links to my favourite book making sites

here are links to my favourite book making sites. you will also find videos on you tube. if you are a net junkie as i am, you can find unusual - and informative - 'stuff'

...an e journal of book making: http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/vol1no2contents.htm

philobiblon is a comprehensive site covering all aspects of book making, including techniques, the bonefolder magazine, and a gallery featuring various artists. this link takes you to the tutorials section. surf the rest of the site to find more: http://www.philobiblon.com/tutorials.shtml

some very clear tutorials: http://www.tjbookarts.com/otherlinks.htm

and angela lorenz's site on book making: http://www.angelalorenzartistsbooks.com/firstpage.htm

tara books: a press that publishes art books. watch the you tube video to view the silkscreen process as well as binding: http://www.tarabooks.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om6i3enGZ8c

what also interests me about tara books, besides the actual process, is the fact that it appears to be a small co operative, but it's publishing foreign as well as local publications.

lastly, take a look at the perspex books on studio west end. since i used to be an avid engraver on glass, this process fascinates me. i woud love to learn how to assemble perspex books: http://studiowestend.com/?page_id=2

experiments: lightboxes and vegetable papyrus

my new lamp idea is a variation on the lightbox, a form that i've used for several years to make art lamps. the lightbox is ideal for photo transfer techniques on glass using lazertran papers, (see pictures below) or for displaying photographs printed on silk or cotton and then inserted between two sheets of glass. my most recent addition is vegetable papyrus. this is paper made from thinly sliced vegetables, which are boiled and pressed over several days or weeks depending on the vegggie used. the easiest to process are zucchini and cucumber. the link below is the method i've found most useful. photographs of the new lightboxes will come later, once they are complete. what i like about this new technique is that it uses natural materials which give the effect of stained glass when backlit.

http://stacyalexander.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-make-paper-from-vegetables.html

below are the first successful papers: carrots and cucumber papyrus

nature photos: mostly green

to think that for a long time i disliked the idea of photographing plants!

paste paper again

i managed to make some paste paper, and had a good time with it. need a little more practice with different shapes, but what always attracts me are simple geometric shapes repeated over and over again, sharp outlines and good contrasts.

using the basic recipe of flour and water, i mixed a little water based varnish into the paste; about a teaspoon per 3 ozs of paste. it doesn't give the surface gloss, but i imagine that it gives the mixture a bit of strength, necessary if one is covering books or boxes.

in some of the pieces i painted the paper with orange, then overpainted immediately with black. i wanted a good solid black but now realize that isn't really possible, since one is mixing colour into transparent paste. will try again though, and see how it works out.

i used mat board cut as a comb, in various widths depending on what size of shape i wanted. and i used a rubber tool to make the curved shapes. since i am always looking to get around the lack of tools available, specially if i want to teach this, i am going to experiment with making the same shapes as i made with rubber, using matboard. also, i've discovered over time that one must never compromise on quality, but there are some things around the house or at hardware stores that one can substitute for expensive fancy items. like when i was making my arizona rock study collagraphs, i used car filler paste to make a plate. it came out really well, and is very very durable! i pressed silk and plant material into it, made cuts etc and it took the texture beautifully.