A bit of a bind

As an antidote to all of the writing underway at the moment I have recently participated in a couple of Guy Begbie's bookbinding workshops to hone my skills, practice creating hardback books  - which I don't often attempt -  and learn some new stitches.  Here is a sample:

Multi-section hardback book

Snowshoe stitch through hard-cover

Lightning stitch through hard-cover

Japanese stab binding - Hemp leaf stitch

This Japanese binding is my favourite so far, though it did lead to sore fingers the next day.  I used a red buckram bookcloth which I haven't tried before, and although it seemed heavier and shinier than the more paper-like cloths I usually go for, once it was on the book I loved it, and it seemed a tiny bit more protective.  So far this is the most perfect book I have managed to make - until I spill something on it!

I think the stab binding techniques are the ones I will use most in my books as I often work with loose leaves of paper, I also like the visual effect they create of wrapping around the book, explicitly showing how the pages are held.  I will aim to try out some more of these and perhaps experiment with different papers to get a feel of which bindings are suited to each.

Break

I've been trying to get some writing done for my next module assessment for my MA, coming up at the end of the month, which has meant a break from posting here, but there are plenty of things coming soon to catch up on, I promise.

Firstly, a little something I was involved in during the Easter break.  Not my usual style of working by any means, but a fun experience and chance to enthuse about, and make good use of, our collective typewriters. 
http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/12secrets.htm

The letterpress print, as ever, tested our problem-solving skills with layout, and gave a new opportunity to explore some of the medium sized metal typefaces.

Sunset

The sun has set on another artists' book fair (Leeds - full report to follow soon), and in fact the last book fair in 'the season' for me as I can't make it to Edinburgh or Glasgow this time around.  So there is a chance to step back and reflect on how things went, what I might change, where I go from here.

On schedule

It's the usual rush to get just a few more books made before the next artists' book fair - which is in Leeds in less than a week.

Today I have been up-cycling some previously made work.  I originally printed these as greetings cards at the end of the print run of bookmarks for the Bookmarks IX: infiltrating the library system project last summer.  They are composed of 6pt letterpress ornaments, packed together to create the pattern and text.  I only had enough ornaments to print a single word, so these cards were put through the press 6 times to achieve this noticeboard look.

At the end of 2011 I up-cycled the leftover greetings cards into notebooks with blank pages, for the abc Christmas market.  I also took these to the Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre last weekend, where I observed that people were very interested in them, but then looked disappointed when they opened them to find there was no 'book' content inside.  So I have been flexing my rubber stamps and have now added text to the pages, representing examples of delays and the reasons given that I have experienced over my rail travels.

Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre 6

Had a great time at the BAF 6 yesterday, thanks are due to Helen and the Ffotogallery team.  Hoards of lovely people looking around, amazing venue and fabulous cakes to ogle.  It was THE place to be in Penarth, if not Cardiff as a whole - though apparently there was a rugby match on that held some interest...

We saw some familiar faces behind the other tables, and lots of new ones.  I made a few notes to help with our preparations for the Leeds International Artists' Book Fair but overall I think it reassured us that we are on the right tracks.

I didn't make any new book purchases, but somehow came away at the end of the day with a 50% share in this Zephyr typewriter, rescued from a charity shop near the gallery.  A great find!

Coming soon to an artists' book fair near you...

As a development of the artists' book fair activities I was involved in last autumn, and once more in collaboration with Pet Galerie Press, in the next few weeks I will be presenting work at:

Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre 6 

(25th Feburary, Turner House, Penarth)

and

International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair
(9-10th March, Parkinson Court, University of Leeds)

These are the first artists' book fairs where I will be presenting my work 'independently' of UWE so it feels like quite a change.  Please do come along to see the books and say hello if you are near either!

Pop up HK

This week I received this brilliant pop-up card from Hong Kong.  The 3-dimensionality of the pop up combined with the paper cutting made it instantly recognisable as depicting Tai O, a fishing village on Lantau Island known for its stilt houses.  The imperfections of the subject matter have been expressed in the representation, so the horizontal and vertical lines are not always true, and thicknesses vary, this really appeals to me and gives a warm familiar feel to the piece.

It is made by Hong Kong based Porigami and is one of a set of paper cut designs incorporating single colour printing.

The pop up structure supports itself so it sits open at 90 degrees.


Closer inspection shows it has been laser cut and perforated to produce the folds, but still painstaking work.  I am really impressed by this use of laser cutting to create form from 2D materials, something to think about in my own projects.