bookbinding

Alaska Journal

I've been on a bookbinding roll lately, trying to refine my hardcover binding technique and find the best possible way to refill old books. My goal is to make attractive, durable bindings that do not obscure the books original endpapers. 

This book is one I've had for several years, I bought it at a thrift store. In fact, it's appeared on this blog before. It's a National Geographic Collection of articles about Alaska. I read the book cover to cover (I am fascinated by cold, remote places) and kept it because I thought the cover design was lovely. 

The best part is that I was able to remove the library card from the discarded portion of the book and place it onto the back endsheet, a nice detail I thought. 

:: Alaska, cover :: 

:: Front inside, with original endsheets, new matching cloth hinge, and a new text block ::

 :: The book's original library card, salvaged and reattached ::

Philadelphia Art Book Fair 2015


:: Philadelphia Art Book Fair ::

I had to take it a little easy in the studio this weekend because I came down with a nasty cold. But I did manage to do some prep work for the Philadelphia Art Book Fair, coming up April 24th and 25th. I'm excited to participate in this event, which will host a diverse group of institutions, presses, and individual artists. I highly recommend taking a look through the exhibitor list. Closer to the event date, there will also be events and lectures to check out too. 

My main focus will be recent experimental letterpress edition books and prints, but I will also be bringing a small selection of unique handmade journals for sale as well. 

:: unique handmade books ::

Magical Notebooks and Clamshell Time Trials

This week, I made some books and boxes for myself, something I don't do that often. It's fun and good practice, I often make things for myself to try out something I don't normally do or brush up on techniques. I made myself a notebook with a "magical symbols" print I made while at Paper Book Intensive for end papers. 

:: egyptian inspired symbols, relief printed end papers ::

:: rounded spine with cloth headband, the cover boards are beveled to fit the curve ::

:: embossed leather, it was one of my samples from Paper Book Intensive ::

In order to solve my problem of not enough flatfile storage space, I've also been practicing my clamshell boxes, in various sizes and shapes, and seeing how fast I can make them. It's like doing time trials to qualify for the imaginary Bookbinding Olympics. 

:: Deep clamshell box for storage ::

:: ephemera storage problem solved ::

When I'm in between projects or not feeling the thunderbolt of inspiration, getting my hands moving clears my head and reboots the thinking process, and if not, I have a new notebook and some fancy clamshell boxes!

Paper Book Intensive: Part One

I just got back from the Paper Book Intensive, a two-week series of workshops in book arts, printmaking, and papermaking. It was amazing. Here are a few images of the books I made in one of the workshops, Leather Embossing with Bonnie Stahlecker.

 :: two books debossed with plastic cordage I brought back from Iceland ::

 :: front cover of book with symbols ::

  :: back cover of book with symbols ::

:: spine with tacket binding ::


:: close up of back cover ::

Love and Rockets

My good friend, ceramic artist Jason Bige Burnett from the Penland Core Fellowship is getting married and asked me to make a wedding guest book for him and his awesome husband to be. The theme was vintage and sci-fi. For the cover, I used the beautiful letterpress design from their invitations by Beth Schaible of Quill and Arrow Press (also fellow Core Friend!) and inset it into the grey buckram cloth. 

I was so happy and honored to make this book for my dear friend. Congratulations, Jason and Michael!

:: Inset Cover, Letterpress by Quill and Arrow Press :: 

 :: Grey and blue buckram cloth ::

 :: Vintage Book Illustration ::

 :: Left, Screenprint scraps that were given to me by Kevin Mercer of Large Mammal ::

 :: Left, another Large Mammal super Screen Print Scrap, vintage rockets ::

 :: A library card ::

 :: With a special message ::

:: The sky is the limit ! ::

July!


:: summer in the studio ::

Hello! I hope your summer is going well!

