Nidus i

 The original unbound book work about nests was this one using rusted papers, and stitching. Like the grey one which followed, but which I blogged about previously, it is an unbound book work, where I invite the reader or viewer to co-create poetry about nests, from the pages I have deliberately left unbound.

Once again they can be re-arranged into 5 haiku poems; they can become single line or triple line poetry; or they can be combined into one lengthy poem.

I used a full stitching line to indicate the 7 syllable pages, just in case folk really wanted to do the haiku poems and enjoyed a shortcut kind of thing.

I had really wanted to gather together a collection of things that were linked or connected to nest making and, the notion of the divided box with that special little extra compartment to hold them came into being.

I have submitted this book to an exhibition in New Zealand. It would be wonderful if it were selected and could go on show there...

Nidus, for Narratives

 Before we left, we delivered our books for the Artists' Book exhibition Narratives, which is being held in Maleny whilst we are away (again). I am so sorry we will miss it, as it always brings forth some delightful and thoughtful books.

I changed my mind about which book to enter as I went along and in the end I submitted the second unbound book work on nests I had been preparing called Nidus  (Latin for Nest). The soft grey one.

In part because as I was working out what to include in the additional compartment of the box, Barry asked me to consider my sterling silver nest. The one I had created under Lindsey's supervision back here.

As soon as he said it, I knew he was right. I simply had to let go of the nest, and work out how best to include it. I didn't really have any other real plans for it, but I was attached to it!

But more on that later...

I have long been fascinated by 'the unbound book' (see here and here and here and here for examples).

Nearly all of my unbound book works have been about re-arranging. About a non-linear narrative and about the involvement of the reader/viewer. And so it is with these books. What begins as 15 single pages, can become so much more, and so many more things.

Initially drafted as 5 separate haiku poems (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables) these words and poems now range free. They can be re-arranged into 5 haiku poems; they can become single line or triple line poetry; they can be combined into one lengthy poem.

A typical haiku: 5,7,5 syllables

Not a haiku, but a rather lovely gathering of thoughts nonetheless...

Another variation.

 

And some more...

It is entirely up to the reader or viewer to determine the form. As the colophon notes:

Nidus (Latin). Nest.

An unbound book work, co-creating poetry, meaning and nests.

I used the simple stitched lines to help folk, who might desire it, determine which were the five and which were the seven syllable lines.

I felt that this book (and its sibling) are both worthy and valued. I wanted to present them beautifully and I blogged about my personal inability to create what they needed in the moment here.

And so I commissioned some Perspex boxes; each with a little bit on the side to support and extend and celebrate the book. This is where the silver nest comes into its own.

Stitched with invisible (!) thread onto a piece of the embossed grey paper, and snuggled into the display compartment.

I really love the softness of this work and I hope folk enjoy exploring it as well.

Continuing with the nesting book

 The pages are coming along well for the new nesting book. I continue to struggle with how much to add in, or leave out. How soft and gentle to be; how not to overcrowd things; how to make it friendly enough to read without distracting. Heaven only knows why I still have all this fluff going on in my head when I make a book, but here I am.

I have done the writing, and am happy with it. It is soft, it is subtle and it is legible.

Nidus is the title of the book - Latin for nest.

Some of the words on the pages...

A bunch of the pages tumbled together.

Here is the embossing plate I used for the nest. Back in the days of Pas de Deux when Susan and I were collaborating mightily, she used this embossing to help illustrate a book of mine; and one of hers. I borrowed it from her recently to see if it could have another book opportunity. 

Because we sold our etching press, I only have access to a proofing press these days so it was quite the challenge to create the pressure to get a full emboss. I also think the paper was quite heavy, but it was the colour I was after so needs must.

In amongst things I have completed a small calligraphic commission, and am preparing for my artist talk in Brisbane next Saturday. 

Oh! And we are still hoping to get to Scotland in a few weeks, but there are of course complexities. We are going slowly and steadily with our plans and changes, but are hopeful...

A screen shot of the thumbnails of the slides in my artist talk!

Another nesting book...

 I have been enjoying my book about nests a lot, and on the way through started to create some more pages that could possibly be used for another book.

