New Year and finally posting again
Well, It's been a crazy few months here in Codyland. After the presidential election here I was very depressed and didn't really feel up to being chatty on the blogs. I have even cut back on my other social media sites, except for Instagram. But, now that I am back to creating in earnest, I wanted to share some of what I am up to. I am still creating digital collages using my own photos. But, I am also really digging the hand made book path. I have been in several shows this past year and am looking to be in several more this year if all goes well.
Most of the books I have been making tend to be more sculptural in nature. Currently I am just finishing up a three book series on trees and nature. One of the last pieces is a project born out of trying to create a flag style book. My idea came from the prayer flags at Buddhist temples. But, as time went on it morphed.
I began by taking some silk leaves and did an acrylic wash on them to tone them down a bit. This also served to make them a bit stronger and more durable.
In the above two photos it shows the frame upon which I will build the book structure. I wanted it to be round. The wood is made of grapevine and basswood. Later on I put cross braces made out of willow.
Here I am sewing the leaf pages onto a ribbon binding strip. This will then be attached to the wooden frame. The leaf pages by the way, were stamped with symbols and also words of power were written on some of them. The concept was to alternate symbols and words. The book is to be a kind of nature's Grimoire.
This is the actual book form finished after the bindings were attached using waxed linen thread. I have a stand that the book will be placed on to hold it up. It turned out just as I had envisioned it would. That usually never happens.
This is the first in the leaf book series. I created pages made out of decorative papers. The pages have quotes about nature from a variety of famous people in history.
The book is a tag style binding with a central post that is mounted on a piece of bark. An acorn cap is used to top the post binding.
The next three images show the second book in the leaf series. I created the covers from a three layer laminated paper and card stock. The pages are made from silk. I painted a wash of acrylic on the leaves to give them some strength and durability.
The binding is a technique using bamboo skewers and ribbon. It gives the book a nice natural look and feel.
I love how this book feels. The title is "Dear Universe" and is a series of letters to the universe, time, love, spirit and death. It was inspired in part from the movie collateral beauty. The main character in that movie writes letters to love, time and death as a means to cope with a tragedy. I thought it was a great way to express some of my feelings at the time.
There you have it. Some of what I have been working in the past four months or so. I hope that your year is going good so far. I am just keeping myself focused on creating to take my mind off of the political state of the world. Peace and love to you all and thank you for being so kind and supportive over the years. I have a really big book series planned that should keep me very busy. I hope to be posting about them here from time to time. Peace out y'all/
Most of the books I have been making tend to be more sculptural in nature. Currently I am just finishing up a three book series on trees and nature. One of the last pieces is a project born out of trying to create a flag style book. My idea came from the prayer flags at Buddhist temples. But, as time went on it morphed.
I began by taking some silk leaves and did an acrylic wash on them to tone them down a bit. This also served to make them a bit stronger and more durable.
In the above two photos it shows the frame upon which I will build the book structure. I wanted it to be round. The wood is made of grapevine and basswood. Later on I put cross braces made out of willow.
Here I am sewing the leaf pages onto a ribbon binding strip. This will then be attached to the wooden frame. The leaf pages by the way, were stamped with symbols and also words of power were written on some of them. The concept was to alternate symbols and words. The book is to be a kind of nature's Grimoire.
This is the actual book form finished after the bindings were attached using waxed linen thread. I have a stand that the book will be placed on to hold it up. It turned out just as I had envisioned it would. That usually never happens.
This is the first in the leaf book series. I created pages made out of decorative papers. The pages have quotes about nature from a variety of famous people in history.
The book is a tag style binding with a central post that is mounted on a piece of bark. An acorn cap is used to top the post binding.
The next three images show the second book in the leaf series. I created the covers from a three layer laminated paper and card stock. The pages are made from silk. I painted a wash of acrylic on the leaves to give them some strength and durability.
The binding is a technique using bamboo skewers and ribbon. It gives the book a nice natural look and feel.
I love how this book feels. The title is "Dear Universe" and is a series of letters to the universe, time, love, spirit and death. It was inspired in part from the movie collateral beauty. The main character in that movie writes letters to love, time and death as a means to cope with a tragedy. I thought it was a great way to express some of my feelings at the time.
There you have it. Some of what I have been working in the past four months or so. I hope that your year is going good so far. I am just keeping myself focused on creating to take my mind off of the political state of the world. Peace and love to you all and thank you for being so kind and supportive over the years. I have a really big book series planned that should keep me very busy. I hope to be posting about them here from time to time. Peace out y'all/
Comments
Keep up the great work like these books. So original and well done! Hugs for you and your honey!