Book stitching

I was recently asked if I could make a special "this is your life" kind of book for somebody - they didn't want it presented in a plastic folder or file; they wanted something personal and handmade.

I did a lot of the preparatory work - choosing paper, printing out the pages, doing a cover page in calligraphy, covering the boards for the covers and the like.

Then on Thursday I began to stitch.

It was a largish book with not really strong paper, so I decided that 6 pairs of stitching holes would work well.

There were lots of pages, so I thought I would need about 1.5m of thread for each pair.  So I threaded up twelve needles onto six rather long threads and began.

It was a lesson in patience and tenacity I must admit.  May I say that 12 needles and threads can get tangled ever so easily and things do move slowly as you use one needle at a time to stitch.  But we got  there.

We've only just begun...
(me in my handmade skirt from a year and a half ago)

I got a bit besotted by the threads dangling into my lap at times.

Edging closer, threads getting shorter.

Back next day, had to unpick a few sheets and begin again from about 3/4 of the way through.

Setting on the back cover.

Remnants of threads on the inside cover.

The back cover finished - I like the way it lined up on the tracing paper!

I met with the commissioning person today - all happy, now just waiting for a Perspex slip case and then it will be good to go. Phew.

Once it has been presented I will be bale to show you the front cover and calligraphy!

Thursday Thoughts...

"When you’re an artist, nobody ever tells you or hits you with the magic wand of legitimacy. You have to hit your own head with your own handmade wand. And you feel stupid doing it. There’s no “correct path” to becoming a real artist. You might think you’ll gain legitimacy by going to university, getting published, getting signed to a record label…[but] it’s all in your head. You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected". 

 Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking

I enjoyed reading and thinking about this quote and have to agree it is really hard to hit yourself over the head with your own handmade wand to give yourself legitimacy.

I'm not sure where else it comes from though. All of the external standards or measures of artistic success and/or legitimacy are so subjective and sometimes don't necessarily mean very much at all. Which might sound like heresy in some ways.

I often think about awards and winning with art - how we know the whole process is subjective, often comparing apples with oranges and sometimes dealing with external factors/requirements (e.g. we need a local artist to win, we can't have a local artist win) that are way out of our control.

And then you or somebody you know and think does good work wins and you feel that it does offers some legitimacy of sorts!

Similarly, some people's art CVs are so impressive and overwhelming, and yet their art isn't.

In the end I think she is suggesting that we all need to be the true validators of our own work. We have to try and be objective in some way, consider our strengths and our weaknesses and work out if we are doing OK work or not.

I like the notion that if your art moves people in unexpected ways then you are a good artist - a thought worth investigating further.

Narbong (String bag) by Lorraine Connelly-Northey.

This is one in a series of traditional aboriginal string bags, made of rusted fencing wire, pipes, bed springs and tin. They moved me.

Evolution

A long time ago my dad gave me some words he liked and said he wondered if I could do something with them.  This piece of paper stayed on post in the studio for about a year I think.

The notes on it seem to say I was thinking of making a weathergram with it.

Then I decide I would make a small piece for him - just to see if he liked it.

This piece is only 21cm (h) x 11cm (w).  I wrote it with white pencil and created little holes.

We talked about it and both thought it would be better to expand on the words a bit  and make it seem more like the spoken word rather than a thought. Dad also asked if it could be written so that he could read it better!

So I wrote it out on larger piece of paper (32cm h x 26cm w), in white gouache this time.

This is the first draft, with some centring issues, so I didn't cut any holes in it. I did do another one and it is now at the framers for him.

The next step in this piece's evolution is to create a letterpress version...stay tuned.

Whilst on the theme of evolution, I thought I'd share the results of an afternoon's work in our office.

A while ago Barry and I decided that we would create a wall of small things in our office, so that we could continue to buy small works of art. We really love having the work of friends and people we know, and those we don't, keep us company when we are work-working.  On Monday we collected eight pieces from the framers and set about hanging them.  It is a lovely evolution I think.

Not easy to get photos straight on as there are tables and chairs and desks in the way, and loads of louvred windows to create glare on glass, but lovely to have them with us as we work.

In the purple

We have been away in Melbourne most of the week work-working, but on most days walking to work and back so able to capture some of the life and art of Melbourne.

I found myself drawn to the purples I saw there, and on return home, so here is a collection.

You can't walk in Fitzroy without taking in walls and walls of graffiti - mostly stylish rather than ugly.

And then there's the yarn-bombing - plenty of it all over the place and in some very amusing places.

This isn't just purple but the purple did catch my eye.

And today we are home on the mountains where it is still hot and sunny.

Welcomed home by orchids, the first we grew. the second we were given.

And as part of the garden harvest - purple eggplants/aubergines. Looking forward to them becoming something else.  Plenty of cherry guavas too which will become jelly, which is purple when it is done.

It's back into the studio with a couple of jobs this week, so I shall hope to keep you posted.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.” 

Anne Lamott

Two weeks in a row - Ms Lamott is the source of my quotes! Unintended, but she is the sort of woman who could provide food for thought each and every day of the week I expect.

And so to books and what they can do.

So true they decrease our sense of isolation. So true that they deepen and widen and expand our sense of life. So true that they can make us shake our heads at the exactness of their prose and their truths.

And how delightful to think about how they can restore our buoyancy; how they can change our hearts and our spirits.

So true.

It's funny to think of ALL the things that books can do, and on so many levels. I have recently read Charlotte Woods' "The Natural Way of Things" and it was hard. It was so hard, but it demanded to be read. It demanded that we think about the multi-layered stories within it and what they mean for this country. It demanded that it be read and discussed and thought about in ways I'd never thought before.

