Spring Exhibit Comes to Close

The San Antonio Calligrapher's Guild Spring Exhibit at the Central Library will come to a close on March 28th. If you are in downtown San Antonio this week, pop into the enchilada red main library building. The building it self is quite a site. The Spring Exhibit is on the ground floor in the gallery. Directly above the gallery the Fiesta Tower by Dale Chihuly is installed to commemorate the library systems 100th anniversary. From the gallery space you can look directly up to see it in it's full state.

Calligraphy Guild Spring Show Closes

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Friday night was the closing night of the San Antonio Calligraphy Guild Spring Exhibit. Would you believe the kiln-formed glass piece above hung in that show? What you are missing in this photograph are the two sheets of clear glass upon which I carved the 37th chapter of Genesis. The focal piece above was mounted and framed floating above those two sheet of glass. It was the story of Joseph that was the backdrop for this contemporary swatch of fabric from his coat of many colors. Ripped clear through with the lines of the formal cannon this work was strongly influenced by my exposure to calligraphy and bookbinding. 

This years Spring Exhibit was a diverse display of calligraphic marks on not only paper and vellum, but glass, clay, stone, and fabric. I found it exciting to see the work being done by calligraphy guild members in so many mediums. What a fabulous show!

Thank you Gabriele for all your support. It always means something special to me when I know piece has found a good and loving home.

Making My Own Art Journal - Part 2

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Day 3

The Cover

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With the text block already prepared, it was now time to put on the cover. Measurements were carefully taken and museum boards cut and clearly labeled for each step of the process. Leather, in this case a naturally tanned terracotta goat skin, was selected and cut for the cover. 

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The leather would take some preparation before it would be ready for the cover. First it must be skived and pared. This is not an area where I have any expertise. Lucky for me I had the support of those fabulous Book Art Babes. Now I know just enough to understand what I must still learn. The Scharf-Fix was used for skiving the boarder of the skin so it would more easily bend around the covers's boards. Once skived on the Scharf-Fix a paring knife was used to create a smooth transition to the edges of the skin. This felt a lot to me like coldworking glass. Using one's finger to feel for a smooth transition while carefully removing material. The material and tools were unfamiliar but the goal was not.

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The edges of the boards were sanded down at an angle to allow the cover to easily open and close. Once completed the boards were attached to the text block tapes to form the skeleton of the books cover.

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The leather was prepared and the book covered. This was not without it's challenges. Although I have applied leather to a book's cover on a couple previous occasions (e.g. book with cords one and two), the variation of this concave spine provided me a learning opportunity I am not likely to forget. Molding the leather into instead of over the spine, I "stole" a bit more leather from one side then the other making the remaining job a little dicey. Making mistakes is how you learn. Overcoming them is part and partial for the course in bookbinding, kilnformed glass or any other form of craft. I'm a little wiser for this experience. Once complete the book went under pressure.

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Day 4

Final Touches

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The next and last day was devoted to finishing touches. End pages were put in. I selected a green embossed paper with a subtle gold sheen that worked with the green in my the headbands I had sewn into the book back on day two. The green provided a lovely contrast to the terracotta leather cover. But the finishing touches didn't end inside the book.

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On the outside of the book gold tooling was used to add a design on the front cover. I reached way back to a design I carved on a lino block years ago, shrunk down the image to just the right size and embossed it in 23k gold on the front cover. Simple, elegant, functional...  my favorite things.
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I can't wait to start using it!

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Making My Own Art Journal

Capturing, developing and planning the execution of an idea are important parts of the creative process. For me, personally developing the place where this takes place makes it all the more special. The books I have made are my own. They become a safe home for my ideas good and bad. After working to build and then fill a book it becomes an old dear friend, my own adult version of the velveteen rabbit.  On occasion however, I become afraid to write in a book. This happened to me with the book I made in May of 2010, whose pages are to day still blank. What I have to say doesn't seem to match a book so formal and unnatural to open and write in.  For that reason, I am very excited to be learning a new bookbinding technique under the wonderful and wise guidance of the Book Art Babes. This contemporary binding, the rigid concave spine, was developed by James Brockman.  This binding is beautiful in it functionality and thus one I believe I will use comfortably and confidently.

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Day 1

Preparing the Text Block

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Day 2

Everyone's Favorite

Sewing the Headbands
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I'm half the way there. More to come...

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Completed Half Leather Five Cord Book

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Above: Front and back covers of a 9 x 12.5" book. The book contains 15 signatures each made from one sheet of Hahnehuhle Schiller paper torn into quarters, folded and punched. The signatures were sewn along with five cords to create the text block (as seen in a previous post) and then bond in a style medieval in origin. The spine and corners are covered in a half leather binding. A fine Japanese marble paper covering the remaining surface and inside covers. The headbands and deblure were done in a contrasting leather. The curves of the front cover are picked up on the back bottom corner, contrasting the other straight lines of the book.

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 I love that in making my own art journals, my hands are now contributing to every step of the creation process for my glass work. From creating the place I store and develop my ideas for projects to the creation of the project itself. It all takes places in/with my hands. The design ideas beginning with the creation of the  book itself.

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Stop... and take things one step at a time

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I'm quickly approaching one of those moments were if I don't stop and remind myself to take things one step at a time I will lose my mind. In addition to repeating the phrase "one thing at a time" to myself every 15 minutes, the best thing to do is to work on something that requires focus on process. It's time to build a book. 

