The Rape of Masters. A book/box or single page book

Sometimes I revert to the traditional approach to the use of gold leaf in my work.



Gold finishing to the spine of 'The Rape of Masters' very traditional with five raised cords, single line with a red label. The work is held in a finishing press, my hand tool is home made.



The out side of the book/box has been knocked to give it a subtle patina of age, to knock the edges off. Various unctions are applied, the surface is rubbed with rags and steel wool. The finished result looks old without looking forced.



So to the content of the book/box. A series of objects with white washed images by Diego Velazquez, in particular 'Venus with Mirror'




Dice, syringe, clock parts, gold leaf, cobwebs and flies. All found in the studio, please do not ask about the syringe and the flies etc died of natural causes.





The text is on the doubler of the of the back board, typed with a red ribbon.







The Rape of Masters is a book/box but it could equally called a single page book. I will let you decide.

In reflection one can not be all to everyone.

The last student has gone home, her work well on the way. Now for my selfish time, when the benches are cleared and I can work. Commissions need to be finished, exhibition work to be completed and plans made.

What is important, what makes me do what I do. Perhaps it can be summed up in a few images.



Teaching in Studio 5



Exploring new techniques and methods.



Teaching abroad with no translators, art and craft being the common language.



And the realisation of form, function and aesthetic. The Book .

Studio 5 Print selection 2008.

Last week I managed to complete the first run of the print project. The box has been made and is now ready to be exhibited.
There are ten in total but I will let you glimpse one or two.





Along with the print project I am making a box for a sculptured book 'Instrument'.



I made Instrument a couple of years ago. The white board is made with Gesso, whilst the front board is hinged.



The illustrations and the text are a mixture of 'Soft Plate Off Set' and movable type. It is a little self indulgent as the text and images try to explain my relationship with the making of a book, the printing, the construction, material manipulation etc.

Faith restored

As the post thudded to the studio floor one parcel caught my attention. Following on from the after dinner talk at the Society of Bookbinders Training Weekend, some hand tools for Anandwan. Thank you Dermott. You have restored my faith. Cheers.

Hand colouring leather

Though I am going through exhibition hell I still have commissions to work on. One is a fantastic book with some superb illustrations. I hope that when the book is finished the owner will allow me to tell you more about it.

My first training was in art and design. Even to day I will on occasion refer to the leather as a canvas and apply colour as if were so.

So there now follows a number of images of one way of treating leather. Fun to do and spontaneous.



The leather, Fair Goat in this particular case, is first cut to the correct size, pared down to 0.6 of a millimeter, with turn ins of 0.4. The skin is then taped to a board and the colour applied.




The first touch with the swab is always the most daunting. The one problem with leather is that there is no opportunity to do any prep work on the leather as any marks will show and disfigure the surface.




I prefer to dye leather in this way. The colour is built up slowly, thus creating depth and movement.



The secret is to work with a fixed idea of the finished look, but be flexible enough to go with the flow.



It looks easy and it is if you have practised and really understand the materials,the dye stuff and the result of each application.



Slowly adding more dye.



Until the first process is complete. Let it dry, time for a cup of tea.



The final dye stuff is then applied.



A few more applications. As much time is spent just looking at the work as it progresses. It is so important to realise when to stop.



The finished result.



This is only a small part of the total number of steps that have been taken with this particular book. There are any number of different ways of working with leather and colour. My advice would be to practise, to understand the what and why of using any method. Find what works for you.

The After Dinner Talk For the Society of Bookbinders Training Weekend. Teaching in India.

After an uneventful train journey to Loughborough, only relieved with a DVD of Black Books and an assortment of food stuffs from M and S, I realised that half the delegates for the Society of Bookbinders training weekend had been on the same train. There followed the usual mad scramble for the lone waiting taxi.


Warora, the nearest town to Anandwan.


As we waved good bye to the unfortunates who had been unable to cram into the taxi I realised the joy of the train. I had arrived on time and with all my bags. B A take note.

I was due to talk at 7.30 and arrived at Loughborough University (the venue) at 4.30. This would leave me plenty of time to set up and relax. After the almost military like signing in process I made my way to the lecture theatre. There then followed the usual intake of breath from the resident tech support guy as I pulled out my Mac. The now familiar 'Sorry mate we only do PC here' and after the customary hunt for a memory stick and the pushing of many buttons, my images were PCed.

Once that particular task was complete I was free to wander the trade fair. Like a market of old I gazed at the wondrous gems that were on sale. The various vendors tempting me with free wine, offers of vast savings and nights of passion. I bought nothing.


