Getting Ready for the Holiday Season

Hello:  Well it has been a busy fall, getting books ready for craft shows, attending gallery openings and taking photographs. 

ENDEARMENT BOOKS

I have made a lot of small books this fall.  It has been great fun creating these little treasures.  The Endearment Book is a miniature book in which a person writes an endearment to another person.  The recipient then writes an endearment for the person who gave the book.  They keep the book going back and forth until it is full.  It makes a nice keepsake.  These books can be used with groups, with loved ones who are living far and away, or friends.  They have been very successful with customers.  I have used a number of different materials to create these miniatures.  I love playing with leather, the texture and the shape.  What evolves from this play is usually very interesting. 

This Endearment book has pictures in it.  I took a large photo and cut it up into small sections to enhance the book.  On the empty pages I put a die cut.  It adds a nice little complement to the book. 

This Endearment Book was made from a beautiful heavy leather and green suede for the closure.  Inside I put pieces of photographs and recycled prints from an art book. 

These Endearment Books are made from a blue leather with a simulated snake skin cowhide.  The closures include mother of pearl fittings and glass beads.  They fit nicely in a palm, in a purse or in a pocket. 

  These are a set of Endearment Books with tab closures.  I did small drawings on the Canal paper covers.  These are great for a couple, a pair of siblings or a couple of friends. 

WRITER'S PRIMERS

As a writer, I was taught to do free writing to get warmed up and get the words and thoughts flowing.  It is usually timed and a great exercise to give one's writing voice a free rein.  I made the first one about four years ago, it had pictures and the beginning of a sentence.  The writer then continues on with her or his thoughts.  I created some again this fall for the Ottawa Independent Writer's and Artists Fair.  They were a great success.  The covers had original drawings on them and I put the sentences in each section of the book.  









This is an example of the writer's primer.  Some were done in black and white and others were coloured.  The drawings are original and not reproduced. 




This is the back cover of the Writer's Primer.  When the book is opened flat the whole picture is revealed. 

MINIATURE BOOKS

I made a lot of miniature books.  This one has a paste paper cover.  Making paste paper is an adventure into the world of creativity.  One can use different colours, add different mediums and textures.  Once the paper is dried the final product is ready to use for book covers or other projects.  The one pictured here has a mother of pearl fitting for the closure with pieces of paper and a tacketed binding.  I did a gold wash over the finish and when held a certain way in the light, this little book has a real sparkle to it. 

THE LIFE OF A PROJECT

I have the greatest job.  I was asked to create a number of journals for the Ontario Organic Growers Association.  These are hard covered books, so the first step was to cut out the covers.  I use a utility knife to cut the book board.

I had selected my papers from three shops. They were different colours, different textures and included fine papers and hand made papers.  When covering the book board I discovered the varying nature of each paper.  It is always an interesting venture when working with different kinds of papers.  I have learned that glues, humidity and paper composition will determine how easy or challenging the cover will be to make.  The finished products look and feel great.  I put tab closures on them, made from the same papers. 

CALENDARS AND CD COVERS

This season I was asked to create a calendar with some of my photographs and some drawings.  I did a combination of six drawings and six photos.  This is a one-of-a-kind calendar.  Here are the drawings I created for it.

The Covers 

 The Months

I was also asked to make three CD covers.  I really enjoyed creating these little pieces of art.  I don't know what music they will be used to cover, but I was thinking, when using the music to inspire the art, I would have created something very different.  These are one-of-a-kind as well. 



ARTIST TRADING CARDS

I was able to get together with my artist trading card friends this month.  The theme was Wild Card, so I let the creative juices flow and created a little piece of three dimensional art.  I used a couple of photographs, one a reflection in the big chrome ball in front of the National Research Council building and the other from the new architecture of the Royal Ontario Museum.  The butterflies were taken from Telus calling cards, the trees are chicken wing bones, the plumes are curled pieces of a peacock feather and the jewel is from a recycled earring. 

CREATIVE AND SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS

Some very talented and creative friends have been very supportive of my work and I would like to honour their talents as well. 

Wendy Southin is the lady who organizes our Artist Trading Group.  She is a beautiful artist and jeweller.  Most recently she offered a piano hinge book workshop.  The work the students created is very artistic.  You can see the books and her other artistic endeavours on her blogspot: http://dragonflydreamers.blogspot.com/.

