SUMINAGASHI SATURDAY

I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs and spinning my tires, 

I was sipping hot chocolate and revvvvvving my engine; 

whistling to music on the radio and thinking about what I wanted to do, 

I looked out through the looking glass and decided to do some marbling.  It became a Suminagashi Saturday.

I decided to work in blue on Japanese paper.  I'm quite happy with the results.  

NEW MATERIALS INTO NEW JOURNALS  

In 2016 I wrote a list of the different materials I wanted to experiment with for book covers. One was wool felt and the other was acrylic.  I finally found a good source for the wool felt and  I recently located the acrylic at the local art store.  Prior to finding my wool felt source, I experimented with a placemat made from synthetic felt.  I created my first two journals out of it and decided wool felt was the next step.  

Synthetic Felt Journal Cover

I appliquéd leather designs onto the front cover and added brass corners to the front and back covers.  It has a lovely texture to it.  The journal is Coptic bound. 

Merino Wool Felt Journal Cover 

What I like about the Merino wool felt, other than it's luscious texture, is the option of colours.  I purchased some beautiful yellow, turquoise, this green and some granite.  The button closure is a hand carved wooden flower, signed by the artist, who is in Quebec.  I found her lovely work at the Signatures show in the fall.  

HIDDEN TREASURES 

I was skulking around my favourite art store, looking at everything, wondering what some things were used for, or how I could use them and I came across some beautiful, deep wooden frames.  The light bulb went on and I brought some home to experiment with.  I am quite pleased with the result. 

I covered the wood background with a piece of my hand marbled paper and added an appliqué of female figures.  I will be giving them a resin finish, but wanted to photograph them first to prevent the glare off the highly glossy finish. 

Here it is with the journal that fits perfectly into the back and is hidden from view.  The journal has the yellow Merino wool felt cover and I added a gold-toned metal decoration.  

This is another piece of marbling on the same kind of frame.  I used another appliqué

and tucked a hard-covered journal into the back.  

CARVED ACRYLIC 

The acrylic pieces sat in the bag for awhile.  I was waiting for some inspiration.  At first I thought I would gouge out the design, but that didn't work too well, then I took another of my carving tools and started to gently carve the design into the acrylic.  It didn't take long for me to feel comfortable working with this material.  I enjoyed the process and the final result. 

This is the front cover of the journal.  I used a black paper for the fly leaves so the design would stand out.  

This is the back cover of the journal.  Since they are hand carved, no two covers will be exactly the same.  

The acrylic scratches quite easily, so I designed protective covers for them.  The spine is a fine leather, the green leaf paper is Japanese and the decoration is horse hair and Hanji paper.  The ties are braided linen thread. 

Where you can find my books: 

Wallacks Art Supply on Bank Street 
Ottawa School of Art Boutique on George Street  

If you are interested in some of the work shown here, or you have a special project you would like to have created, you can contact me directly at: bbinder999@gmail.com. 

The Ottawa Art Gallery will be opening again in a brand new building this fall.  I have submitted my work for their new boutique, so hopefully you will be able to find my work there later in the year. 

A NEW LOOK AND A NEW NAME: BOOKISH MARY

I have had to create a new blog - thus the new look and name.  To see some of my older work, go to https://bookartiste.blogspot.com
That's about all for now.  Wishing you a pleasantly warm spring filled with lots of robin-song. 

MARY 

"Nothing is every real until it is experienced."