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