2014 Challenge Wrap-up and Other Updates

Hello readers!  If you have been following along on my 14 Art Books in 2014 challenge you will notice that I do not have posts for all 14 books I had hoped to make.  That is because I got busy, and distracted, and lazy, and even more busy!  To recap, these are the 5 art books I completed last year, and my original "challenge proposal."

Out of the five books, three were for exhibitions, one was a benefit donation, and one was made to try out a new book structure.  (I will also add that one of the books made for an exhibition sold!)  With that being said, I have three partially completed art books that did not count towards the challenge because they are unfinished.

Instead of making excuses for myself about why I didn't finish the books, or why the challenge was too hard, I am going to do a quick "year in review" post as it relates to my artwork and artistic career.  Things have changed tremendously from Jan. 2014 when I created the challenge.

Last year in art:
- Participated in an invitational exhibition at Heights Arts
- Had one piece of artwork accepted to (and purchased from) the Morgan Conservatory's juried exhibition
- Taught two bookbinding classes in Midland, MI
- Taught a short bookbinding workshop for Art Books Cleveland
- Attended 4 amazing book and paper arts workshops at the Morgan Conservatory
- Participated in 8 art/craft festivals (12 days total)
- Had an artist bio published in the local newspaper
- Participated in Art Books Cleveland's exhibition at the Ingalls Library in the CMA
- Made the decision to quit my job and buy an art/paper store

YES, friends, you read that last line correctly.  I now own a store for paper, art supplies, and vintage goods, with a huge classroom space.  If I am going to blame any particular life event for getting in the way of my challenge, it would be this one.  I got the idea over Labor Day Weekend while taking a book arts workshop with the former owner of the store.  She had planned on closing the store and retiring at the end of 2014.  Several people had expressed interest in purchasing the business, but they all fell through.  The former owner always joked that I would be taking over the store someday when she retired... And I thought, "Why can't I?"

I talked to several close friends and family members about the idea, and did some research before making the decision in mid-September.  The last few months of the year were a whirlwind of meetings with the bank, accountants, a lawyer, the lease company, the former owner... TONS of phone calls, pieces of paperwork, and negotiations later, I finally secured a loan for the business in late November.  (Talk about cutting things close!)  The loan was much smaller than I needed, so I funded the rest of the project through Kickstarter with the help of many friends, relatives, and complete strangers.  I got the keys and officially took over the store on December 31st, 2014.  I am proud to say that I am now a business owner and my own boss.

I'm sure you will see a lot of posts about the store, and new products I will have the pleasure of testing.

Fiber Rituals - Art Book 5/14

I finished this book in late September for an Art Books Cleveland exhibition.  The exhibition just ended, and I was finally able to take photos of the book.  The theme of the exhibition was rituals.  I thought about it for months, came up with several ideas, but never actually started anything... I kept getting distracted by spinning wool and dyeing yarn.  That is when I realized that my book should be about the rituals involved with fiber- the things I had become obsessed about this summer!

I came up with seven different rituals associated with wool, and illustrated each one of them.  Scouring, mordanting, dyeing, carding, spinning, plying, and knitting.  The whole book is only about 4 inches tall.

To make the cover, I dyed strips of kozo paper with leftover plant dyes.  Then I spun the paper into thread using a drop spindle, and knit it into a rectangle.  It was my first time spinning paper and using it for a book.  It is a little tricky to get a nice thread without breaking or tearing the paper.  Compared to spinning wool, it is almost easier because you don't need to worry about drafting the fibers, you just need to give the paper twist.

I know I am way behind on my 14 Art Books for 2014.  It has been an interesting year to say the least, with several big changes in my life.  I have two unfinished art books sitting in my studio, and the ideas/materials for at least three more...  Time to get back in my studio and do this!

Kozo Book- Art Book 4/14

 

At the beginning of the year I set a challenge for myself to make 14 Art Books in 2014.  I got a little sidetracked by my job and other projects, but I am still plugging away at the 14.  I finished three art books for events and exhibitions in the month of October.  Here is the first of the books I made for October.

 

Art Book 4/14 is called the Kozo Book.  I made it for the Morgan Conservatory's annual benefit and silent auction.  The organization gives sheets of handmade paper to artists, and asks them to make a piece out of the paper to donate for the benefit.  This year the papers were handmade kozo paper with chiri, and a kozo/gampi blend.

I decided to continue my theme of books with stick bindings, and used kozo branches for the binding.  The pages ended up being too flexible for the book to stand up on its own, so I created a stand for it out of book board.  Finally, I added kozo leaves cut from some of my naturally dyed papers.

 

Springtime Folded Book- Art Book 3/14

This month I have been experimenting with folded book structures beyond the basic accordion fold.  One of the new techniques I tried is called the Turkish Map Fold.  It is a fold that can be done from both square and rectangular pieces of paper, and opens up to reveal the entire piece of paper.

I made this Springtime Folded book from two square pieces of paper.  I started by decorating the flat pieces of paper with image transfer, colored pencil, and a quote about spring by Ruth Stout.  Once the decorations were done, I folded each piece into a Turkish Map fold.

