Book art in action

This is a piece of work I made a while ago, where I took the role of narrator and collector of stories.  These were recorded and then packaged and tied.  It tells something about the human condition and the thoughts running through our heads when we are asked to tell stories about ourselves.  As you can see it doesn't follow the conventional book format, and is more of a challenge for the 'reader' of the words.

Hand paper marbling

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, here are some pictures of the results of my hand paper marbling showing some of the patterns I came up with, and also a small white pad which I marbled on the edges only.  It was all good fun and each sheet I made was a surprise once it was printed.  Some of the patterns have names, such as Feathered, Dutch, Chevron and Peacock patterns. 

The marbling process is very rewarding, though is can be exasperating as it is an organic process and various things can hamper the outcomes.  You also need some equipment, and to get lovely patterns you would need some combs which are drawn through the 'size' to create the variety of prints.

Paper marbling

I have just completed a course in Paper Marbling; very useful for some book art to come.  The process is quite technical and can be challenging, although fascinating.  Watch this space for some photos coming soon ......   

Mysterious paper sculptures

Sometimes, something just catches your eye.  Have a look at this link

www.thisiscentralstation.com/featured/mysterious-paper-sculptures

Not only some wonderful book-related work, but also a wonderful story to go with it.  It was all left anonymously.  Isn't that great?!

Latest book art

My work in progress at the moment relates to a found book which was given to me years ago.  I intend to make a pair of books which will go together although I haven't started on the second one yet.  I am interested in pop-ups and have included some in this piece of work.  Here's the unfinished as yet latest art work.  It brings together my experiences in the work place and my current book art interest, some collage and some paper folding.

This shows how the whole thing opens up and can be folded back into a conventional book form.  It's not particularly easy to see here, and when it's completed I'll take some detailed close ups.

Travelling Book Art Competition

One of my hand made books was selected for a Micro Pages travelling exhibition in late 2010-2011.  They travelled throughout the UK and then visited Tumba in Sweden.  Micro Pages started a conversation about the issues surrounding the display of artists' books, and there was on-line debate as part of the event.  The books that were selected related to the history of artists' books, archives and libraries, or challenged the preconceptions of the future of preservation and display.  The pieces I entered are shown here.  The first image shows the book jacket I made to cover the book as part of the rationale for the piece of work.

This shows the inside and outside, and because of the nature of the exhibition, it was sealed in a see-through package.  This was a book I made using a card cover with hand stitched binding, and then the book jacket was made to go over it.

Hand made book - leather cover

Although I often use found books to work on, I also have made a few books and show below one that I made with a leather cover and stitched pages.  I haven't used it yet - just waiting for an opportunity to show itself.

Surrealism and my boxed book

The Surrealists were part of an art movement where the weird and wonderful came about through their art work.  Among Surrealist techniques was a kind of collective of images called the 'Cadavre Exquis', or exquisite corpse.  Based on an old parlour game of the 1920s several people would be assigned a section of the body each time they played, and a sheet of paper would be used to record their image, starting with the head.  Once the image was done the paper was folded over to conceal it, leaving a mere mark of where it ended and then the next person would continue the body drawings, folding their's over once finished and passing it on, and so on.  So, you might draw a head, fold the paper down and pass it on, just leaving a very small indication of where the neck ended.  You would then receive a folded sheet from another player who had completed their 'head', and you would draw the body, fold over and pass on.  This carries on until completed bodies are drawn and then the last person opens up the finished sheet.  This gives rise to some interesting, and very amusing, images of the body.  Some only vaguely resemble the human form!

The Surrealists thought this was a good technique for encouraging what Nicholas Calas called 'the unconscious reality in the personality of the group'.  It is a good game for a group of people, and I decided to get a group to play, and then create a boxed book after the game, with samples of the images on each page.  You might have come across it using phrases instead of images.

For my box I used 2 images - one made from Collage and the other from a lino cut.  The lino cut was made from an image of my face seen in a spoon, so is greatly distorted on purpose!  I liked using the black background so that I could make something eye-catching and use lighter colours on top for features.

These drawings are some that didn't make it into the book, and show what sort of fun can be had.

Seasons Folding Book

The Seasons folding book starts out in a simple green round box, and once opened expands into representations of the seasons on one side of the folds, and horticulture during the seasons on the other.  Words and pictures are used together and the images tumble out once the lid is opened to reveal what's inside.