Shopping in Warora.


I was allowed food and was escorted to to the eating hall by my good friend David. By this time I was in a state of pre lecture nerves and could only eat a few mouth fulls. Those of you who have seen me eat food may find this lack of enthusiasm out of character. I cannot even remember what I had.


The evening meal in Anandwan.



As with any event of this nature, things began to run out of schedule. Normally this would not pose any problems but I had a 9.30 train to catch back to London as I had workshops in the studio the following day.


Patients at Anandwan.



At last, people began to filter into the lecture hall. The opening speeches and the rules of engagement for the weekend. Finally I managed to deliver the talk about teaching in India. As usual no questions. As usual all the hand outs I had prepared were pillaged and two people (from a total of some 110 delegates) gave their contact details to receive more information. I thank those 3 wonderful people as it is important to have an initial response.

Finally we were allowed to move to the bar area for refreshments and chat while others demonstrated their various skills in areas of bookbinding.

One and a half pints later I was in a taxi retracing my steps of earlier in the day. Was it worth all the effort, the days of practise and the nerves ? Perhaps, as the delegates have time to reflect on the weekend they may remember the talk and consider how they can help. I for one am what we call a slow burner (things taking some time to sink in)


The bookbinding students at Anandwan.



I would like to thank the organisers of the event and the members of the Society of Bookbinders for giving me the opportunity to share what I think is a worthwhile cause.

Results at last

After the frustrations of last week I manage to get on top of the print thing. Sitting on the bench are three finished prints. One week and three prints, not a good ratio of time, effort and result.

Once I get clear time and space in the studio I will be back to the press. Then I will firnish you with images.

Print project.

What a frustrating day.

I have the topic, marginalia from an old French religious tome. Some ten pages are adorned with various hands, on a number of different topics. Corners are folded over, crumbs cascade from the pages as I open them. Simply wonderful stuff, the secret life of a book.

So to the print technique, as with a lot of what I do it has to be simple. But today nothing is going right. I can not blame the materials, the subject matter, the ink or the press. It is all down to me, I have to concentrate, take five and restart. Have been in the studio since six this morning and managed to produce a pile of waste. Some days are like this, nothing seems to go right. A cup of tea and a fag should restore me. Back to the bench and start again.

Sir Patrick Spens and other Ballads is finished.

After a long day Sir Patrick Spens is finished.Lots of layering of papers and leather, lots of gold leaf and fiddling around with bits.


The front board has been shaped to resemble a sail, much the same as the back board extension.



Front and back leather jointed end papers and doublers.

Sir Patrick Spens and other Ballads takes shape.

The Folio edition of Sir Patrick Spens. A charming single section text block measuring 11cm x 8cm, with engravings by Jane Lydbury.

The main ballad is of a sad tale of a sea Captain who leaves the shores of Scotland to collect a child Princess from Norway in about 1290.

There are a number of versions but all follow a similar path. The King of Scotland asks the best sailor in the Kingdom (Sir Patrick Spens) to sail a ship to Norway to bring home the Maid of Norway, a seven year old Princess. Spens agrees but is worried as he has to set sail in mid winter.

It is believed that Spens did reach Norway, collected the Princess but was engulfed by a storm. The ship, with all hands, sank.

As I have said there are a number of versions. However, having been on a small fishing boat, in the North Sea, in winter, even on a mild day, I find it easy to imagine what perils brought Spens to his untimely demise.


The back board, showing small cold gold panels (tiles) with a worn, sail like panel that traverses the back board and the spine area of the book.


The back of the sail panel and the, as yet, unfinished front board. The tiles are a reference to the brightly coloured Pallians (tents) golden masts we read of in the other ballads and the destruction of Spens ship.



The front and back end papers, turbulent waves.


Detail of the rear tiles and the sail panel.

Sir Patrick Spens

The new book is a pile of bits at the moment. Images will follow later today but please, do not hold your breath.

Beyond Giving Poems

Finally Beyond Giving is finished. There is still a little work to do but the main work has been done. I still have to think about the box or the another method of housing the book. I will put it to bed and start on the next book.

Why all the work ? well there is an exhibition that I hope to have work in, I have said that I will have 4 new works to show and the clock is ticking.

Lips

With the blind tooling nearly finished I can begin to work on the panels. The panels are infilled with white leather and emulsified leather dust. Once this has set gold leaf is laid on top of the emulsified leather and allowed to dry. The resulting texture catches the light and draws the eye towards the image of the lips.









I love working with gold leaf in this way.

More colour

The next step was to add more colour, again the leather has been hand dyed, this time in red. The swirls are worked with a number of applications.



