Book Workshop

This past October I was lucky enough to take a course from Lisa Cheney-Jorgensen, a very talented and friendly book artist currently residing in Idaho. She bravely journeyed south to Reno to hold a two day intensive on completing a multiple-signature artist book sewn on tapes and with headband technique. For those of you to whom that was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo take a look at the pictures below. 

Alphonse inspecting the new addition to our library and providing scale.

First off we bound our book with lovely Stonehenge watercolor paper, a nice solid 180lb which is thick but not quite as pillowy as a 220lb. This is a versatile paper great for inking, drawing, painting, watercolor, guache, and many other mixed media. I myself am not much of a mixed media artist but I do love ink and that's a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to machine milled paper. Stonehenge is a cotton fiber blend which gives it both longer fibers, therefore more durability, and more cushion to absorb the liquids I'll be inflicting upon her pages.

Fantastic pattern, very large, great for a big book like this.

The paper I chose for the cover is a multi-color block print gift wrap on a lokta-like substance. It's label claimed it was acid-free but even if that was untrue the color and pattern were so appealing I'd've used it anyway. I'm a particular fan of the floral motif interspersed with gold accents. Bling isn't really my style but gild, apparently, is. Since purchasing this paper I've neglected to use it because it was so pretty and I felt it deserved more than to be used as a disposable cover-up for someone else.

Love that lokta, and the thread!

Each signature's spine is strengthened by the addition of decorative paper. I used a Thai lokta marbled green and gold. I had brought a fantastic orange one as well but ended up selecting only the green. I felt that paper worked with the colors of the cover paper and the orange competed. In the shot above we can get a fair view of the headband - the waxed linen thread bridging the head of the cover in a lovely burgundy and supplying a little extra support and visual interest for the signatures and binding. This sewing technique was very difficult to understand but once mastered quite efficient. As much as I love the look of the headbands I don't think they'll be a regularly appearing technique. They take more time than the binding of the book itself and twice the thread. That being said I may keep it in my toolbox for special commissions or friend and family gifts instead of trying to sell them for profit.

Nice shot of the binding threads.

This is the best shot of the binding. The yellow ribbon are the "tapes" beneath the blue waxed linen thread and the beads with which we embellished the binding. Sewing on a "tape" lends further stability to a multiple signature binding than just the binding threads themselves.  What makes this an "artist book"? Well, for one it was created by an artist. Being bound, folded, and cased in by hand makes a difference, but the purpose is also to become a piece of art. My intention is to fill those pages with images, inspiration, and even finished work. Who knows if I'll ever do that, it's a very nice piece and during class we all discussed that we appreciated the books so much we didn't want to sully our newly pressed pages with art like ours.

In total it took over fifteen hours to bind the paper, complete the covers, attach the tapes, secure the beads, and strengthen and fold the signatures. It took another five hours to complete the head bands, and a few more to add finishing touches. Worthy of pride and praise, this book may be used only as an example for future projects but I'm glad to have completed it. I intend to complete several more for the holiday season, should time allow, but not for sale. A huge thanks to Lisa for making the trip down and bringing extra patience with her, to Candace Nicol for hosting the class, to my friends Penny and Carol for giving me a great deal on their beautiful hand made glass beads, and the lovely group of people who made up this weekend class.

You can buy books similar to this one as well as cards, prints, and framed art at the Indie Reno Holiday Show in just a couple of weeks! Free swag for the first 25 shoppers continues with the Indie Reno tradition, and we'll be full of cheer and beautiful locally hand made goods this year. I'd love to see you there! Don't forget to like Indie Reno on Facebook to keep up to date on our events.