Musing over Bonefolder

I know I am little slow but over the weekend I had the chance to browse the latest issue of Bonefolder. It is excellent by the way and well worth popping over to the site and downloading a copy. Muriel Prince’s article Women and Books: Contemporary book artists share their thoughts was of particular interest as recently I have become more interested in book binding and artist books. I have always had an interest in this area and have started to bind my own visual journals. Murial Prince asks why so many women are attracted to artists books as a format and suggests that possibly “it’s the freedom of the multi-disciplinary approach that appeals to women, the not being pigeon-holed and restrained by tradition or convention, the idea that anything goes - the concept can be realised using any and every means at the individual’s disposal.”

It had me thinking half the day because my mind wondered if it was an area of artistic practice where women felt they could carve out a place without having to contend with a huge and historically long pile of baggage like the tradition of painting or sculpture has.

The “no rules” aspect of a particular practice is often highlighted when women talk about a creative practice they love. For instance both crazy quilters and art journallers constantly say that anything goes there are no rules. It is as if throwing away the rules is necessary in reaction to some areas of textile practice. It is as if many women feel that the generations of strict rules about for instance what is and is not done when embroidering a cloth has to be responded to. The thing is there is actually no rules left in many of these traditional areas too. However there are lots of people who still believe there are and are fearful of breaking some unspoken rule they do not know about.

Back to artists books as format you can still explore a concept. The physical size is also small and often intimate which may also be a factor.

Anyway this one article gave me food for thought but I really wanted to simply point to the whole issue as it is well worth reading if you are at all interested in the paper arts or even if you simply keep a visual journal

If you feel like leaving a response here or musing on your own blog about the importance of rules please do and leave a comment to let me and everyone else know. I know I will read it … now must be off I have a living to earn

 

Artists books at the Victorian and Albert

For those lucky enough to get there in person I bet Blood on Paper will be a great exhibit. Blood on Paper: The Art of the Book is an exhibition hosted by the Victorian and Albert Museum which celebrates artists books. The work of 38 artists is on display. Key artists include Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Anthony Caro.

Since the Blood on Paper exhibition page is thin on visual material (to be fair it is just an announcement page) I went exploring the Victorian and Albert Museum Prints and Books collection online as my interest in artists books was once again tweaked. Artists books are defined as “books, unique or multiple, that have been made or conceived by artists. There are fine artists who make books and book artists who produce work exclusively in that medium, as well as illustrators, typographers, writers, poets, book binders, printers and many others who work collaboratively or alone to produce artists’ books.”

You can search the V&A Artist’s book collection and discover not only artists books but altered books and an old favourite pop up books! Use the drop down menu found under the object type tab on the right hand side of the screen .

So what did I find? I thought I would share three objects from the collection that caught my eye.

I really liked the concept behind Karen Chance’s ‘Parallax’ as the book folds out like an accordion to literally present ‘two sides to a story’. I also liked how Sarah Jackson’s use of a Canon copier machine to produce ‘Votes for women ; Exercises for the growing girl’ echoed the concept driving this piece ie democracy. Mapa ed Veneiis’ Geneviève Seillé is a book object made from an old wooden school desk.

As you can tell I am still obsessed with artists books.

 

Artists books in Australian Collections

I have spent a good part of the weekend poking about the Artist’s books sites. If you are not sure of what an artist book is check out how wikipedia defines an artist’s book. Reading it you might think that this type of work is an American genre but it is not. They are made world wide and Aussies make them too.

State Library of Queensland defines and artist book as “an artwork in a book format, or an artwork which has its origin in the form or concept of the book. The term was originally coined to describe books which had their origin in the conceptual art movement of the 1970s.”

The State Library of Queensland publishes a selection of images of artists’ books from the collection which you can browse by theme or type. An artist statement describing the key concept that drove making the book is accompanied by extensive photographs of each book. It is an online exhibit that is worth making a cuppa and settling down to browse each section.

Also online is another exhibition Bookscapes: exploring contemporary Australian artists’ books. There are a small selection of artists books from the National Library’s Collection in the exhibit Beyond the Picket Fence which features Australian Women’s Art

Robin Wallace-Crabbe discusses the pleasure of making books in A Shy Genre: the Artist’s book. This brief article teases out a few ideas and touches on the history of book studio at the Canberra School of Art (the school is where I work). On that note readers may enjoy the blog that is written by those at the studio under the title of the same name. Also Sasha Grishin has written an article on Collecting Australian Artists’ books for the Australian Art Review.

The Calligraphy and Artist books Galleries is a site run by Australian Cecilla which features a numner of Australian book artist.

Make a cuppa and enjoy!

 

20 Bookbinding resources online

Bookbinding is great fun, creative, a useful craft skill and hand bound notebooks make great gifts, or can be used as visual journals. Recently I have been exploring the book binding sites and discovered a few good tutorials online.

