Visiting The Studio West End

On Tuesday I met up with three other Brisbane members of Book*Art*Object for a bit of a pre-Christmas get-together. Robin Foster, Helen Malone, Jack Oudyn and I decided to check out the end of year exhibition at The Studio West End, before lunch.

The Studio is the domain of Adele Outteridge and Wim de Vos, and is where I learned to do coptic, celtic and other bindings in 2009. Adele and Wim offer classes and on-going support to their students, including opportunities like the exhibition we went to see, Bookplates Unbound and Artists Books.

Adele and Wim welcomed us warmly and Del was kind enough to allow me to take some photos of the show to share with you.

The bookplates showed great variety and there were some beautiful prints amongst them.

The artists books explored a range of media and structures. I recognized some Impress Printmakers' members names amongst the participants, including the very talented Glenda Orr.

This work by Susan Bowers, Standing Stories 4,5 (Bush women) is a lovely example of pushing the definition of a book.

Wim de Vos showed his current obsession, perspex tunnel books. This one is inspired by the Chrysler Building, and offers an interior view that I had not seen before.

Adele shared examples of book bindings that students can make in her classes. These lovely ones in the lower left which combine coptic, celtic, the icicle and the caterpillar are exemplars completed in a single workshop, to allow students to try all these different bindings in one go. What a great idea! Reminds me of something......

We all enjoyed the exhibition and our visit to the studio, and I enjoyed the chance to see Del and Wim again. If you'd like to see more of the Studio West End exhibition, Del tells me there will be more photos going up on their website soon.

Collaborating in book art

I’ve been working away on the new website I mentioned in last weeks post, making progress but still a way to go.It’s given me the chance to look over images of my work, and reinforced the pleasure to be had connecting and sharing with online friends, like the Book*Art*Object group.

A great way for artists to connect is by collaborating. While BAO isn’t collaboration in the sense of the individual books/objects created, the project, which encompasses all our books as the group’s response to a text, plus the entire blogged experience of their creation is certainly a collaboration.

Judy & the Jacaranda, which was my first BAO work, opened up another opportunity for collaboration. In July 2010, when I was about half way through binding my edition of 14 copies of Judy, I took a break and went to Sydney. One highlight of the trip for me was the day I visited the Librorum Bibliothecea apud Artificem, Monica Oppen’s private artists book collection.

As well as being a printmaker and book artist, Monica is a trained bookbinder and spoke about her many collaborations with artists. Although reasonably happy with my stab-binding of Judy, I leapt at the chance to explore other options with Monica. With her depth of knowledge and experience, I was intrigued to discover what her solution would be.

I spoke to Monica about the way I had thought through my approach (see this post) so she would understand what had been important to me. Then, when I returned to Brisbane, I posted off one unbound copy and one bound copy for her to consider.

Monica suggested a single piece cover with z-folds. (If you own Vol 1 of Keith Smith, you can see a diagram on p. 131) This is also an Asian-style binding, but the sewing is hidden. I was keen to use an Asian binding because the book refers to the tradition found in Asian art, where the seasons are used as a metaphor for the cycle of life. I felt happy with Monica’s suggestion and sent three more unbound copies for her to bind.

In the end, there are 14 books in the edition, plus 2 artists proofs. There is a Special Edition of 4, handbound by Monica Oppen, which comes with a handmade protective slipcase and ten copies handbound in a 5-Hole Stab Binding by the artist (me!)

It’s been a very different process, but one that has been very valuable. Living in a house with a musician, for whom collaboration is a completely natural instinct, I confess I have longed at times for something similar in my work. This collaboration came along a little late in the project, and next time, I would definitely aim to share ideas from the start. It was somewhat of a challenge to hand “my baby” over to another (it never occurred to me that I could simply unbind it all if I wasn’t happy!) However, the leap of faith that was required was really just another of the type that is demanded at times during the act of creating. I found that there was much to be gained by opening myself to the input of another at this stage, and by the injection of Monica’s particular expertise.

The binding Monica chose gives the book a greater elegance. It opens with ease and still refers to the Asian origin of the book’s theme, but with more subtlety. That said, I think some people may prefer the stab binding simply because it is a much-loved binding, as pointed out by Tara O’Brien.

I’m proud to share with you that a copy of the Special Edition was acquired for the Librorum Bibliothecea apud Artificem. Thank-you Monica! There are copies of both editions currently available for sale. I will be putting them up on the new website, but until then you can email me (potsrmeathotmaildotcom).

