This weekend I had to work on a small project that is not so typical for me. A friend of mine gave me several books to separate the pages, scan, and rebind them together once again. These are adhesive binding books, so almost no harm is done by cutting off the spine. There was only one problem: I do not have any instrument to trim the book block besides my utility knife.
Box making is one of the skills a bookbinder should master. There are many types and styles of boxes: slipcase boxes and clamshell boxes for books; small boxes and boxes with many compartments and drawers for jewelry, gifts and small things; portfolios, trays and curved boxes for different needs. Every box has something special about how it is made. Boxes are also very important for archival and conservation projects.
One of my students have recently shared with me a photo of her instruments lined up alongside each other. Of course that’s not a full kit she uses — there is some heavier machinery. I know that for sure. Anyway, it gives some understanding of her bookbinding habits and preferences.
It is almost holiday season. Still, there is some time to choose a gift for your fellow bookbinders, friends, and colleagues. Luckily, there always is something new to learn about bookbinding. Even from the books you already have for a long time. Becoming more experienced you may find further small details and techniques (nevertheless important) in texts you read a long time ago.
Last Friday list of winners of this year’s Designer Bookbinders Annual Competition was announced. Most of the names are familiar to those following the competition through the years.
OK, I have to confess I was a bit overwhelmed by Black Friday bookbinding offers in my Facebook feed, and I have decided to share them with you. Yesterday I had my workshop and no time to write a post, but now I have some time to organize them to a list. And you’ll have some time to order things you like until the end of Sunday or Monday (depending on terms set by sellers). That is if you are into this Black Friday madness =)
Smithsonian Institution Archives has just published a Vine showing the use of special enclosure for a historic photograph. That’s the first video posted on their channel and I hope we’ll get many more interesting illustrations for the smart ideas used in that institution. To find the full story (and diagrams) of the photo and specially tailored portfolio, you can visit their official blog.
In the end of November, the 2nd International Book Art Fair (2a Feria Internacional de Libro de Artista) will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico. Fair starts 29th of November and ends 2nd of December, 2015.
Book sculpture isn’t a new thing. Many artists butcher books in attempt to make something new. Usually they treat them just as a carving material, without giving any notice to the contents. At best you’ll find the carving to correspond to some elements of the cover. That’s not the case for Brian Dettmer (New York, USA) and Alexander Korzer-Robinson (Bristol, UK.)
A bookbinding exposition at the Brussels’ Fine Arts Academy of St. Gilles opens 19th of November, 2015. It was proposed to celebrate 20th anniversary of creation of the binding and guilding workshop here at the Academy.
Find below a list of bookbinding courses and workshops in Portugal. All courses listed are available to the public, some are day courses, others are multi-day courses and some are full time.
Paper has made it to Europe almost in the end of the Middle Ages, when it had already been known in China for more than a millennium. Traditional washi paper is made from the bark of gampi tree in Japan since the 8th century and is used for almost anything from fashion to furniture, and books, of course.
An exhibition devoted to female printmakers is open now at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library.
In December 2015, WoCA Projects presents its 3rd Annual Juried Artists’ Books Exhibition at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center (USA). Submission Deadline: Wednesday, November 18th, 2015 at 11:59 p.m.
It took 15 years to gather Kathleen V. Roberts Collection of Decorated Publishers’ Bindings. Its hallmark being that books were chosen for their covers and arranged by decades. That way of organization gives a unique chance to see how the historical events affected book decoration and book production in general. It truly makes books a subject of an interdisciplinary study of art, history, design and commerce.