:: handmade bookbinding tools, handmade by me ::

I just got back from a two week workshop at Penland School of Crafts in toolmaking for book artists. The workshop was taught by Shanna Leino, who makes beautiful unique handmade books and tools. It was amazing, challenging, fun, and incredibly satisfying to make a set of tools that I will use every day. I made a paring knife for thinning leather, with a blind tooled leather handle and case. Working with leather is incredibly fun, I would love to do more.

Let's see what else, this post is a bit of a catchup post to share projects that may have been overlooked.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about an unusual opportunity, me and my studio were filmed for a commercial. That commercial finally came out and you can see a peak of the Huldra Press shop and desk in the footage. Here's a link to the video on Youtube.


:: I was in a commercial! ::

That was a crazy day. I've also been keeping busy in the studio, making books, cards, working on a collaborative and custom projects, making new little things...


:: books all in a row ::

:: a new design, leather business card holder ::

:: a custom portfolio for a talented photographer, Katrina d'Autremont ::

I got to visit artist Gerard Brown, the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts run by Amanda D'Amico and look at the giant presses and chat with Gerard about his amazing signal flag inspired print in progress.

:: Gerard working on the registration for his offset edition print ::

:: me, photo courtesy Gerard Brown ::

I had a piece in a group show titled Facts and Fictions in New York at Recession Art Gallery. This same print, Red Fire, will be included in the Penland School of Crafts Annual Benefit Auction.

:: a piece in a show in New York! ::

The biggest thing on my mind though has been my upcoming residency in Iceland at Herhusid in Siglufjörður and the Due North exhibit in January. Due North will be an exhibit in conjunction with Philagrafika projects. I've been reading and collecting images, thoughts, ideas, theories, in preparation. One book I read was Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. There was a passage in Arctic Dreams that particularly struck me. where the author observes that the Arctic ecosystem is the youngest ecosystem, the last to develop post Ice Age, and that is why it's unvaried and simple relative to other ecosystems like the jungle. What he posits and what I keep thinking about is his observation that the Arctic ecosystem and landscape as we know it today is the same age as us, modern man. So we are in a way evolving, figuring it out together...


:: Siglufjörður, photo by Andres Thorarinsson::



Serpents, Scales and Pyramids

Recurring Images and dreams.

:: Tile Scales ::

:: Louise Bourgouis, Swaying, 2006 ::

:: Agnes Denes, The Human Argument, 1974 ::

:: source unknown ::

:: Koryak armor ::

:: Marianne Dages, Quoin ::

:: Marianne dages, Chymia ::

:: marianne dages, i had that dream again ::

:: waves, from a very old book I own ::

:: Iceland, herringbone pattern in house, photograph by Andrew Frederick ::


:: Animal figures and patterns from various Udeghe shaman’s costumes, shoes and bands ::

Oculus Song

I'm working on a new artist's book, titled Ocular  Oculus Song. Right now, it is in the model stage, and I am trying to decide on a typeface. The book will include risograph and letterpress printing, maybe some hand painted details. The book will include some of my writing. It's never been easy for me to translate my ideas into writing, it can be like pulling teeth, but it's exhilarating too. 

:: testing typefaces ::

:: handset type ::

:: risograph printing and handmade paper cover ::

 :: risograph printing and tracing paper ::





Oddness

Two odd things I made recently. 

One is a one of a kind book with vintage paper corner detail.

:: vintage paper corner ::

 :: letterpress front page ::

 :: graph paper and vintage star chart ::

The other is one in a series of experimental letterpress prints that I am using in a book I'm working on. A mysterious house. It reminds me of a polaroid transfer!

:: its letterpress, believe it or not ::

The Iceland Book

Making progress on the design for my new book. I've spent the last month doing sketches of sorts. Little pictographic drawings, imaginary maps, experimental prints, etc. to get a feel for what I want the look and feel of the book to be. It's getting there.

The inspiration for the book is Iceland. New worlds. Far travel. That's all I'll say for now.

