Polymer Clay, Bookbinding, and Keith Smith

4February2007

3-Hole Pamphlet

Posted by Lady Artisan under: KSProject.

Well, the results weren’t very satisfactory. On the upside I did get two
pamphlets done. On the downside, the finished pieces were disappointing. At least I’ve figured out what won’t work and why. Read the rest of this entry »

9January2007

Finally got to start!

Posted by Lady Artisan under: KSProject.

 After a week of family illnesses (including the dog!), we’re almost back to normal here. So I finally got to start what I’m now calling my KS Project. Didn’t get terribly far but I did get two flexible covers completed to try with the pamphlet stitch. One cover is straight Bake and Bend clay in a pretty thick sheet. The other cover is a 50/50 mix of B&B with Premo but I made it quite a bit thinner. No pics, yet, but hopefully I’ll get the books done in the next couple of days and will post some pics of the finished products.

Feels good to get started.

2January2007

Nope, nothing new yet

Posted by Lady Artisan under: KSProject.

Except that I thought about how I wasn’t going to get anywhere with my challenge today while taking care of a 2-year-old with the flu, a puppy that doesn’t understand that we don’t want our house to smell like doggy urine, and a newly found pantry beetle infestation (I think we have the grain weevils). We seem to have gotten rid of the beetles (keeping fingers crossed and putting grains in tuppers). Read the rest of this entry »

1January2007

Here I go

Posted by Lady Artisan under: KSProject.

So the first binding is the pamphlet stitch, which could potentially be the hardest cover to convert to polymer clay. The problem is that polymer clay, once cured, is breakable. It has a slight flex but certainly can’t withstand being bent in half,  back and forth, over and over. Of course, I have done a pamphlet using polymer clay for the cover but I’m not fully satisfied with the result. This was a 4-hole pamphlet stitch. The cover is solid polymer clay made to look like tooled leather and it’s flexible (I used part regular Premo! copper and part Bake and Bend [I mixed my own brown]). The reason I’m not fully satisfied is the limitations of the flex. It won’t lay flat unless you apply quite a bit of pressure so writing in it is not going to be easy (it’s a blank journal, of course). But I am going to cheat and count this as my 4-hole pamphlet since I still have to do a 3- and a 5-hole and whatever variations strike me as interesting (I like the look of those pamphlet-sewn concertinas). Read the rest of this entry »

1January2007

Before I begin…

Posted by Lady Artisan under: KSProject.

I got my third  Keith Smith book this Christmas (not Vol III but Vol II, 1-, 2- and 3-Section Sewings) and realized I’d only done a couple of bindings out of Vol I and one binding out of Vol IV and there’s so much more to explore and learn from them….Which is when the crazy idea hit me: work through his books, starting with Volume I and going for as long as I feel like it. Make one of each binding (more if the mood strikes me or if I particularly like a binding technique or if I want to play around with an alternate version). Did I mention crazy?I know, Mr. Smith spends lots of time in Vol I explaining how important it is to see the binding as part of the whole, something about the space-time continuum being ordered by bookbinding and books singing duets, but I just love the physical act of putting a book together and binding it. Now, don’t lambast me for sticking my tongue in my cheek while writing this. I actually love his explanation for the mental objective at the beginning of his first book but I also find it thoroughly intimidating. It’s probably why I have yet to do an art book, preferring to focus my artistic attention on the covers, book structure and binding than the content.

So, it’s New Year’s Day and time for resolutions. Of course, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions so I’ve decided to challenge myself instead. Here are the rules:

1. Start with Volume I, Non-Adhesive Binding: Books Without Paste or Glue and work through as many volumes as I can or want to.
2. Use only polymer clay for the covers (mixed media allowed, as long as the cover is mostly pc–embellishments are definitely allowed and possibly fabric for structural purposes). Pages are up for grabs–anything goes; pc, fabric, paper, or whatever.
3. Can be a blank book or an art book with content.
4. No stress! (Ah, music to my ears).
5. All rules are completely arbitrary and subject change at a moment’s notice according to my whim, interest, level of exhaustion or frustration, the weather, lunar cycle, and if my dog has fleas or not.

For anyone who decides to follow this little adventure of mine, don’t expect me to do anything daily here–two young kids, part-time work, a new very young dog, and a big house. Need I say more? But I will, of course. I’m also working on a couple of other projects (sculpted dolls if you must know) so this will just be worked into the mix like everything else.