After I’d been making artists’ books for a while, my mom brought me this little book and said, “I guess you were meant to make books all along!”
I made this in 1976. The book has faded (binder paper and ball point pen is not archival!) but my sentiment is still the same. My Mom is the most kind, considerate and thoughtfull ladie (sic) I know. So Mom, here it is again, just for you.
I love you Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.
~Ginger
Posted in Art, Artists' Books, Handmade Books
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m working on an artists’ book using an old family quilt. Originally I’d planned to use some lovely leftover pieces of Rives BFK for the inside pages. But it turns out, as I’m trying cover options, that in order for the cover to best display the quilt pieces it will need to be a larger book – so I’ll save those Rives BFK pieces for a future project.
I didn’t want floppy covers so sewing them without an internal structure wasn’t really a choice. I considered sewing fabric sleeves to insert the Davey board into – as I did here with jeans, in Pockets:
But I finally decided to use the actual quilt pieces as the covers. I’m using them like book cloth, wrapped around Davey board. This affects the artists’ book not only in necessary cover size but also in limiting the edition size. I like that each book about the quilt will come with it’s own pieces of the quilt.
Using the quilt with book cloth is a bit more interesting than I expected. I find that I have to use a lot more glue than I would with book cloth or cover-weight paper and that there is a lot of holding-for-a-count of 30 to make the quilt stay where I want it. Below is a step-by-step if you are interested. Pardon the photos, they were taken quickly with glue-y fingers and in kitchen-table light.
1. I applied glue to the Davey board and then applied it to the quilt. The lines on the Davey board are the grain direction. The quilt is an odd shape because it follows the quilt pattern. I decided that rather than cutting it down further I would try to use it in this shape. I used a brayer after every step in gluing so as to get the best possible contact between the fabric and the board.
2. I applied glue to the top and bottom turn ins. Rather than using scrap or newsprint under the quilt I used waxed paper. I found the whole process to be much messier and stickier than when using bookcloth or paper.
3. I used my fingers rather than a bonefolder to fold over the fabric. I wanted to get even tension and found that I had a lot more control with my fingers. The quilt was much stretchier than a usual cover material.
4. When turning in the corners I used some glue and held the corners in and down until they held.
5. Finished corner folded in.
6. The front piece of the quilt glued onto the Davey board. I decided in order to get even pull front and back that I had to use another piece of the quilt as the back side. I used the pieces that are in lesser shape as backing pieces. I wish now I’d kept all of the edging (which would have been large enough to use here). Note to self: keep all of the pieces until the project is done!
7. Finished cover (not dry – you can see the glue has made the fabric temporarily translucent.) I’ll dry it overnight under heavy weights – between waxed paper sheets.
~Ginger
Posted in Art, Artists' Books, Handmade Books
Tagged book cover, Ginger Burrell, gluing a book cover, pockets, quilt, www.gingerburrell.com
One of the joys of being an artist is choosing the raw materials for art. Like a chef choosing the just the right spices for a delicious meal, artists delight in considering every ingredient. I think for book artists, paper may be our greatest pleasure (although I’m already arguing with myself over the possibility that it may be bookcloth). Every detail, the weight, feel (or hand), color, and pattern – even the edges, deckled or not, is taken into consideration when choosing paper for a new artists’ book.
My favorite paper, and one I return to often, is Rives BFK. A printmaking paper, Rives BFK has no sizing and has a fabric-like hand. I think that part of experiencing an artists’ book is the feel of the pages when you are turning them and Rives BFK is always a pleasure. I began using it for litho, etching, and intaglio but now use it for cyanotype and inkjet printing.
Rives BFK takes inkjet printing beautifully, but because there is no sizing, the ink sinks right in. To get a wide range of tonality in photographs, I use a low ink volume setting. This allows the ink to float on top of the paper and I’m able to bring out silvery gray values in black and white photographs. I’m often asked about getting the best quality print out of a printer and I recommend that you test print each type of paper you’re using with each option in your print dialog box. Print>Properties: experiment with combinations of print quality, paper type and ink volume. The investment in a few extra pieces of paper and a bit more ink will payoff in print quality. Here is an example page from Virtual/Reality:
Rives BFK also allows for double-sided printing without a hint of what is on the other side of the page. Although that can certainly be an interesting design element, I usually want my page to present only a single (or set) of images at a time. I don’t want distractions. In most cases I use BFK sheet, 250 gsm in white.
What is gsm? (When I started out writing this blog entry I had only a vague idea so I did some research. I found it interesting and hope you do, too.) Gsm, also seen as g/m2 , is the weight or grams per square meter. The higher the gsm, the thicker the paper. According to Paper Mojo, “The European mesaurement of describing paper weight measures a single paper with a two-dimensional height and width of one square meter.” You might want to take a look at their paper weight conversion chart.
Another challenge with Rives BFK is gluing. Flat gluing is easy. Gluing, as for a book cover, when you are folding the paper around Davey board, is a bit more challenging. Because Rives BFK has no sizing and is therefore more absorbent, the glue sinks into the paper and does not sit on the surface. This reduces the tackiness that makes the paper stick to the board when wet. Invariably the first time I tried it was late at night before a deadline and I was almost in tears with frustration – I pulled out the scotch tape and taped the edges of the paper around the back of the board while the glue dried. Before gluing in the final backing pieces, I removed the tape. This now my standard procedure when using Rives BFK as cover paper as in Ode to Anna Atkins:
Lastly, Rives BFK takes and holds a fold beautifully. Folding along the grain creates a crisp, flexible fold. This paper works especially well for post- and Japanese stab bound books for this reason. For best results, pre-score the paper before folding it. I’ve also found it to be very nice for accordion books – the weight gives it enough stability to display well while open.
I’d love to hear your opinion about Rives BFK – or your favorite papers. I’m always looking for new ones to try.
~Ginger
Midnight Musings 