Blind tooling will continue over the front board, spine and back board. There is still a long way to go but I am happy with the way things have gone so far.

Beyond Giving - endpapers and doublures

The endpapers are set and leather joints in place. The next step is to work the doublures. Up to four layers of hand-dyed papers are layed on to the board and sanded. This simple step has taken me two days, I can not believe how long it takes to sand paper.



The lower colours of the various papers showing through the top layer, I hope to have created a sense of depth and movement. I have found that with some bookbinders they stick to one or two techniques when it comes to endpapers and doublures. I think that contemporary interpretive bookbinders need to be flexible, how can they produce work when they are limited in their technical approach ?



A close up of the lower front doublure.
The pattern of the sanded papers echos the turn-ins, emphasising the construction, the under layers that are often hidden, the construction becomes part of the overall look of the book without being contrived.

Work resumes on the cover.



Panels of leather have been removed awaiting a further application of dye.

I suppose that to many bookbinding purists I am breaking all the rules. First, I am work with the book in an interpretive way, I do not use much gold leaf, I did not serve an apprenticeship and with this binding I have finished the inside before I have completed all the work on the outside.

With this particular binding I have had to work inside out so that the design flows from the inside to the cover, working this way, I am sure that this flows with work in reverse.

Morris Cox

I realise that my earlier blog was without a conclusion. It is easy to rant about what is bad, after all politicians do it for a living.

Perhaps I should explain why I think the way I do. I come from an arts background, my family and my initial training being in art and design. I have earned money working in the arts. I enjoy the creative process and if I am honest the chance for other people to share my work.

Okay, less about me. More, who I believe are top book artists. I would like to deal with these one at a time, to re-visit.

I would like to begin with MORRIS COX (1903-1998) At this point I would suggest that you Google



I suppose that we all have our likes and dislikes when looking at stuff. Take time to find out about him. You may not like his work, you may not agree with his methods but I deny any one to argue against his heart.

There are aspects to his work and him that I just admire. No one would publish his work, so he did. His prints are alive, there is none of the bullshit that some book artists have. Cox did it because he wanted to communicate. He moved forward not just with his work but within himself. It is hard for me to put my finger on the point where I say " That's it" , more I am comfortable with his work. Life is not all happy, happy, wistful memories and puppies. Cox moves with ease between birth and death.

He lives on with his words and images.
Can one say that of some book arts ?

A day in Studio 5.....alone

With the Kyffin project done, the books delivered, waiting to be exhibited and sold by auction, I move on to the books on the bench.

So, a day of printing. End papers for a commission - all Greek gods and mythology, great fun. The technique I used is a Soft Plate off-Set process... lots of ink, lots of water and back breaking work at the press. The Studio 5 members love it, but then I am usually the one who does the press work....lucky people
With those done I have been able to concentrate on the printing of a new book. Yes, I print my own. The proofing press was dusted down, rollers charged and away I went. Today has been a practise day, a day of experimentation, a day of surprises and by-and-large a good day.

I have decided the subject, the overall look and the edition number. Images and text will be gathered, exciting times.

One of the issues I have with making the complete book , is that I have been called a book artist. In some ways I am. In many ways I am not. I find it difficult to keep calm when I view some of the offerings that flood the various Artists Book Fairs and the like. Flaccid, ill made trite. Crooned over by frustrated artists. The worst are those who have done some course or an other, they wave their qualification like a warrant, to ensure that the money they have spent on the course will ensure that you take them seriously and part with your money.

I think of them as Christmas cracker book artists, book arts by numbers.

This leaves me wide open for criticism, perhaps I should not comment and let the book art world spiral into a pedestrian morass. I can not, I believe that there can be a balance between the art and the craft. There are many fantastic book artists but they are overshadowed by the voiced majority who say so much, about so little, so often.

Leather dyeing for Beyond Giving

As the construction of the text block nears completion I turn my attention to the leather that will form the base of the finished binding.
Once again I use a natural skin to take the leather dye. Using broad sweeps with a cotton wool swab the dye is applied. This takes time as each coat must dry as too much dye can cause the colour to Bronze. I am not at home to Mr Bronze.



I prefer to work with the leather as if it is a canvas. Depth of colour can be built up or left, this gives me greater control of the making process. Many bookbinders are happy to use stock leathers from the suppliers, a shame as it limits the palette.



Detail of the leather.



Covered. Looking at the leather on the book one is able to understand the form, depth of colour and shapes that have been created during the hand dyeing process.



Detail of the spine area (ultra flat)



Front end paper and leather joint.