August, already?

Before I speak about my current project, just wanted to confirm that I did use my skill set from the Peter Thornton workshop to create a one-of-a-kind card for my niece, Heather's wedding.  I made it into a piece of artwork to reflect hers and Jeff's new monogram as well as included symbolism for their new family.  Of course, I annotated all the nuances for them.  And, they were delighted.  The colors were copied from a purchased piece - but all the work was original.  I'll post that pix later.

Ok, so since I had three weeks to myself with few interruptions, I decided it was time.  I might as well have just brought in some large earth-moving equipment.  I have weeded out my studio, taking out anything not related to calligraphy or bookbinding.

I have put all the books and magazines back on the shelves where they belong.  I have corralled all the projects and class notes from the last two years into one place - my antique pop cooler.

I have weeded through piles of picture frames and donated the 'least likely to be used' ones.  I moved a bookcase and made room for my sewing table - where I am now able to do my weekly calligraphy practice.  It's at a better height for proper posture.

I found all of my countertop by moving a press onto the top of the relocated file cabinet and by putting away all the unused tools.  I sorted through the third of the closet and combined boxes of envelopes into a hanging organizer.  I also hung on the wall all the organizing shelves and then placed on them the things I either want to look at or need to find at arm's length.  I dusted everything and hung new curtains.  Ah - it is such a delight to walk in now and to see open space awaiting creative activity.

Granted, there is still a pile of stuff to go through and the inside of the cabinets have received at best a long glance.  My paper stash is still intact and quite messy, but still - wow!

Now I am giving half a thought to this year's Christmas card and am mid-process in a way ovedue birthday gift.  I continue to spend almost every Monday morning working on practice pieces in my notebook and I can see marked improvement in my letters over the summer.  I am still working on Carolingian and Copperplate hands from last year.  I continue to use brush lettering on most birthday envelopes.  Who knows, maybe I'll now have the time and space (!) to play with my markers I brought back from Paris.

Weekend Class on color/lettering with Peter Thornton

Whew!  Learned so much about color and how colors lean toward each other.  Learned how to move from one color to the other while appreciating the greys in the middle.  Learned to enjoy the subtleties of color shades.  In the midst of this we played with the forms of Adolf Berndt's letters and how the shapes around them are divided up to incorporate shades of color.  And then today an encore class on playful letters with many shortcuts.  Ah, now to practice it all!

Lettters, notes and e-mails

A rather restful studio day that required wit and about four different pens to playfully address the multitude of envelopes that needed to go in the mail today.  And then a bit of catching up with e-mails . . . writing is writing!

Done!

On Saturday, when I went to line the covers with 2 ply bristol, I realized I really needed more.  So off to Old Colorado City for an foodie Open House with a stop at Meininger's on the way.  As I bought more 2- and 4-ply Bristol, I found out there are various rag contents (I am using the one with the most).  Will really need to start a technical file for such info.

So cut and pasted the boards, being careful to make sure the grain was running the same direction as the spine.  I really don't want a repeat of the other cover and am taking all precautions.  Am using a 70/30 mixture of PVA/paste too to make sure it's not too wet.  After re-reading my instructor's book, I did use a 4-ply bristol sandwich to absorb some of the moisture in the press.  After waiting five hours (more than enough time), I took a peek.  Success!  I did use water once more to open the book to make sure it wasn't stressed at the bend in each cover.

For the flyleaves, I used a sheet of Daler-Rowney Gun Metal Canford Paper.  The grey is the perfect foil for the grey of the cover.  It is just a few shades darker.  The grey of the leather is a silvery mottled grey calfskin.

 On to cutting and installing the leaves.  I cut & folded each flyleaf to size for the cover (which makes them oversized for the book block).  I then tipped them in, per the manual - pressing for 10 minutes.  Then bucking the manual, I finished pasting down the flyleaves to the covers, put back in the 4-ply Bristol sandwich and put it all in the press for 10 min.  Then, carefully opening the book, I pasted down each flyleaf, having carefully protected the book block with an extra sheet of waste paper.  My spatula-shaped teflon folder was the tool of choice here.

I now inserted the 4-ply Bristol for a five-hour press - just enough to make sure it is dry. (Note to self: next time 2-ply would probably be fine - don't want to create too much space in the book).  I then took the Bristol out and inserted plastic pages and then placed all in the press for a very firm, four-hour pressing.  Removing the book from the press, it looks good and all the pull is in the correct direction.

Sunday morning, up early cutting the flyleaves to size and rounding the corners to match the flyleaves on the cover and the shape of the book in general.  As I re-checked the book, I found one more page that had pulled away near the spine.  So one last quick fix with PVA and a bit of Japanese tissue.  Done!   Photos to follow as I did document this final version of the book.  The bill is annotated, including the drama of earlier this week.  And, the book is delivered to one happy customer.

