Artist's books

This is a whole area of fun for the artist. I've made many books, usually very flowing, loose kinds of approach, not the bookbinding world at all, but a more flexible kind of work.

I've learned a number of stitching techniques, and I just wanted to show you a bunch that have not been seen before, because they are still awaiting the finishing and putting in of the pages. But the covers are nice to see, and range from paintings on muslin







inside, see the handmade paper additions



outside covers

which I then stretched over cardboard and adhered, to paintings directly on cardboard



or canvas



or paper




I've given away many little notebooks which I created, and want to let you in on a neat notion I came across: you know when people get those lovely art cards with reproductions of famous paintings and you keep them and keep them and never get around to sending them as cards?

Just learn a simple stitching technique, then cut plain old white paper, insert it into the card, stitch it and you have a really nice little notebook which is better than sending a card, but not too elaborate to send as a casual gift. If you have a corner punch that will round off the corners, all the better.

When I first got a corner punch, I went mad with it, rounding off the corners of everything that didn't move. The cats steered very clear of me at this period, hiding their ears.

Another supposedly office-intended appliance is my little shredder, which I originally got as a shredder then realized it would make wonderful strips for paper weaving.




So I sliced up a lot of old photos that were surplus to requirements, and wove the results, glued the piece down on card, and they are awaiting their pages and a destination.

I've made some books with my own handmade paper, too, lovely soft and irregular stuff, great to handle and play with.



outside showing plant material embedded in the paper



Inside cover



outside cover


Most of the drawings you saw in my other entries are stored in these portfolios.



One was a giant book made for another purpose, in an exhibit, and once home



adapted to being a drawing portfolio. In this one, I did the Japanese stitching using brass chain.




Several of these pieces were originally exhibited as paintings, and now will be happy as book covers, big ones.