Really fun afternoon last Friday teaching folded book structures in Shropshire. As well as using some beautiful Cambridge Imprint patterned papers, we made inky patterns on sugar paper before making them into a triangle book (from Hedi Kyle’s ‘Art of the Fold’), a slot tab book and a woven spine book (thanks to Eva Hejdström for teaching those to me earlier this year). Really good to see everyone complete three books - they looked great! Big thanks to Kate Johnson for organising the workshop...
And number three...
Another instalment in the ABC Exquisite Sketchbook project. Started beautifully by Charlotte Biszewski with marbled covers and architectural prints, I decided to use collage of some extra marbled paper she sent as a note and also use some architectural stamps from my Stampville set. It arrived unbound so I tried out a Coptic binding which alters the order of the pages. Really fun to work on, looking forward to the next book arriving any day now...
The second sketchbook
Second book in the ABC exquisite sketchbook collaboration…. an entirely different beast from the first one! Really fun to respond to what Elizabeth Tomos had already done. Decided to embrace the unusual folded shape and rebind it with a hardback cover. Remembered why I have lots of black bookcloth left over - it picks up every tiny speck of dust. Enjoyed working with a limited colour palette and a good excuse for some rubber stamping. And I don’t need much persuasion to use neon pink (child of the 80s). This is now on its way to Scotland for the next stage of its transformation...
A new collaboration
Stage one of the ABC Exquisite Book project... we start with a basic A6 sketchbook each then make some interventions before sending onto the next person. I stuck with a theme of circles and rebound the book with a hard cover. Tricky to know when to stop but quite nice not having a final endpoint in mind.
And finally – Z is for...
Zebralagen, a Swedish word meaning the law that vehicles must stop for people at pedestrian crossings. The final rubber stamp illustration for my Anglo-Swedish exchange of words with Eva Hejdstrom. 26 illustrations over 33 months - I feel both elated and a little bit sad to have finally reached the end of the alphabet. I like the fact that both of our final illustrations aptly contain the word ‘stop’. Although we have plans to make a limited edition book to document the collaboration, so I’m pleased to say it’s not quite over yet...
Embroidered book for my mum to mark the grand occasion of her turning 70 today. Flower design from the wonderful ‘Simply stitched with applique’ by Yumiko Higuchi - a bit nerve wracking turning an embroidery into bookcloth for binding but I’m relieved it’s worked without being too lumpy bumpy…
Sketchbook jottings
The weather on my holiday this year was mainly…
A small elephant found in a junk shop in Aberystwyth
ink drawing of succulent
When your collage inadvertently matches your skirt
Grid collage - makes me think of found pieces of ceramic
Seaweed on the Gower
Recent bits and bobs from my sketchbook…
Makers
Really thrilled that my books and cards are now stocked in the excellent Makers gallery on Colston Street in Bristol... the shop is chock-full of beautiful things, so it’s very exciting to see my books nestling amongst them. . .
Tree rubbings
Really fun afternoon at the beginning of the month making tree collage rubbings in workshops with Year 4 at Westbury-on-Trym CofE Academy. Many thanks to the teachers and pupils for making me feel so welcome, and for all their hard work.
Y is for...
yahoo (exclamation mark optional) meaning expressing great joy or excitement. Penultimate rubber stamp illustration for my Anglo-Swedish exchange of words collaboration with Eva Hejdström.
X is for...
X was always going to be tricky. After a long break, here’s the latest illustration in my Anglo-Swedish exchange of words collaboration with Eva Hejdström... X is for the Swedish word xerofil, meaning plants and animals that live in dry places. Only Y and Z to go - the end is tantalisingly close, and we have exciting plans for making the completed project into a limited edition book!
Workshop coming up!
Printing patterned papers and making folded books as examples to show at a one day workshop I’m running at ACEarts in Somerton in Somerset on Saturday 27 April (10 -4). We’ll be stamping our own patterned papers, then using them to make a collection of small folded books. Should be fun! Just a few places left, so get in touch with ACEarts if you’re interested in joining me... . . .
Spud U Like
Brilliant session at the Artist’s Book Club at UWE last week - learning about resistance publishing and trying our hands at potato printing. A lot of fun! Many thanks to Csilla Biro and Alyn Smith for organising this. . .
Collage scraps
Finally getting back to working in my sketchbook… collaging scraps from monoprints.
Post-BABE
My table at the Bristol Artist’s Book Event (BABE)
Not a lot of time to look round, but I’m very pleased with my purchases from other book artists
My swap with Eva Hejdström – books good enough to eat
What a brilliant couple of days at the Bristol Artist’s Book Event (BABE) at the Arnolfini at the weekend. So many people, so many talented exhibitors, and a real treat to spend the entire time talking about making books. Very inspiring (and a little bit exhausting). My friend Eva Hejdström came over from Sweden for the event, and we had a great time planning the structure for a book of our exchange of words collaboration (just 3 letters to go now). We also swapped some books, and I most definitely did very well out of that deal. So all done and dusted until 2021 – better get making again soon…
BABE 2019
Very excited to be taking part in the wonderful Bristol Artists’ Book Event (BABE) this coming weekend at the Arnolfini, down at the harbourside in Bristol. More than 80 artists are taking part, and it’s completely free, so come along and say hello. And get inspired - three galleries of bookish loveliness and lots of talks and workshops too. Open 11-6 on saturday and 11-5 on sunday. Can’t wait!
And?
A small edition of books showcasing the wonderful ampersand in all its glory. The structure is called interlocking loops from ‘The Art of the Fold’ - the whole book can be made from just an A3 sheet. I also had a bit of free space left at the bottom of the sheet when I created the artwork, so I added a few more cheeky ampersands to make badges. Both the book and the badges will be available at Bristol Artists’ Book Event (BABE) at the Arnolfini on 30/31 March. And then in my online shop from early April…
Which way up?
Making slipcases for my edition of folded books of arrows. I find my set of key stock (gauged metal bars) really handy for measuring common widths on a production line of books. But I’ve just discovered a new use... weighing down the glued flap on a slipcase while it dries. A small thing, and I know it’s pretty niche, but this has made a fiddly and time consuming task a whole heap easier!
Stitching and head scratching
In spite of expert teaching by Csilla Biro (and patient assistance from Carmen Garaghon) I managed to tie myself in (literal) knots trying to learn a marionette stab binding at last week’s Artists’ Book Club. Never one to be thwarted by a needle and thread, I went away and had another go. Still a bit wonky and the tension is a little uneven, but at least the stitches are in the right place. Very satisfying to stitch as the pattern starts to take shape. Many thanks to Csilla for teaching this tricksy binding. . . .
Dwelling
Cracking print job from printed.com - really good reproduction of the original colours of my letrafilm collages created back in January. In the process of turning these flat sheets into concertina books to be sold at BABE at the Arnolfini in Bristol on 30/31 March…