Sunday Printing in Studio 5.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Studio 5 going live!

 

Sunday morning, the smell of ink and one of the studio Adana 8x5. Bliss.

 

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

It is Time For Booker 2023.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Studio 5 going live!Again! Again!

It is Booker time..........

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker.../prize-years/2023

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

Paper Covered Slip Cases

Studio 5 going live!Again!

Round entry slip case in full paper....

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

A Backing Hack.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Studio 5 going live!Again!

Not everyone has a backing/laying press, so a little hack to help keep backing boards in place when using a finishing press for backing.

 

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

The Proofing Press.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Studio 5 going live!Again!

The proofing press.

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

Print, Ink and Lino.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Studio 5 going live!

Print, ink and lino.

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

The Print.... The Book and So On.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

The last week or so I have been lino cutting for a new book. 

 

Inspired by the life and work of Morris Cox (1903-1998) and his private press - GOGMAGOG and the work of Max Ernst (1891-1976) I have decided to re-awaken the sleeping printer in me. Now, before we go any further it has to be said that in no way would I consider myself to be a printer, competent or otherwise. I consider myself to the an entusiast (with much to learn) at best.

The last time I did any serious printing was a number of years ago, my adanas, type, lino, proofing press etc have gathered dust. So I am going to print a single book. 'Why just the single book?" I hear you ask. Well, yes printing is about editions, multiples and so forth but I just want to get the old engine working, to have a little fun, to try stuff, you know..... to just do it.

First is the lino cutting. Images derived from Victorian (perhaps others) originals, enlarged or distorted. There is something magical about lino, I know that there will be some who say that wood cuts are better and perhaps they are... but I have to be honest. I feel that I am not good enough to use wood and the speed that one can work with lino is something I enjoy.

 

Below, some of the first pulls from my proofing press.

 

 Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

 

A little bit of this and that.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

A little bit of type set and lino printing. Just a quick pull to see what is what.

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

Teaching/sharing at Flatford Mill.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

I thought I would share a few images of the Bookbinding for Beginners and Improvers at Flatford Mill. Though we have fun I share, with the beginners, how to make a multi sectional flat back, a slip case with time for them to repeat or work on an individual project. The Improvers work on their own projects. A busy week!

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

Gold Leaf and Leather Tesserae.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Now that I find myself back in Studio 5 after a few weeks lecturing and the like in Australia and the Philippines, I am able to complete a two day course in leather and cold gold techniques. The first day was fun, bags of leather and stuff, today was the gold and whatnot.

We looked at three variations on a theme.

 Ending with wonderful gold and leather tesserae.

 Please note.... there are other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

 

Minimalist Workshop Day 2.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Day 2 of the two day workshop in Minimalist Tight Flat Back Binding (MTFB). 

 

Concentrating on leather and board work the MTFB comes together. During the moments when our books were being pressed we looked at Parchment, variations in use and a method of making corners. Never a dull moment....

 

Please note.... there are other books and other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

Minimalist Workshop.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

End of the first day of the two day workshop in Minimalist Tight Flat Back Binding.

An interesting morning, first we looked at the origins of the Minimalist Tight Flat Back (MTFB). Then we folded sections, always a good place to start, worked with a variation in end-papers, pressing, trimming and of course sewing. Lunch gives time for the first application of adhesive to dry with the text block being pressed.

 

In the afternoon we worked with the initial spine material, additional sewing withe the final spine linning of split being applied in prep for tomorrow morning.

 

We have talked about design, material use and the need to be open in experimentation and our approach to working with the book.

 

Tomorrow we will concentrate on leather work, manipulation of book cloth... this is the 21st century!

 

Please note.... there are other books and other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

Ease but no Wobble. Bookbinding at Flatford Mill.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

The first week workshop at the wonderful Flatford Mill of the year.

A little information about the location and venue....Flatford Mill is the first and original field studies centre https://www.field-studies-council.org/about-us/which was set up in the UK during the 1940’s. It is the centre for Constable Country, set amidst the quintessentially English countryside of the Dedham Vale in Suffolk and sitting on the banks of the River Stour. Flatford Mill runs residential field study visits for school students and provides a very wide range of natural history along with art and craft courses, which include... of course.... Bookbinding. https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/static-courses/bookbinding-for-beginners-and-improvers/

Residential students stay in internationally important buildings such as Willy Lotts’ House, (built in the 1500’s and made famous by John Constable’s ‘Haywain’ painting), Valley Farm (a medieval great hall built in the 1450’s) and of course the Mill itself that was owned and renovated by the Constable family in the 1700’s.

 

As usual, a mixture of complete beginners and those with experience. When I say complete beginners... never picked up a bone folder etc.

 Our first book is a Multi sectional flat back case binding, section folding, sewing, cutting and binding all by hand. Quarter Cloth with Flottage papers that the students made in the morning of the first day... A great loosener - clears the cobwebs. Though there is control with the colours used and one can manipulate the pattern to a degree, the technique is, by and large, serendipitous..... There is no 'wrong' Flottage!....

We learn so much, the nature of paper, making our own adhesives, thread and wax, folding sections and so forth. And, if I may, I would like to answer a question that I am often asked... That is why do I start with a multisectional case bound book... My thoughts are that so much is learnt with the Multisectional Case Bound book that when the student looks at simpler binding styles such as the single single section, the student is able to look at the single section (for example) understand how it is made by being able to reverse engineer, as it were. The concertina book and the other structures that beginners are often subject to become childs play.....

In addition, nothing is in kit form, I feel that all kits do is to teach the student how to assemble kits. My students learn how to measure, cut board by hand (how many beginners have a board chopper?), manipulate and manage the various materials to maximise use. We learn not just how but why, we follow, where we can, the Arts and Crafts ethos. Examples of the period back up the practical experience. For example.. To wean the student of the machine cut edge (if you want a book to look machine made, buy a machine made book) to appreciate the beauty of the uncut- untrimmed text block... To embrace the allure of the handmade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The teaching/learning is immersive, full on, and, as so many of the students have said in the past..... intensive (by intensive they mean that they are tired at the end of the day, indeed as I am after some 9 hours of tuition a day).

Along with the quarter cloth we make a full buckram flat back and slip case. The 2nd flat back reinforces what we have learnt with the addition of new aspects... A variation in sewing for example.

The slip case, again we use the students Flottage papers, with emphasis given to the fact that the book must be able to both enter and leave the slip case with ease but no wobble!

Having a mixed class of both beginners and those with experience is wonderful. The beginner is exposed to further aspects of bookbinding such as restoration, advanced structures, different materials - leather bindings etc etc. For those with experience, well, it never hurts have have the basics reinforced or re-remembered and, of course, there is always more than one way of doing things... even the humble slip case as a number of those with experience commented on!

Please note.... there are other books and other studios/binderies/learning centers doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

Chelsea Arts Club Charity Auction.

 

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Well hung. The Bookpecker. My offering for the Chelsea Arts Club charity auction-animal vegetable mineral. 22nd March-14thApril.

Please follow the link on how to bid. Bookpecker is lot 73. However there are many other fine works.

https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/chelseaartsclubcharityauction...

Please note.... there are other clubs and charity auctions along with book arts and other studios/binderies/ doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.