Now, I am ready to venture back into the world of lettering and writing.

Just Out of the Press

So, I waited until yesterday morning to paste up the leather.  Good thing.  After much thought, I realized my paste was too wet, so used straight PVA (a new technique for me).   I had to work very fast as PVA quickly becomes tacky.  Working carefully to keep PVA off the outside (as it is very unforgiving), I smoothed the leather on front, back and spine.  Then I folded in the sides and tops of each cover and and worked the corners until they were well-rounded.  I then finished by tucking in the top and tail of the spine.  Into the press for at least 24 hours.

Today, I got brave enough to open the press.  The outcome looked good and taking the book out of the press today proved my theory.  The leather is lying flat and the edges look great.  The book is behaving very well.  Just opened the book and pasted in the recycled hinges.  I will be lining the covers with bristol later.  Then, I will finally be ready to measure and cut the new flyleaves.  Whew.

Onward!

It's been a productive day.  I just finished rounding and sanding the corners of the cover.  These covers are behaving so much better.  Having just protected the book block, am ready to attach the covers.  The leather is ready, so pasting that up is next.  The book should be back in the press by nightfall.  Whew!

Make-up day in the Studio

Well, let's just say previous successes have been negated.  So, the leather pulled to tightly, the book press couldn't convince it to stay flat, the headbands are too exposed and the edges a bit too revealing.  So, back to step 35 (arbitrary guess).  Took off the leather hinges, and the lovely nearly flat leather cover, as well as the tube and spine inlay.

Made new, larger covers, lined them.  Made a new tube and spine inlay.  Just waiting for them to dry before shaping the covers and sanding them.  Meantime, will start paring a new piece of leather for the cover.  Just happen to have more - good thing!  It's all going rather quickly since I was just here doing these steps just days ago.

More drying, writing and writing.

The covers look so good!  So, after inspecting the book and opening each cover fully by wetting each one, I added the leather hinges.  I cut each to length and cut them to fit inside the already glued-down covers.  The will add additional strength to the covers from the inside.  So now this newly pasted leather needs to dry in the press.  


Meantime, I got caught up in my Word-a-Day journal - playing with my brush markers and various colors.  Still not a habit to write in this journal each day.  May need to move it to a more prominent location. 


Am still enjoying writing in my 365 journal.  My current inspiration:  Kiteley, Brian.  The 3 a.m. Epiphany: Uncommon writing exercises that transform your fiction.  Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 2005.  The ten-minute exercises are a great discipline and a good challenge for me.

Drying, drying

I took a peek into the press and decided 24 hours was long enough to wait.  As I peeled the boards off the book, to my wonderment, I saw beautifully pressed and flat leather.  The blue really is pretty and its pebbly texture is very touchable.  Inside corners look good.

It is still damp, so back into the press it goes for another day or so.   So, will wait until Monday to add the leather hinges, bristol lining and then the inner leaves.

Leather applied, book in the press!

So, after putting on Joseph Martin's American Tapestry on the cd player (lovely, quiet piano pieces), I removed my jewelry (well most of it) and taped down my bracelets.  For me this is easier than chasing down someone to help me put them back on.  I hate nothing more than trying to smooth jewelry marks out of wet leather!

I re-checked the leather. Then I removed the book from the press and traced the outline back onto the leather, carefully marking head and tail.  I trimmed off the excess leather on the sides, cut notches into the head & tail for the spine and then rounded the head/tail and fringed the now rounded spine areas.  I also trimmed the corners a bit, but not too much.  

I flipped the leather over, onto scrap paper, and wet it thoroughly.  After letting it stand a minute, I re-wet it. It is old, fairly dry leather in a dry climate so I really want to hydrate it.  Then, although my new batch of wheat starch paste is acting weird, I re-wet it and massaged it into a nice consistency with my favorite paste brush.  It is now behaving better.  It was just a little too stiff for my taste.

After two more layers of paste, scraped off in-between, I am now ready to brave application.  Thankfully, the book block is protected so off I go.  I lay the book carefully on the spine area of the leather.  Turning the book away from me, I smooth the leather on the front then the back.  Fairly quickly, I check and recheck the spine, front and back.  Wow - everything looks great.  I smooth it all with my favorite teflon bone folder (thanks to my engineer honey) and then start working on laying down the edges inside the covers.  Well, after trimming the corners more and adjusting the notches for the stretch in the leather, I get the corners all laid down.  I closed the covers and checked the corners, rounding them with yet another bone folder.  They look great!