Allison Flowers is another very talented lady.  I met Allison while volunteering with a filmmaker.   Her talents range from vidoegraphy, graphic arts and just yesterday I found out she has the most beautiful voice.  She just released her new album.  Have a listen, I think you will really enjoy it:  http://allisonflowers.bandcamp.com/.

Olive Jones is a lady I met at my very first artist trading card trade.  She is a fabulous artist and makes very unique artist trading cards.  The first card I traded with her is on my bedroom wall.  Over the years Olive has been very supportive of my work and I want to extend a very special thanks to her.

Catherine Hajnal is a lady I met when volunteering with an organizational development group in the city.  We have been friends for a lot of years and when she moved to the west coast, I was saddened.  Our friendship continues and she has been very supportive of my work.  Catherine is another creative lady when it comes to working with people.  She is presently in Esalen in California, developing new skills for her practice.   Have a look at her website:  http://www.catherinehajnal.com/.

Thanks ladies, your help and support is greatly appreciated. 

Well that is about all for now.  Back to the books.  I must write in my blog more often.  This has been an incredibly long report.  Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.   Mary



New Works

Hello There:  It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I created  new 'little' books.  A collection done in white Canal paper.  This is a beautiful paper to work with and makes embossing a pleasure.  I added  art work to covers and interiors, cut up a large photo and put fragments of the photo on some of the pages and used my mini die cuts to enhance the page edges.  I have also created a very simple, but effective tab closure for these little creations.  All in all it has been a very productive time.

 

I have been experimenting with my camera lately and have gotten some very interesting pictures.   I submitted a selection of them to a local photography gallery in the city for the 2012 season.  Hopefully they will be selected for an exhibit.  I'll keep you posted.  Have a look at some others at: http://bookartiste.deviantart.com.

View from my balcony

Store Display

Notre Dame Cathedral Ceiling

Notre Dame Cathedral

I start back to work on the elk head this weekend.  Looking forward to seeing it come alive (no pun intended) as it gets built.  I'll post pictures as it evolves.  

Prop Design

This past summer I have been working with an independent filmmaker as a prop designer.  I was asked to create a half body cast for one of the scenes.  I gathered chicken wire, paper for the paper maché covering, paper maché pulp, gesso and glue.  It was a great creative adventure, not to mention it overtook my dining table for about a week.  It has gone to the filmmaker who will put the finishing touches on it. 

I am now on to the next prop - an elk head.  This is a full head mask that will be used by one of the dancers in the film: SINCERUS.   To build the head to scale, I was able to measure the head of a real elk (stuffed).  I was wondering if a real set of antlers could be used, however I discovered that a set of antlers from a mature elk weighs between 30 and 40 pounds.  The ones I am creating have a metal rod core and are surrounded by foam rubber, a much lighter pair of antlers.  I will have to build them up a bit more around the base and point the prongs before covering them.  I am looking forward to the building of this full scale mask.

Artist Trading Cards

I first discovered artist trading cards a couple of years ago when I was getting some art supplies.  They were sitting on the check out counter.  I asked the cashier what they were.  She explained they were like a sports trading card.  You were to create a small piece of art on them and then trade them.  I bought a package and for the longest time I looked at them sitting on my desk, not sure what I should create on them. 

Artist trading cards are 2.5 X 3.5 inches in size.  No larger and no smaller.  The Artist Trading Card (ATC) movement was conceived in 1996 by M. Vanci Stirnemann from Zurich, Switzerland (http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/).  His first exhibit of 1200  ATCs was at the Ink, Art and Text art collective in Zurich, Switzerland.   Since then he has exhibited his ATCs at galleries in Alberta, Germany, and Holland and continues to exhibit in Zurich. 

Once I started creating the cards, I had to find some trading groups.  I was able to find a couple of groups and started trading.  It has been great fun, I have met a lot of very creative, interesting people and have a marvelous collection of ATCs.  My cards have been exhibited a number of times  in the Artist Trading Quarterly, a publication created by Ronna Mogelon:  http://www.atcquarterly.com/issues.html.  In order to display the beautiful cards I have created and collected I have designed ATC books.  

