Feeling Artfully Bookish... or is that Bookfully Artish?

Ottawa Book Arts Show and Sale 2008 -

artist books, among other things, on display at my table

I have been having a blast creating hand-bound journals with book covers made from original mixed media paintings over the last week or so. It's not so much that I am rushing madly off in all directions with my art, but rather revisiting the opportunity to express myself through a well-loved medium of mine - books.

This happy development was inspired by a convergence of events and daily meanderings through my favourite artists' blogs.

First - hand-bound journals have been on my mind because of an upcoming CBBAG-OV (Canadian Book Binders and Book Artists - Ottawa Valley) journal swap later this year.

Second - a dear friend of mine, who also happens to be an amazing artist, had a birthday a week ago - what better gift for an artist than a one-of-a-kind journal in which to express creative thoughts and images?

Third - we attended an Ottawa Press Gang get-together where books & bookbinding were the main thread of conversation, recharging my enthusiasm for these beautiful vessels and... well... putting ideas into my head.

Fourth - I have been following some wonderful artists' blogs for a few years now. Like myself, many of them create Artist Books as part of their repertoire... hence the attraction. Recently, Bridgette Guerzon Mills posted some amazing art journals which blew me away. They really are gems, made all the more lovely by the details she includes about each one.

So, what was I waiting for... time for me to make books again!

Birthday journal... and Costume Balls in production for Cirque

Above are the covers & signatures laid out in order of sewing. I included painted spacers to allow the later addition of pasted-in elements, painted envelopes at each end to hold more "stuff" and a variety of papers to give more choice for expression.

Many different kinds of pages provide colour & texture

Mixed media covers - acrylic medims, paints, collage, stamping,

brads, key & lock, coptic binding with waxed linen thread

It is especially rewarding to make a gift for someone who you know will add so much to it. The journal itself is artful, but soon it will be full of artful ideas and images. And that is why books are so wonderful. They allow you to dream inside their pages... even the blank ones.

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