Now I stand the book up on the edge of my bench hook and start to work the spine pieces into the lovely tube on the spine of the book.  Since the pieces are fringed, it's fairly easy to work them in.  It takes a bit of finesse to get them each into the center of the tube.  Voila!  I then next re-check front, back and spine.  I now slide the top/tail against my bench hook with a bit of pressure to 'fatten them up' a bit.  They also look great.  

I now close the book after inserting foam spacer pages and re-check the corners to make sure they are rounded and that the inside of the corners are laying down.  I re-check the spine and decide to leave the transition to the front fairly flat.  I quickly press the book and then pull it out to recheck everything.  It all looks great.  Now, back into the press until tomorrow.  Whew!

Slogging Along

Tuesday morning in the Studio (Monday was a bust - makeup day coming later).  So the book is ready for the leather, just need time to finish.  It's in the press getting a memory of what it will be with the covers on it.

The 12 mini journals are done, just need to build a box to house them.  I used a colorful red Japanese paper on the spine for nine of them and the other three have gold, just to intersperse in the mix.  Now I just need to get in the habit of writing my one word a day using various tools lurking in my studio.

I spent a little time printing and assembling card 2 of the Isaiah series.  It's so satisfying to write a note to a friend on one of my notecards!  They are little signed, limited editions.

Monday in the Studio: progress!

So, I made the spine insert and protected the book block with some scrap paper.  I also went out front (mind you it's 34 degrees) to sand and curve the outside edges of the lined book board.  Needless to say, it didn't take long.  Then I pasted the boards to the spine insert.  I am really liking the wheat starch paste I am using.  However, it does hold quite a bit of water (I should perhaps break down and add some PVA), so everything is lightly weighted (lying on non-stick plastic) while I have some lunch.  After lunch, time to attach those book boards.

I will also be binding together those 60 odd individual books into the 12 months worth of 'word-a-day' mini journals since today is March 1 and it's time to start . . . writing!

Also completed my addressed envelope for my 'secret' scribe.  Will jot a note & get that into the mail . . . later after the ink dries.  Prep for the envelope included several layers of watercolor wash in pinks & yellows (for the envelope I used).  Sumi ink and 1.5 Mitchell nib for the Carolingian word and pointed pen for the rest of the address.

leaves - repair for rebinding

So over the past few days I had a conversation with the book I am binding.  The repaired pages look beautiful.  Japanese paper is an amazing fix.  The pages now hold together and the repairs have eliminated the sloppiness in the spine of the book.  Though the original surface of the outer spine is uneven because it still has some flecks of old leather still attached, it will seem smooth after the suede layer is applied.  I cut the grey, moldy looking suede to size.  The piece is a mere 1 1/4” by just under 9”.  One side is relatively smooth, the other pebbly.  I carelessly toss a stack of used copy paper on my work surface.  Laying the suede smooth side down, I pop open my plastic container of wheat starch paste.  It is a translucent white, needing only a bit of water in a separate bowl to change it from its gelatinous form to a near-syrupy form.  


The book lays firmly on the edge of my bench hook.  It says to me, ‘yes, I am ready to be transformed into something that is once again beautiful.’  It will still have the scars of use on its top, side and tail edges.  But, its form will support many more years of dedicated use.  With a bent-handled, flat brush I slather the paste onto the strip of suede.  The suede relaxes like a well-sated diner who has indulged just a bit more than he should.  At two-minute intervals, I repeat the application two more times.  When the suede is saturated, using just fingertips, I lightly tap it onto the spine of the book.  Using a teflon bone folder, I coax it into the slightly rounded shape.  I lays beautifully, tightly hugging the slender backbone.  The worn headbands, now stand up as they should. 

Carefully, I lay the book on a press board, lay another one on top and weight it all with two paper-covered bricks.   Stooping to eye-level, I once more check to see that all the edges are still aligned.  As the book now rests, it looks mostly like a grey, stone shelf tucked into a pile of boards and brick.

So here it is . . .

Here is my new blog covering my work in my studio.

Monday and Tuesday were my usual studio days.  Had two awesome days working in my studio.  I was able to finish another Isaiah piece for a card - calligraphy using Carolingian and Copperplate hands.  Let's just say after fighting with the paper (diploma parchment) and scratchy nibs (Gillott 303 - had to throw out three!) - success!  Note: The first completed card was issued in December as my annual Christmas card.

I also worked on my Word-a-Day mini journal.  It is made up of sixty little books that are folded and ready to bind into a set of twelve - one for each month.  Now on to my 365 writing project (a daily journal of my literary musings).  My creative brain is engaged!