The Show is coming..soon

I've been prepping for the show for the last few weeks with a little aggravation.  The postcards are still not done and the show is only 1.5 weeks away.  Really??  I mean it should be already done. Part of it comes from not getting me e-mailed in a timely manner from the person in charge.  Part of this is due to a new gallery manager and the learning curve.  Then Spring Break happened.  So no advertisement at this point.

I have been steadily working on what is going in the show.  After much internal discussion I made a few decisions that will not be revealed here but you will see pictures of the show.  This weekend, I cut mats and then started to put it all together.

Representation

So what happens to the books now that the work is done?  That is a question that I get a lot.  I sell them or hope to sell them.  After working hard one important thing that a book artist needs to consider is, are you going to try to sell your book on your own or are you going to seek representation with a book dealer.  I am choosing to go with a dealer.  The thought making some sort of prospectus, sending it out, making follow up calls does not rock my world.

I am very lucky in that right up the road in Birmingham is a delightful couple who are book dealers.  Bill and Vicky Stewart own Vamp & Tramp.  They travel all over the USA carrying our precious books with them making calls at special collections libraries, public libraries and private collectors.  

My husband and I made the trip to see them last Friday.  I not only took my thesis, but some other books that I have made while in school.  I am please to say that they took all of them.  Holding Down the Fort will be priced at $325.00.  I gladly give them a percentage of the sale in exchange for peace of mind and time to pursue other projects.

Here is there website.  It is worth checking out and full of treasures.  www.vampandtramp.com

Here They Are!

The final, finished stack of my edition.  Now that this is done, I'm going to start to work on the show.  I am meeting with the gallery manager tomorrow about details.  Only 5 weeks until the show opens.

Finished Binding!!!!

Today at 4:12 pm CST, I finished binding my edition of 50 books.  I am so happy and thrilled to be at this point of the process now.  Here is another pictorial essay of the process.

Trim uneven edges of covering

place text block on case, making sure everything is even.

I forgot to take a picture of pasting out.  I place a piece of newsprint under the first end sheet and then paste out the
end sheet.  Take away any extra glue with my finger and then carefully close cover onto the text block.  I then open the front cover a tad and then using my teflon folder, smoothing and making sure the end sheet is adhered to the case well. After doing both sides, I then put it back in the nipping press. 

The stack of finished books on my Kuttrimmer

The studio aftermath  No time to be polite about throwing newsprint in a trashcan.

I did start to clean up my studio tonight. 

Putting Paper on Case

 The next to last step before the end.  Now I am getting really excited as the end it truly in site.  Here is a pictorial essay of these steps.

Marking paper so I place the case correctly

Pasting out the Case

Placing Case on Cover Paper

Trimming all the sides and corners

Nip the case in the nipping press. This will make the case really adhere to boards.

Final step......casing in the text blocks.... :)

Components and Cases

I've been a busy beaver this weekend.  This Wednesday is my self imposed deadline to have all of my book completed.  Friday I made lap components.  This comprises of a piece of Bristol board for the spine and Mohawk again for the part that gets glued to the book board.

gluing spine piece

placing spine piece onto Mohawk portion

Trim lap component

After completing these, I cut all the board 

down to the appropriate size.  On Saturday, 

I began case construction.  

What case looks like after attaching lap component

tearing the excess

Sanding what's left to have a smooth transition

Sanding outside of case to shape it to give it a nice finished look

Stack of finished cases


I have finished covering the cases but will blog about it tomorrow.

End Sheets and End Bands

This week was all about finishing the text block.  I had already attached the first lining of Japanese paper and now I was ready to  put on the 2nd spine lining of Mohawk 70lb. text weight paper.  This lining, unlike the first, is only as wide as the spine and the length goes from kettle stitch to kettle stitch.  These stitches are the first and last holes in the sewing pattern. They serve as a locking devise to keep the sections of the sewn book together.  I set up my standing press to be able to do 3 at a times.

Step 2: Attach spine lining

Step 1: Glue up spines

 

Step 3: Bone down lining very well so it adheres

To bone something is the book binding world is to press down with your bone folder, hence the term, to make sure what ever it is you are gluing together sticks. For spine linings it is very important that the linings are firmly adhered.  This is what forms the book into a solid form.  So as my binding professor likes to say, when you think you've boned it enough, do it some more. 

Bone folders are not necessarily made from the bone of an animal anymore.  For those who have a aversion to animal products you can purchase plastic ones.  The particular bone folder I'm using in this process is made of teflon.  A teflon folder is not used nor should it be for all jobs.  It is good for what I used it for and similar jobs along with scoring paper.  Different tools for different purposes.

The next step was to attach end bands that I had already made from a purple book cloth.  Here are a few pics of that process.

Cutting end band to size

End band is trimmed to stop at the top of the kettle stitch

Finished placement of endband

This week is all about case construction.  I will be making a lap component ( the center of the case that has the spine piece and joint area), cutting boards, etc.  More explanation to come shortly.