I am looking in the studio to see what to part with in the “unnecessary stuff” category. There are so many bindings that I used to stitch pages together for usable sketchbooks, so I am going to post some here in this blog as a way to take another and maybe last look.
You remember when you just learned how to do coptic binding so you did a bunch to fit into a wooden box? And it was so necessary to put marbled papers on the inside covers? Right. I never wrote or drew in these because whatever appeal they had did not last. They are still in this old tools box waiting for me to do something!
And when I thought it was a cool idea just because I had a loom, to weave the covers with collected Nature bits and make pages for drawing/painting to attach inside the covers. And then of course to stitch the books together. How dumb was that!
And one of many covered in fabrics that I just wanted to own a half yard of…coptic again.
And the sensible field journal of soft thick leather. You just wanted to use this book because of how it felt in the hand.
And a patched together kangaroo and cane toad hide book that probably is an all time favorite of the many made to use on Australian adventures.
A very appealing cover of mixed papers and bags from Australia became another favorite.
A large book made for a Penland auction with a section for watercolors made from there housed inside.
A sketchbook for nothing but Eucalyptus drawings with a cover made using layered book board that has been carved into to get the image after having a thin paper covering that is pressed into the recesses. Small cork paper leaves fill the spine so when it is handles you can hear the sound of wind in the Eucalyptus. Images so far are all silver point drawings. I will get back to it.
A favorite wrapped journal with removable signatures and housing local pigment watercolors.
Filling in the concertina pages of contact prints with watercolors of wildflowers. I need to just finish it and not be so critical of how bad the contact printing is on a poor choice of paper.
And some of the watercolors of wildflowers in the six way book. Hundreds of pages to fill in this one.
Final image is of folios done five years ago with the news of Lee’s dementia. Drawing my feelings on these small pages and then stitching was soothing in a way back then.
More later……