Mini Books

 

This little book is made from red and dark brown leather.  I used a grey satin ribbon and waxed cotton thread to bind the signatures and create the design on the front.  

 This little book is called, "What is Art?".  It contains artist trading cards and each trading card is premised with a page that asks, what is art?, followed by a page that has one word that describes art.  I used a Japanese paper for the cover and the end papers are recycled from an art book.  

 

This is a piano hinge book.  It is much larger than the other books and contains my art work, as shown on the cover and I have used my photographs to create collages on some of the pages.  This was an enjoyable book to make.  I used different coloured card stock which gave the spine a very interesting checkerboard appearance.  I used barbeque skewers for each page and waxed cotton threads to bind it together.  

This is called a book within a book.  This is one of the most beautiful bags I have received when purchasing products.  It has a floral and fruit decoration on the inside.  One day I was sitting looking at this empty bag wondering what  was I going to do with it.  It was too pretty to throw away, so I decided it would make a great book.  It is a modern day version of a girdle book.  It comes with handles and I used the cardboard bottom to create closures.  I used a  heavy stationery in purple for the two outer books and a chartreuse coloured paper for the middle book.  I included my photographs on alternate pages. 

This little book is made from two leathers, brown and blue.  The blue leather is suede side out with the smooth side against the paper.  I used a jute twine for decoration and a brass button with waxed cotton threads for the closure.  

This little number is made from a soft, supple brown leather.  It has a 14K gold decoration over a wooden skewer closure.  I used a waxed fuschia cotton thread and multi-coloured stationery.  The soft suppleness of the leather makes it enjoyable to handle. 

 

This is a friendship book.  It has drawings combined with paintings and poetry about friends.  I used a soft hunter green goat skin leather with the suede side out and smooth side next to the art work.  The cover is embellished with red, blue, yellow and green waxed threads and a burgundy rosette.  

 These little books are so much fun to make.  I created them using glass tiles, most often used for back splashes in kitchens and bathrooms.  The rectangular one has a floral drawing on the front page, is lined with blue leather and bound with turquoise coloured waxed cotton thread.  The square booklet is lined with red leather, has chartreuse coloured pages and is bound with turquoise waxed cotton thread.  They have 10 pages in them. 

 This is a replica of the Girdle Book.  It dates back to Medieval times.  They were small, portable books that were worn by European monks, clergymen and aristocratic nobles.  It first appeared in the 13th century and was used up until the 16th century and the advent of printed books.  The traditional Girdle books had a leather binding that continued loose below the cover into a tapered tail with a knot at the end which could be tucked into one's girdle or belt.  The book hung upside down and backwards so when swung upwards it was ready for reading.  The content of these books most often was religious.  It made a visible statement of social position, wealth and literacy of the individual wearing it.  The most popular surviving Girdle book is Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy.  There are 23 surviving medieval Girdle books in their original bindings.  The oldest one dating back to 1453 from Kastl Germany.  Their use was confined mostly to an area from the Netherlands to the Upper Rhine Valley.   In this replica I used a soft brown leather suede, Japanese and Tibetan papers and regular stationery.  It has 60 pages. 

This is a replica of the Nag Hammadi book which dates back to the 4th Century.  Nag Hammadi is a city in Upper Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile.  These books were Gnostic gospels of the Coptics of Egypt.  They were written in Coptic with Greek characters.  There are 13 surviving Nag Hammadi books.  In 1945 they were found buried in the desert in a ceramic jug.  They are an ancient form of a bound book of papyrus sheets folded down the middle and bound together (codex).   I used a soft brown suede leather with red waxed cotton thread and cotton rag paper to create this replica.  It has 20 pages.  

This is an affirmation book.  It contains words on alternating pages.  When looked at, the intent is to write an affirmation using the word as a source.  It is small and can be put in a pocket or purse and used whenever the spirit is moved.  I used Japanese paper and fine art paper.  It has 70 pages, lots of room for affirmations and a nice keepsake once it has been filled.  

This is a friendship book I made for a friend.  It has quotations on laughter, happiness, joy, friendship and love.  I created abstract drawings in different sections of the book.  The streamers read love, smile, joy, friendship, happiness and laughter.  I used blue leather with one-half suede side up and the other half smooth side up.  The closure is two purple buttons and the binding is blue waxed cotton thread.