 :: drawings ::

This will be the first time I've digitally designed a book before letterpress printing it. The editions I've made before this have been handset and the imagery hand-carved or manually produced some other way. This book will include many drawings, but I wanted to incorporate photo imagery and to use a typeface that is not available in metal. So InDesign it is.

:: first draft - computer printout ::

I finished my first draft and printed it on a laserjet to get a feel for the scale. Boy does it look different than on screen! 

Everything needs tweaking...


:: first draft - computer print out ::

I've wanted to go to north for years, since I read Bulfinch's Mythology and of The Hyperborea, the land beyond the Northern Wind. I know this book will bring me there, in some way, shape, or form.  

:: Islande ::

For Sale!


All these things are available for sale, and if you hurry, it can be there in time for the holidays! Just visit my Huldra Press Etsy Shop. There's more too! More cards, more books, more prints...

 :: Handmade Leather Pocket Journal ::

:: Letterpress Card ::

 :: Handmade Leather Pocket Journal ::

:: Letterpress Card ::
 :: Handmade Leather Pocket Journal ::

 :: Letterpress Notebook ::

To the Huldra Press Etsy Shop!

The Mushroom Collector

I made this book recently and am very happy with how it turned out. I like the icy blue bookcloth. It's called The Mushroom Collector. It's available here, on etsy. 

:: vintage book illustration of mushrooms ::

:: cover ::

 :: vintage nature photograph of a beaver on a library card holder ::

 :: 100% cotton paper ::

 :: top of the book, light orange headband ::



It's Time for Crafty Balboa!


Yes, it's time to buy handmade for the holidays and the best place to do that is at Crafty Balboa!

:: I'll be there, for all you book and letterpress needs ::

::there will be books! ::

So if you're looking for the perfect gift for the guys or the ladies, please come visit! I'll have a selection of letterpress prints, cards and one-of-a-kind books. Thank you and see you there!

Chymia

This is where I've been hiding for the last month, in this book!

This beautiful book is a collaboration between my coworkers and I at The Common Press. 



Chymia, a collaborative Common Book designed and printed by Marc Blumthal, Marianne Dages, Matt Neff, Ivanco Talevski, and Tricia Treacy at The Common Press in 2012. A limited set of letterpress prints using original blocks from the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library’s Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection accompanies each edition.


:: letterpress portfolio of original blocks from the collection ::

 We will be debuting this book at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair this weekend in Silver Springs, MD. Please come and say hello!



:: slipcase, book, and portfolio, binding design by Marianne Dages ::


:: silkscreen endsheets by Marc Blumthal ::


 :: left, silkscreen by Matt Neff, right, letterpress by Marianne Dages ::


 :: letterpress by me, Marianne Dages ::


:: etching by Ivanco Talevski ::


:: silkscreen by Marc Blumthal ::


:: silkscreen by Matt Neff ::


:: letterpress by Tricia Treacy ::


Lynx and Stars

I made this custom book for a very talented lady, who requested a journal with lynxes, graph paper, stars, and red. I decided to try something a little different and made the book with a soft curved spine. It turned out to be one of my favorite books I've made in a really long time.

:: vintage book illustration of a lynx ::

 :: the milky way, and letterpresses name plate ::

 :: typewriter stars ::


 :: curved spine ::

:: lynx ::

Making a Custom Portfolio

Look at this! I actually had the fore site to take process shots for once in my life. I'm not going to lie, large scale bookbinding is intense, precision is key and the glueing...not for the weak at heart, but I'm very excited about how this turned out. Please enjoy the making of a custom hidden screw post portfolio for the very talented Rush Jagoe: Photographer. 

 :: figuring out the hardware ::

 :: positioning the letterpress nameplate ::

 :: drying the book under weights, many weights ::

:: pressing the screw post holder ::

 :: finished cover ::

 :: closed portfolio, with slipcase behind it ::

:: open portfolio ::

The End