1. Dave’s Book Tutorial is an excellent step by step tutorial with each stage fully described and illustrated with photographs.
2. Brian Sawyer also has an excellent tutorial on bookbinding.
3. Book binding 101 is a good introductory article that introduces some ideas and the basics of binding
4. This is a great photo essay on making a case bound book which starts off with good advice on finding the grain of paper.
5. Hugh Sparks maintains a comprehensive site on binding books
6. How to Make a Simple Hardcover Book is a very brief tutorial illustrated with line drawings
7. Board books are ideal for young children and this is a great idea to create one off individual stories for a special child.
8. This tutorial on flickr show you how to make a book from one sheet of paper
9. Art, Books, and Creativity houses tutorials on a variety of book formats including accordion, flagbook, tunnel books, and pop-ups.
10. This article on the Book binding for Beginners site gives you instructions on how to build a book sewing frame
11. There are even instructions on how to Make a Standing Press
12. There are number of books on book binding online and a list of them is housed here
13. A copy of The Art of Bookbinding by Joseph W. Zaehnsdorf was published in London in 1897 is online
14. A copy of Bookbinding and the Care of Books by Douglas Cockerell published in New York in 1902 is available online
15. For inspiration visit The Book Arts Web and make a cuppa as you will need it to follow all their links
16. Don’t forget the Bonefolder, is an “open-access” e-journal which is an outgrowth of the Book Arts Web. Every issue is full of articles on a range topics that relate to the book arts. You will find topics such as hand bookbinding, the history of the book, the book as art, instructional tutorials, and tips & tricks make it a must read.
17. For more inspiration take a look at the 100th Anniversary Exhibition of the Guild of Bookworkers
18. Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious is a collection of books from the twelfth century to the twentieth in the Special Collections in the Princeton University Library
19. My Handbound Books is the blog of a bookbinder which covers artists books, book structures and many aspects of the book arts.
20. Cailun info is a the blog of a paper and books arts practitioner.

 

Botanical Illustrations created by Women

Gardens, flora and fauna have long been a source of inspiration to stitchers. Floral themes run through out the history of textiles and embroidery. Many of the early embroidery designs were adapted from early herbals. Stitchers still delight in floral themes today.

In 2001 an exhibition that explored the relationship of women and natural studies was held in Department of Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The site housing associated images is still online.

Themes include nature writing, scientific illustration, and women’s careers and training in the natural sciences. Sections that I think readers will find interesting are Elizabeth Blackwell, the daughter of an Aberdeen merchant, who eloped to London and soon found herself with a husband in prison for debt. Blackwell produced books on plants based on flowers and plants she viewed in Chelsea botanical gardens.

The other section I think readers will enjoy is the section on Illustrators as the botanical drawing is delightful.

The Illustrations of these books housed in the exhibit are well worth browsing as they form an online source for design inspiration that should not be missed by designers or anyone interested in the influences of print on textile design. The site houses larger images so you can take a really good look at the work.

So make a cuppa, settle back and enjoy!

 

Graceful Envelopes

I think many readers will enjoy browsing the 2007 Graceful Envelope Contest site. The contest is an annual event hosted by the National Association of Letter Carriers and administered by the Washington Calligraphers Guild. This year artists were asked to design an envelope with a culinary theme. You will find a Gallery of winners, a gallery of envelopes that were awarded an Honorable mention, another gallery of Junior contestants and a galery of Child contestants (Kindergarten through Grade 5).

The main page of the 2007 Graceful Envelope Contest site also has link to competitons held in the past. Since it has been running since 2001 ther is a lot of eye candy on this site.

Anyone who is interested in paper arts, book arts, fabric postcards, journal quilts, scrap booking, and visual journals will find these envelopes inspirational as many of the design challenges are the same.

 

12th Century illuminated manuscript

BibliOdyssey has highlighted a wonderful late 12th Century illuminated Armenian Manuscript produced in a Lviv scriptorium. The manuscript online in the Digital Library of Poland.

It was a week or so ago (I am catching up with blog reading) so do check it out.

 

Tutorials online

For those who are interested in art journals, altered books, ATC’s, postcards and related paper based activities, ARTchix studio has a a huge number of free tutorials online . The side bar is a smorgasbord of techniques and ideas. They include processes such as beading, burning, mixed media, transfers, collage, metal embossing and there are a few book making projects as well.

While you are on the site take some time out to browse the gallery section too for inspiration over your morning (or afternoon cuppa)

 

Card generator

I am always fascinated when new technology imitates old technology. This Card Generator is a bit of fun. The free online software created by John Blyberg generates old library cards. You simply type in what ever details you want in the fields provided and it generates it for you.

I love the idea of fake ephemera as it hints at a story that could be told. If you are interested in the paper arts or create art journals, alter books, make ATCs or postcards you may find a print out of this useful. I think I will print one of these out on fabric to include in a crazy quilt or it would be a wacky quilt label like the one below.

I really like how each card looks a little different

I found this link by following a post about this on someones blog I can’t for the life of me remember who – but to who ever it was if you read this leave a comment, claim the credit and thanks!

 

Creating your own antique paper

I found this tutorial by DIY Maven on how to antique paper. I am sure some readers will find this useful.