A brief introduction

Wow - so many of you have already created such lovely work... and I am just posting my introduction!

I am a visual artist, book artist and graphic designer from Toronto, Canada (please have a peek here if you would like to see some of my artist's books). I've just returned from an amazing week in Denmark, coincidentally attending the same book arts festival where Sarah Bodman buried the inspiration for our collective project! Along with fellow Canadian book artist, Ewa Zebrowski, I gave the symposium keynote talk, met some amazing book artists from around the world, and enjoyed far too much rye bread and cheese.

Ewa and I at our exhibition table in Doverodde

The Limfjordscentret, site of the Doverodde Book Arts Festival and Symposium

Now... on to my title: "The Darkness"!

I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail

I thought this book by Tara Publishers would be of interest. It's good to see such creativity entering publishing. I think it bodes well for the future of books - not that I was ever really worried.

Apologies

I am very sorry about previous post.  I was trying to post to my personal blog and Blogger decided to post here instead.  I don't know how to delete the previous post.  To keep this on topic, I am posting a couple of photos of a 1915 Chandler and Price Press that I just refurbished.  I printed a test plate last week and plan to print the title of my BAO book on this.  I've only had one letter press class, but I am getting hooked on ink and grease and looking forward to more.  This  press is in the Panama Publishing Museum in St. Andrews Florida.

Fiona Group 2 - A Subversive Stitch is on it's way

I have packed and posted my first edition of books - #34 "A Subversive Stitch"  They should be arriving in Group members' mailboxes in the next week I hope and after that I will show you what it really looks like.

In the interim, here are the name tags and the packages!

celebrate good times (woo hoo!) with ronnie

Many of my blog friends will be aware that over the last weekend I finally (FINALLY!) managed to get my rustic Sams Creek studio and garden finished enough to open its doors to the public as ‘Sams Creek Bookworks’ 

 

it's little, it's rustic, it's doors are brighter than bright orange!
its my bookworks 

here's its dedicated blogsite

It was a wonderful day – 20 years in the making (all good things come to those who wait) my studio was bursting at the seams with book/press/calligraphy lovers – and the curiously curious.

At one point later in the day I was showing a rapt crowd my BAO collection of works – which lucky for me is every book made during editions one, two and three – it was such a delight to hand all the BAO books around the mob and share the tale of BookArtObject. 

 (any second now I reach behind for that brown and red box housing all my BAO treasures....
can you spy it in the background near the C&P press?)

As I was passing the books around a small voice asked ‘do you have something made by Carol in there?’ imagine that?– an informed public! I was thrilled to find out that amongst all the other lovely folk who visited my little space that day were friends/colleagues of BAOs very own Carol of Barnacle Goose Paperworks - a lady whose virtual presence I have treasured since our virtual-only meeting here in blog land. 

Every day I’m discovering that the world is smaller yet more exquisite than I ever imagined…

Then this morning I realised that I was about to write my 400^th post (double bi-centenary!) on my art & etc blog – so I decided it was time for a c*e*l*e*b*r*a*t*i*o*n…….

head over to here to read more…

(ps I will be getting started with my new BAO editions in the next while – I’m so impressed with all those folk who have made a start/created a whole edition already – you clever things!)

cheers from the creek

ronnie xx

Scott McCarney and Keith Smith at SLQ

I was delighted to find that Scott McCarney and Keith Smith are giving a free lecture at the State Library of Queensland (Brisbane) on May 27th.  I suspect neither of them need much of an introduction to book artists in BookArtObject, and that many of us have at least one of Keith Smith's bookbinding books on our shelves!

  

Knowledge in Depth: West to East 

one-of-a-kind altered book by Scott McCarney, 2008

If you're in the Brisbane area and would like to go to the lecture click here to go to the SLQ website's event page to find out more information or go directly to the event booking page here.  As you know, Scott is participating in this round of BookArtObject so I'm excited to hear him speak.

For those of you who took part in BookArtObject Edition Three (Jeanette Winterson's Art & Lies), you may like to know that I am taking the opportunity to meet up with Helen Cole, librarian at SLQ, to discuss the possible purchase of that edition by the State Library of Queensland - more news as and when I have spoken to her.

At this point in time I have no idea how I'm going to get up there, or where I'm going to stay, but it all seems too good an opportunity to miss!  If I had the money - and if I wasn't teaching - I'd also try and attend Keith and Scott's 5-day book making workshop, but sadly only a lottery win is going to make that dream come true so I'm not holding out any hopes. But more realistically it might be a chance to meet up with other BAO people so if you're going, let me know!  Ironically I've been promising Amanda I'd be up in Brisbane at some point, but when I'm sitting in the lecture she will be enjoying the beauty of Paris, which is a very good excuse for not being there...

A new cover

prototype cover

I've been in the process of making my book "Transparent" and had a copy ready to show our fellow BAO members at our meeting recently ( http://bookartobject.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/taking-bao-offline-in-brisbane.html I'm posting this to let everyone know how important it was to me to make a prototype and get peer advice before committing myself completely to finishing the process of making the whole edition. Afterwards, I realised there were changes I just had to make, as the cover was just too weak and prone to damage.

I had dipped the card in a molten mixture of beeswax and parrafin at 220F so that the wax becomes an integral part of the card. I was then able to scratch the surface and rub in oil based pigment which I wiped back to leave the etching like marks. I realise these will all be a little different in each cover but hope they will still be considered an edition. If you are interested where the scratches and marks came from check out my blog http://jackoudyn.blogspot.com.au/

cover into wax

before and after scratching

a cover in progress

After cutting the image into the card I thought it might weaken it but made the first book anyway. When I saw others in the group handle the book for the first time, I realised the weakness was real and now I will change it.I am so glad I had the opportunity to test my prototype and make adjustments.So back to the drawing board in that area.