The pages are all grey, which I like, and I imagined a really soft book, so I was hoping to be able to get white wording onto the pages (not the black of the typewriter).

As much as I love white, softness and there, not there looks, even I knew this wouldn't look good or be legible for most folk.  Sometimes subtle is tooooo subtle. Although I tried all sort of pens and inks and pencils!

So I checked again with the black - and really it was too stark and demanding. It didn't feel as if it reflected the quietude of nest building.

So all the pens and pencils I could imagine came out and off we went again. Luckily for me B now has a lot of grey pens and I could test quite a few.

As much as I loved the very fine 0.1 pale greys, when you stepped away from them you could barely read them. In the end the warm grey 0.3 was the best choice. Not as harsh or stark as the dark greys and blacks; but legible unlike the light greys. It felt like Goldilocks I tell you!

And here are the grey pages with this beautiful soft emboss of a nest. The bottom card is true to the light and colour; the tilted one is far darker than the real thing, but offers a look at the embossing.

And so i set up a template to start writing...

And began...

There have been some dreary days here and there, but I brought these bright flower inside recently and they were rather cheering!

Boxes and displaying things

I have almost finished my book for Narratives. The pages are done and the cover is done and the colophon is done. The backing sheets have been glued into place. I have gathered some extra bibs and bobs.

And my mind has turned to storage and display. I had planned to make a display tray with a divider to hold the book and some bits alongside it.  At different points over the past few weeks I have watched some videos; drawn some ideas; plotted out a path or paths to making a box with grey board and book cloth. I chose the book cloth and got the grey board!

Sunday was the day I had on my To Do List - make box. 

So I set aside time and sat down to think my way through once again. Playing around here with some cardboard and getting a feel for how big I wanted it to be; how high I wanted the walls to be.

I decided I would do a trial run using Bristol Board/very lightweight card.

It was great to get out of my head and into my hands. As I went about doing the things I thought I should do (in my head) my hands remembered that I needed to do other things, and do some things differently. Thank you hands.

So I made a display tray with tape holding it together and thought yep I have the dimensions right and some of the logic about which side are slightly higher; which ones might be slightly longer than the internal dimensions and so on.

I was happy with the dimensions - it felt as if the book would sit nicely in its place and the other compartment could hold the extra bibs and bobs - the proportions worked. 

You can just see it here below, but I also wanted to include a notch in the divider so that you could lift the book out quite easily.

I showed it to Barry at this point and we agreed I had a good plan and the thing looked good. I then went - now I just have to work out how to cover it. And I pondered that in my brain and came up with some thoughts. My brain was really hurting here! I thought I might cover the divider before gluing it in and then when I looked at it I thought oh my goodness; it is going to be really hard to cover that notch neatly.

And I stopped dead right there.

This was the point at which I thought I have run into a real road block. I realised I had bitten off far more than I could chew and that I needed to re-assess everything about this book and its presentation and display. It felt as if there was no way I could bring a beautiful and professional looking finish to this work with my current plans and thoughts.

I had also planned to do another tray that would fit over the top and which you would lift off to reveal the book and its bits. Whilst this seemed simpler than the divider tray - it also would have to look perfect and so there was yet another job to do.

So it was back to the drawing board and looking at a multiplicity of alternatives that might somehow do what I wanted.

Dear Reader, I am still contemplating! Fingers crossed something reveals itself to me in a way that looks good and is manageable within the timeframe (just under three weeks). Stay tuned.

In addition to the twigs, I have been gathering other bits I thought could go with the book....

Much pondering still needed!

The love of nests

 I got a wonderfull surprise last week when B came home from his art class, bearing a box with three nests and some eggs in it! His marvellous teacher had told him to "take them home so Fiona can photograph them"!

And that is exactly what I did.

The eggs are a mix of chicken eggs and quail eggs and don't belong to the actual nests themselves, but they do look lovely within them.

Here follows a bunch of photos in all sorts way in celebration of nests (and birds, and feathers, and eggs).

I love the fragment of fabric here...

The final ones are taken using the app that the square point of sale device which we use recommends for taking shots of items for retail online shops...interesting and slightly ethereal.

Deep sigh. They are such glorious things. So clever, so remarkable, so robust.