Another little book from last year that I neglected to post. This one made as a thank you for Yves Leterme.
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I have had a bit of a break from posting on my blog. I promise to do better. We have had a horrible start to 2020 with massive bush-fires impacting on friends and the wild life of Australia. It is so distressing. In Canberra we have had non stop smoke haze which is a constant reminder of all that is happening to all the trees and animals. At the end of last year the Canberra Craft Bookbinders Guild had the annual Bookbinding Challenge. This year it was based on geometry which I found particularly hard. Still, it was a chance to make a book called, 'Aunt Sallie's Lament' designed by Claire Van Vliet and E. Steiner. This is a difficult book to make (for me). I made a prototype but by the time I had completed the book I had forgotten how to make the first bit. I believe that I have done a credible job using calligraphy pieces and some newly acquired elephant paper. The elephant paper worked beautifully in this design - lightweight but strong. It is time again for the annual Canberra Calligraphy Christmas get together. Every year we all make a card to swap with all the other calligraphers. I wanted to make something different so this year I made a Match Box Book which was partly inspired by Ana Victoria Calderon and partly by Amity Parks. The size is exactly the same size as a match box (4cm x 6cm and a depth of 2cm). We don't see as many match boxes any more.          Fabulous workshop by the lovely Michael Burke. Michael told us that paste papers are one of the oldest forms of decorated papers. Examples date back to the 16th century, and were used to cover books and as endpapers. Among the most famous are the Herrenhuter papers made by members of the Moravian church, most often by women in "Single Sister" houses. Paste papers are made by mixing pigments, dry, tempera, or acrylic into a paste made from flour, starches of other kinds, or more modern materials such as methylcellulose. Patterns can be made by brush strokes, combing, stamping, rollers, direct application with a thumb or any combination of these, and more. While the paste remains wet all sorts of patterns and designs can be created. The layer of paste is distorted in places and gives the decoration a characteristic, three-dimensional appearance. On the first day we tried out the traditional methods and designs. See examples below. The second day we added acrylic paints to the paste papers and used less traditional designs. I can't believe that it is already exhibition time again. Where did the year go? This year the exhibition is being held at the National Botanic Gardens. So the theme was around nature.  This piece was done in collaboration with Sue Blackall and Sarab Basrai. It has a number of quotes and some lovely eco prints. This one sold!  This one was done in collaboration with Carol Perron and Sue Blackall. This one sold!  Eco print with hand made paper and cut out lettering. This one sold to people from America!    This was an interesting one. It got a number of comments. I had thought that the quote meant to let negative feelings, things and people go but others thought that it was quite brutal. Interesting.
Still continues to be stylised. This time we were experimenting with two colours.
This week we tried our hand at Chine-colle. Chine-colle is a technique in printmaking where paper of a different color or texture is adhered to the overall piece. The paper, usually in pre-cut shapes, is bonded to the heavier support paper of the print in the printmaking process. It is not just glued to the print as a collage element, it is more embossed into the paper as part of the printmaking process. Below is one Chine-colle and three dry point etching prints.     |