Finally, I have posted a slideshow below that takes you page by page through the book. This is for those people who aren’t BAO-folks (who obviously have their own copy of the real thing!) Hope you enjoy it!

 

A page by page look at Judy & the Jacaranda

Progress: a bound artists proof at last

This week I managed to complete an artists proof including the binding of my book for the Learning Absences project over on Book*Art*Object.

Woo!hoo! I must say it's a good feeling! I've been working on this as my major project since August, and it's a satisfying feeling to see all the bits and pieces coming together. There are a few tweeks to be done, mostly to account for the loss of a little page space due to the binding. Also I have decided to have a different cover, but basically I am ready to start printing off the pages in multiples now. This will be the biggest edition I have done so far, and I am aiming for 15. This will include pigment inkjet printing, embossing and screenprinting using a screen generated with the gocco printer.

This afternoon I dragged the "light tent" down from the shelf and took some photos of the spreads now that they are bound. I've posted some below, but avoided too much that is new really, just to keep the surprise for those who will be receiving a copy (eventually) as part of the Book*Art*Object exchange. Once everyone has their copy I plan to put a slideshow of the book up online, but till then, here's just a little taster to whet the appetite.

I've included a photo of the colophon for those who are interested in this detail. If you click on it, you'll be able to read the text. I made the decision to put my colophon at the front of the book, rather than the back, as is probably more usual. I thought it interfered with the conclusion of the book a little when placed at the back.

Starting the year off : a little press maintenance

Well hello! Happy New Year, Australia Day and all the rest! I’ve missed you, my dear friends in the blog-o-sphere, but resisted the urge to jump back online early in order to give myself a really good break from “commitments”.

It’s been a long, hot summer and there’s still a month to go officially, but we all know that the weather pays the calendar no attention, and it will be hot here for a few months more. The humidity really saps my energy and I am forced to take a break from ceramics during the summer months, but even my “inside” studio has been pretty hot lately (it faces west, a no-no in Queensland, and has to rely on what little air-conditioning can be sucked in from the living room.) By about 3.00pm the sun starts baking me through the window and I have to wind up for the day. Even sun-loving Mia opts for the shadier end of the window sill.



Of course I haven’t taken a break from doing art for all this time (I would become pretty unbearable after a couple of weeks if I did) and I have made some progress with the Book/Art/Object project. I am getting close to having a completed artists proof, just a few more pages to finalize.

I wanted to include at least one page of embossed imagery, which I see as an effective way to communicate “trace”, absence or the remnants of what is no longer. This was the perfect motivator to do some work on my new press, preparing the roller so that the rust didn’t transfer to the blanket.

Etching Press Maintenance
I did a bit of “googling” and found quite a bit out there, including one very interesting pointer. Apparently most rollers have a sort of “thread” which assists the roller to “grab” the blanket. It’s important in cleaning the roller, not to remove the thread or you can have trouble with the blankets slipping. So this means that sandpaper is not the recommended method for removing all-over rust. Based on my reading, I came up with the following approach. It’s pretty gentle, but I thought it best not to over-do it straight up.

1. I started with a soft wire brush. It’s important not to brush horizontally. Hold the brush in place and spin the roller by hand.
2. Once most of the surface rust was removed, I splashed some white vinegar on a rag and held it in place, spinning the roller again. There is also some stuff called “Naval Jelly” used for removing rust and which you can get from the hardware. I might try that in the future.
3. A second go with the wire brush, and while the rust marks can still be seen on the roller, nothing was coming off easily.
4. I took a dampened rag (water only this time) and made sure to wipe over the roller thoroughly to remove any traces of vinegar (which is a mild acid).
5. Finally I used a clean, soft rag and gave the roller a good dry.

That was enough to be able to print without any rust coming off onto the blanket, so I left it at that. The frame and wheel still have rust, and this can be attacked with sandpaper or steel wool. Once that is done, I can’t really see why a rust-resistant paint couldn’t be used on the frame, although it’s not recommended to put anything on the roller as it will more than likely interfere with its action.

Living in such a humid climate, I expect I’ll have to do some rust removal on a fairly regular basis. You also need to oil the bearings and grease the pressure screws, maybe about once a month, but really I’m amazed at how simple it all is.

After all that was done, I was ready to test out my first plate. You can see how it turned out below.