I wasn't buoyed by it, but I was changed by it and challenged by it.

A good book can do so many things...

The cover of this book is much more beautiful than this - but  I had to photograph it quickly in bad light sorry - this is what it looks like from the interweb... (but too small to show at my preferred size). Explanations over.

Giving and Receiving

Life as an artist-maker in the land of blog is a good place to be.

I have 'met' and made many friends through blogging and have even actually met some of them in person!

The main thing I have found is that they are kind and generous spirits and that occasionally parcels will appear out of the blue with gifts made with love and care and thoughtfulness inside.

Today was one of those days when I received these gorgeous gifts from a blogging buddy. They are special, they are gorgeous, they are precious.

Her work is so thoughtful, so personal, so supportive and connecting and the words that accompany each piece are always so perfect and so poignant.

This beautiful hand made necklace, strung on Habu thread in a perfect pouch. With flowers, seeds and sunshine motifs. 

And then this.

In memory of my gorgeous mum who died so suddenly and unexpectedly in December. These bells shall chime and drift and be open to the world as they hang in a tree on the block. The gentle tinkle shall be another forever reminder.

Again, the pouch so beautifully crafted and intrinsic to the piece it holds and protects.

And in a funny way I got a gift from myself. An envelope I had posted to myself as part of an exchange.  It still felt a bit like Christmas to receive it!

 And some pouches I sewed and stamped for some friends - there will be wee gifts and thank you s in side - it is nice to just give gifts to friend for being friends.

So I am feeling fortunate again today that love and care and friendship surrounds me, from all corners of the globe and that art and making is so rewarding.

Letterpress whisperings

The title of the post is an odd one, but it is how I have come to feel about getting access to letterpress materials - presses and type in particular.  Its not easy to find presses or type or the other bibs and bobs you need in Australia.  We don't have many left, and they seem to be part of an underground world, where messages are passed around between this one and that. Letterpress whisperings...

I felt beyond belief fortunate to have been part of the whispering network through the week. The fellow I visit to rummage around in his shed and see what sort of odd sets of type he might still have, emailed to say he had come across a stash of things if I was interested.

If!

So Barry and I enlisted the help and the car of my dad and headed south again - the second trip in ten days to gather more type and drawers and things...

It took two cars, packed to the gills and quite heavily laden, but it was worth it. I have spent the weekend sorting, cleaning, hauling, lifting  and detailing what I gathered and I remain elevated on a cloud by the sheer volume of it and its gorgeousness.

Loading some of the trays into the back of our car.

A pile of the trays on the floor in the studio.

And on the paper drawers...

I think there were 27 trays all up.

Full. Of type.

Barry spent most of his Saturday cleaning, sanding and oiling the cabinet to return it to its aged grace. What a gem he is.

I loved the back of the cabinet and its many many stories...

Barry also cleaned the furniture rack for me. I won't need to go looking for furniture for a very long time!

The small Adana that we bought up as well.

With all of this stuff strewn round the studio, I decided "Holy Exploding Studio Batman"
would be an apt title for this panorama shot.

This is where I got to by cob Saturday - cleaning the drawers and slotting them back in.

And when I pulled up stumps this afternoon, it was nearly done. Or at least there was enough room on a table for me to make and cover some book covers for a job I must do (when I am not distracted by type...)

And to add to the wonder of the week, I got an email asking if I would like to be gifted a book press, a sewing frame and sundry bookish bibs and bobs. Clearly yes was the only appropriate answer, so off we went on Saturday morning to collect that as well - lots of whispering going on amongst the binders and the letterpress folk. And lots of heavy lifting going on for Barry and I!

Thursday Thoughts...

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” 

Anne Lamott

This is one of those quotes that I have glanced at and read times over and always smiled and enjoyed and thought 'I like that'.  Today I chose it to ponder upon, and it struck me that I really hadn't ever thought too much about what it might really mean.

In terms of application to my own life, or my observations of life I wondered what it meant to be a lighthouse?

As I though about it, I think it means for me that the true value of a person's shining light is that they are somewhat steadfast and reliable and they are just there.  You know they are there, they share their light and you can find them easily.

They don't run around like a chook without a head trying to rescue people; they are there sharing light and possibly wisdom and care.

So it's about light - and all it offers, but also about presence and availability. They are there, and their gift is shared.

I'm intrigued what a wander these words have taken me on when I so instinctively just liked them!

So having happily chosen the quote and gone a'wandering with it, I then thought do I have a single photo of a lighthouse with which to illustrate this post?  Barry reminded me that on our recent trip to NZ we saw a lighthouse - but did we have photo of it? Yes I did take one!

From inside a boat and all, but you can imagine this wee lighthouse shining for boats to keep them safe.

Back to 'Endure'

I was looking for a photograph for something the other day and was wandering through the professional photographs that Susan and I had taken of the collection of collaborative books 'Pas de Deux'.

I realised how beautifully Anastasia had captured our large Perspex books and that I had never really been able to show anybody what my book Endure actually looked like.

I had made attempts, but photographing Perspex is nigh on impossible and the light in our home adds a further degree of impossibility.

So to take you all back a few months, here is Endure in all its professionally-shot glory.

Enjoy!

Endure (L) and Susan's Perseverance (R). Studio photography by Anastasia Karyofillidis.

Close up and personal.

 And from behind...lovely little stitches.

And here it is on display at Noosa Regional Gallery last year.

Our two books were the entrance feature.

The lighting was superb...

And oh me oh my the shadow-play!