When "building" anything one must focus on the steps required to complete the task. This isn't purely about creativity. It is about process. Not following each and every step accurately can lead to devastating results; so one must follow a checklist and review one's work to ensure quality. Not a bad exercise for someone who needs to regain some focus. My current exercise in sanity is a 9x12" half leather book with five cords. To date I have; torn down and folded paper into 15 signatures; punched holes in each signature and sewn them together around linen cords; formed, rounded and smoothed the spine; created and attached headbands; and attached 98 davey board covers to the linen cords. It is as this point a fully functioning book.

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Above, the text block prepared and ready for covers, is being used to select the  best leather and paper options for the book's cover. This weekend, I will finish dressing the book with black leather and a Japanese marble paper and end by adding a contrasting leather doublure to match the headbands. This book will be similar to the one made last October, only even bigger.
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Five Pointed Star Book

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The first weekend of December the ladies from Book Art Babes held a fun two day workshop. Here is one of the four books taught that weekend, the Star Book.
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Once I got past the tiny bit of math involved the process was rather straight forward. I look forward to making more of these accordion style books. I already have an idea or two rattling around in my head. I just love how graphic and sculptural this little book can be. Closed the book measures just 4.25 x 6.25 x.75 inches but open it stretches up to 2.5 feet.
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Above Left: front/outside pages of star
Above Right: back/inside of star
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Why Bookbinding?

Why bookbinding on a glass blog? This is a question you might be asking. It is certainly one I asked myself before I began learning this skill and as I began posting about it. It boils down to this; I believe it is important to expose yourself to new skills and techniques. Doing so has so many benefits.
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Exercise Your Mind

Challenging and stretching one’s abilities keeps your mind nimble. Learning new skills, specific those accompanied by a new physical or social activity are commonly recommended to deter dementia. If we simply continue to do what we have always done, we use only the same neural pathways we have already developed. It would be like doing the exact same workout every time you go to the gym. Shake it up every now and then and workout a different area of your mind.

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New Ideas

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A fresh perspective can generate new ideas. While working on my first book, in the summer of 2008, I learned about and used the formal canon. This principle uses lines drawn to divide the page indicating where text and design should be located, based on the principles from the golden mean. After preparing 128 pages this way, I became enamored not just with the technique but the lines and intersection of points it created as a design in itself. This showed up very quickly in fused glass pieces like the one auctioned on behalf of SaySi, last February.
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Above Left: The formal cannon lines on a blank page
Below Left: Page from the my first book, completed in 2008
Below Right: First of several glass pieces from this inspiration

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The Importance of Planning

More and more I am assured of the importance of thinking through work in advance and documenting the entire process in a complete and holistic way, not just the material and firing schedule. For me, these books beginning to serve this purpose. Using the book to tell the story of a body of work from conception to completion, helps me to both plan and document a particular series. The book I created in 2008 was used as a gathering place, for thoughts on water, for a work in glass I am still slowly (very slowly) working on. In May, I made another book, which I am using to gather ideas and document the process for a series I am presently working on but I'll share more on that book/glass series later.
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The Language of Book Arts

I recently read, a book checked out from the San Antonio Calligraphy Guild Library, titled A Degree of Mastery written by Annie Tremmell Wilcox. After participating in a few bookbinding workshops, I was open and amazed at the story this book told of a journey through a book arts apprenticeship and a life long pursuit of mastery. As I am just becoming familiar with the tools and techniques, I found it an amazing experience to swim in the language of this skill set. It was like being dropped in the middle of a Latin American country after taking only one semester of Spanish. It all sounds familiar and beautiful but your not really grasping it all. Then before you know it you begin to understand and even contribute to the conversation. This is how I would describe my relationship to this book.

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For anyone who has spent time learning the skills associated with any craft, you will appreciate the homage Annie pays her instructor. Through the course of her story she tells a deeply personal and heartfelt account of her education as a bookbinder and the master who contributed to it.

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To assist me with my new learning, I sought out a simple entry level book on the subject of bookbinding. You know, one with easy to understand language, pretty pictures and vibrant colors. I'll get to the more technical ones later. What I need right now is something to help me understand the lingo, learn the very basic tools and encourage my budding interest, without overwhelming me. I found The Bookbinding Handbook: Simple Techniques and Step-by-Step Projects at my neighborhood mega-bookstore, and it does the job nicely.

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The BIG book

I recently completed my third handmade book, under the tutelage of Maggie and Leslie from Book Art Babes. This, a leather book with cords, was differently the most difficult and rewarding of the books I have made thus far. Each time, I become more and more familiar with the tools of the trade, the language (like any specialty they have their own vocabulary) and materials. Although I will spare you the many details. Here is a high level progression of this project, which took the better part of 4 days from start to end.

-The text block was made from individual sheets of 22x30" paper torn down, folded, punched and sewn together. To this codex I added five linen cords and custom headbands at each end.

-After the text block is prepared, the spine of the book is strengthened by applying a series of wheat paste and long fiber papers, including Kozo and Kitikata.

-After significant measuring and remeasuring, Davey Board was cut to the appropriate size, wholes wear drilled for the linen cords and the boards where tentatively placed on the text block. The design for the leather and decorative paper where sketched on the board's surface.
- The leather was cut, prepared and applied to the spine and corners of the book. A heavy weight conservation quality paper was then used to fill the space between the leather before applying the decorative paper. As a final touch a doublure was cut from the leather and applied inside between the cover and text block (very fancy).

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When all was said and done...

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Thank you Maggie and Leslie. You are wonderful educators. I am looking forward to contining my book arts education with you in the winter.