Thursday, September 13, 2012

Look! it's a book!


Well, it's been a while.  With school back in session, life has resumed a pace somewhat reminiscent of a meteor hurtling towards the earth.  Besides that, my daughter is about to get married, and I have been working on the guest book, which is the first book I've made completely "from scratch".  I was very nervous that I would mess it up- which I did, early on- so I still had time to start over. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, if I do say so myself.



Here are all the pieces, ready to be sewn together.  I got stuck at this stage for a while because I was looking at the directions for the stitching order, and found them confusing.  I couldn't figure out the best way to knot the thread at the end, and there were about six different ways of doing it- mainly due to the fact that Japanese stab binding wasn't originally used with hard covers, I guess. 




 Here it is, all sewn together...


 detail

 I'm not really happy with the appearance of the linen thread, and it's not terribly tight; I pulled it as tight as I could while sewing, so I think it must be the knot on the inside, which may not be as close to the spine as I had intended.



 I left the rest of the decoration until after the stitching, so as not ruin it.




I may sew over the stitches with a very thin black ribbon, which might look better than the linen thread, but all in all, not too bad.

In case you're wondering why it's called "Guest gallery", it's because Caitlin and Wes are getting married in an art gallery.  I stamped gold frames on the black pages for people to write in.

I want to again thank Mo of the fantastic blog, "It's Crow Time", who is always willing to patiently answer my unending book-binding questions.  You should really look at her beautiful drawings, especially if you like crows, which we all do, it seems.


In other news, Roxanne Evans Stout, an accomplished artist and teacher (and one of the sweetest people I know) of Rivergarden Studio has included my answer to the question, "What is the thread that runs through your work?" in her post, "Of Golden Threads, part 3".  This is her third post featuring the responses of various artists to this intriguing question, and the answers range from emotionally revealing to surprising to inspirational. If you haven't already, please check it out.


My dear friend Donna Iona Drozda recently did a guest post for the Series "Artist as Collector" on artist Nanci Hersh's wonderful blog, and to my surprise, she honored me by choosing to feature me as her 'collected' artist'.  The post is titled, "Empty and Full with a Fresh Eye" and I hope you'll take a few minutes to read it.  Also, you'll no doubt want to check out Donna's work; not only is she an enormously talented artist, but she shares her "Luna See" spiritual insight through her "Following the Moon" blog, she somehow finds time to work on public art projects such as "Life in Transit", teach workshops for children and adults, and so much more.


Thanks to Roxanne, Donna, Mo, and all my sweet blogger friends- I love you all!

17 comments:

  1. What a wonderful book!!! I am sure your daughter loves it. I am off to check out the links in this post. Hope your ankle is all healed by this time.
    Have a good weekend!!

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    1. Hi Cynnie- So glad you like the book; I feel honored by the compliment, coming from such an expert book binder! Yes, my ankle is all healed, and I even got to dance at the wedding.

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  2. Awe..... congrats to the upcoming nuptials for your daughter!!! Love the book! I'm sure she is thrilled!! : )

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    1. Thanks, Manon! She does like the book, and I'm very excited about the wedding!

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  3. getting married in a gallery sounds great
    and the guest book you have created is gorgeous

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    1. Yes, I had no influence in their choice of wedding venue, but it was beautiful. Thanks for your comment about the book.

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  4. Now why didn't I think of getting married in a gallery?! The book is lovely Sharmon and so wonderful for your daughter to have the guest book created by her talented mom.

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    1. I know, I wish I had thought of that too. It turned out to be a very cool venue, and best of all- no decorating needed! Thanks, Robyn; I was pretty surprised by how well it turned out!

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  5. my daughter had a guest book given to her at a shower (her husband-to-Be's family didn't know I was a book artist) so I didn't get to make her book. Fortunately my sister got married a month later and wanted a very complex book!! :) Yours turned out beautifully - I bet the guests will be thrilled by it! The sewing looks fine in the pictures, Japanese bindings are trickier than they look - especially if you are doing a hard cover. I always knot mine on the outside and make the tails part of the finished "look" so I don't have to monkey with getting the knot tight on the inside.

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    1. Deb, I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal for you to make your daughter's guest book, but for it was a bit scary because I had never made one before. Everyone at the wedding did seem pretty impressed, though. Some instructions had tricky ways of knotting on the inside; I tried one of these and it wasn't very tight. Someone else showed the same solution that you suggested, which is what I did with the second set of stitching.

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  7. Sharmon, wow. on several levels. First I wanted to visit your blog to see what you are up to- and such a treat. The book is beautiful, your daughter and her new hubby will cherish it forever and never notice the threads. Plus I love the info about It's Crow Time and Rivergarden Studio, both of which I will check out- love crows, they have been i my work, and as for threads, they are in my work now. I think they both relate to nests, home, body. and then... I appreciate the shout out for my blog. I love that my readers and I were introduced to your work, and would love it if you would be a guest blogger for the series as well. What is in your collection? If you are interested please email me at nancihersh@gmail.com.
    Thanks Sharmon!

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    1. Hi Nanci! Thanks for the nice words. You won't regret visiting It's Crow Time or Rivergarden Studio- both amazing blogs by equally amazing people whose art you are bound to love. Thanks for the invite; I'd love to be a guest blogger!

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  8. Sharmon! I have been meaning to read this again, and comment, and so I am finally here... and then I saw my name! Thank you and I am loving our friendship as well.
    This book you are making for you daughters wedding will be forever cherished! I love seeing how you put it together.
    Sending love,
    roxanne

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    1. Roxanne, thanks for being so sweet! The book turned out alright, and so did the wedding!

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  9. Beautiful Post Sharmon, What a treasure this book will be.
    and thank you for all the links to all these talented people.

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