Next, I cut one long piece of book board to fit beneath the two folded pieces, and two smaller pieces of book board for each side of the front cover.  Then I glued the boards to decorative papers, leaving space for the front covers to hinge open, and attached ribbon closures.  Finally, I glued down the top and bottom sections of each folded piece to the finished covers.

After finishing the book, I thought it would be nice to have a matching box to put it in.  I've been getting more into box making recently, so it was also a great opportunity to practice what I learned in the cartonage workshop I took last summer.

The box has a tray for the book and a hinged case that wraps around the tray and ties shut.  I made the entire box by hand using scraps of book board, patience, and a little bit of math.  This book and box are number 3 out of 14 Art Books in 2014.

The Solar System- Art Book 2/14

My latest art book is an accordion book of the Solar System with a matching clamshell box.  This is art book 2 of 14 for my 14 in 2014 Challenge.

This book is a follow up to the Astronomer's Alphabet and the Aurora Borealis books I made back in 2012.  The accordion is a lovely navy blue cardstock with a different part of the solar system on each panel.  The book starts with the Sun, and ends with Pluto.  (I know Pluto isn't technically a planet anymore, but I still consider it to be part of our Solar System.)

I started by folding the accordion, and using pencil to draw the outline of each planet.  Then I painted each planet using several layers of acrylic paint.  I referenced photos from NASA to try and get an accurate representation of each planet.  Then I added dots of white paint for the stars.  Finally, I wrote the name of each planet at the bottom of the page.

This was my first time making a custom clamshell box for an art book.  I found a very useful tutorial about how to get the measurements correct, and combined that with my previous box making experience.

Since this book is the same size as the Aurora Borealis book, I made a box for each of them at the same time.  Both books are going to be part of an exhibition in April.

Multiple Stick Book- Art Book 1/14

Remember back in January when I introduced my 14 Art Book in 2014 project?  Well, I finally got around to making my first art book of the year!  January and February were really tough months for me this year.  I had a lot of trouble getting motivated to do things, and spent most of the time curled up on the couch knitting.  (Which is why I have so many knitting posts lately...)  I'm also a competitive figure skater, so this is my peak training season before competition.  Between all of that I did not have time to physically make any art books... But I was planning!

This month I am really kicking things into gear with art books.  I have been invited to be part of a gallery exhibition of book and paper artists that opens in late April.  The artwork deadline is fast approaching and I only have one piece ready for the show!  Yikes!

To get ready for the show, I made a list of pieces I already have and pieces I would like to create for the show.  I want to continue the two themes I've already started with my art books: curly willow branches with ecodyed papers, and Astronomy.  Last week I spent some time after work dyeing papers for future books.  On Monday I had the day off and spent most of the day in my studio.

I started by spraying down my new ecodyed papers with water and pressing them under weights to flatten.  I had two sheets of dyed paper from last fall that were already flat, so I used those for the first book.  Then I sorted through my stick collection and found some lovely, skinny, wavy ones.  The idea was to create a multiple signature stick book with one stick for each signature.

Once I had my 5 ideal sticks, I tore down the two sheets of dyed paper to 4 1/2 x 6 inch pieces.  I supplemented that with 5 sheets of handmade abaca paper that I made a few years ago.  Then I leafed through my old dictionary and cut out several botanical images for transfers.  Normally I use a blender pen to transfer images that have been through a copy machine, but this time I used the original image and rubbed very hard for a light transfer.  For the covers I used embroidery floss in complementing colors to sew together two smaller pieces of dyed paper.  (Two pieces for each cover.)

The hardest part about this book was sewing the signatures to the sticks.  It was tricky figuring out where to attach each stick and how to get the signatures connected securely without much wiggle.  I ended up just winging it, and I think it added to the organic look of the whole book.  I'm very excited with how the book came out, and I think I like it even better than my original Curly Willow Book!

Project for 2014- Art Books

Last year I gave myself a year long project with my 365 book challenge.  I really enjoyed the experience of having a craft related goal for the year.  The challenge provided me with motivation, consistency, and accountability throughout the year.  As my 365 book challenge came to a close last year, I started thinking about what project I could do in 2014.  The only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted to spend more time creating art books this year.

My first thought was 52 art books in 52 weeks... And then I realized that would be insane!  So then I considered cutting it down to 2 a month, 24 art books total.  One art book every other week seemed possible... until I remembered I would also need time to make blank journals for craft shows.  Finally, I decided on 14 Art Books in 2014.  Last year I finished 3 art books over the course of the year, so I think 14 art books is a goal that will push me to continue creating, without being completely unattainable.

Many of you readers might be wondering "What is an art book?"  To put it simply: Artists' books or art books are works of art realized in the form of a book. (Quoted from the Wikipedia page about Artist Books.)  These are the rules I am following for my 14 in 2014 project:

1. To be considered an art book, it must have content instead of being blank.  This could be words, pictures, collage, pattern, dyed paper, image transfer, and any range of other media.  No blank white pages allowed.
2. All 14 art books must be completed in 2014.  No half finished pieces allowed.
3. All books must be photographed and blogged about.  The final blog posts may be completed up to 2 weeks after the end of 2014.
4.  Photos will be shown in a folder on my Flickr page.