Did you know there’s an mountain called Ampersand in the Adirondacks? According to Wikipedia, it “takes its name from nearby Ampersand Creek, so named because it twists and turns like the ampersand symbol.” Find out lots more on the Shady Characters Blog.
I ran across British book artist Louisa Boyd‘s website the other day. She has just finished the book below, Cartography II, a turkish map fold book with etched pages, hand tooled leather cover and collagraph end papers. Her books are all very sculptural. I especially like the ones at the bottom of this post, from a series called The Flight
Louisa Boyd: Cartography II
Louisa Boyd: The Flight Series
Kate Bowles sews (she calls it ‘darning’) onto cloth before covering a book. They seem quite beautiful to me. See her blog posts here and here.
When I finished designing my Beuys artist-in-a-box book in January, I had enough material to make 15. I cut out (almost) all the pieces, made 5, and then got side tracked. This month I’m slowly working through my backlog of unfinished projects, and the Beuys book got to the top of the list this week. The matchbox itself is made from a piece of grey Cave paper I bought in 2009 (I even wrote a blog post about it). I’ve taken the sheet out of my drawer countless times, trying to envision the perfect use for it. Patience paid off—this is indeed the perfect book for both the paper weight and color. I’ve so enjoyed the feel of it in my hands as I’ve folded and glued the boxes together.
Here’s a photo of the book in-progress. On the left is very tiny book that is to be encased in felt. The grey rectangle next to it is another book sewn in grey felt—it just needs the red cross sewn on it. Finally on the right is a finished book “package” that goes in the box. Underneath is what the finished matchbox book. See more about the book and more pictures here and here.
Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day, where people keep a poem with them and share it with others throughout the day. Here’s the one I’m sharing, a haiku that will be part of my 2015 calendar and describes the what I see outside my studio this morning:
Spring wind—
The plum tree
rains flowers.
I neglected to included the binder’s name in my post the other day about the book Mind Maps. It’s Bexx Caswell, and you can see some of her other work on her website. She also has a flickr page that shows off some of her lovely binding projects. Here, for instance, is a closeup of one of her custom guest books.
