Shikoku to Himeji

We travelled from Osaka to Tokushima then to Awa Yamakawa where we visited Awagami papermill and stayed in an onsen. The naxt day we went back to Awagami to see them make some very large paper about 2.5 x 4 metres. We were staying that night in Kameoka but stopped on the way to visit Himeji Castle. We are now in Kyoto but will put up the last couple of days photos maybe tomorrow.

Osaka

Well we arrived in Osaka Monday night and had a quick look around but since we'd got up at 3.30am didn't really hit the town. Yesterday we visited Osaka Castle and walked and walked. Then in the evening Tim took us out for a very special meal. The link above is to my photos from the Castle and here are some photos from last night. Today we head to Shikoku to Tokushima and Awagami Paper Factory.

Trial for travelling blog

It is really easy for me to put photos on Facebook and much more of a fiddle from here and as I am travelling to Japan and Korea very soon and will no doubt take lots of photos and rather than spending lots of time blogging I'll write a little here and put in a link to my Facebook pictures.
Today's album has a couple of books that will be in the Papermakers of Victoria exhibition in November. The red book is also a sample for the class I am teaching on Saturday using a makeshift sewing frame to make a case binding or a variation of such.

More preparations of Geelong and other books

I have been quite busy lately organising a trip to Japan and Korea, ooh I'm going in just over a week. Teaching my Saturday bookbinding class, preparing a presentation on Artists Books and Handmade Paper, which I delivered to Papermakers of Vic AGM last Saturday and will be giving again in Wonju at the IAPMA Congress and preparing for my class at Geelong which is on a week after I get back from Korea. 

As part of working on the presentation I've been rephotographing some of my older books, here are some pics of Greetings from India a flag book with cyanotypes and scans of letters I wrote home from India in the early 70's printed onto handmade paper.

 

The hands wave backwards and forwards as the book opens and closes.

I forgot to mention I've also made some books for the Melbourne Show. This is my submission for the Eastern style binding section, I collected the feathers when I stayed at my brother's place north of Sydney, had no idea what I'd use them for but they were perfect for this book.

 

I have also been making more samples for the Geelong class and have made a book which will be my contribution to the 15 x 15 x 15 fundraiser at the Forum. The cover is very textured and painted with acrylics and the pages are Hannemuhle.

 

I am also trying to finish off some work for the VQ Biennial Paper Arts Exhibition which I am co curating. I am making a book in a box and I pulled out my encyclopaedia sewing frame to sew it together, it is also a practice for the last class at Ringwood, we'll be making a sewing frame and sewing a book onto cords. 

 

Tomorrow we are doing piano hinge so now I'm off to make a practice one and to finish my red book. And I just noticed I've hit the 10,000 visitors since I started counting, Yeh!

I have been contacted through the Alcove art shop by a watercolour artist to make some paper and looking at her website/blog I saw one of her paintings in one of my books. Her name is Linda MacAulay and she has an extensive site here, My book is in the July blog.

Yabbers and preparations

Rainbow Book - Greek Binding

We spent a day at Yabbers a while ago making this rainbow paper. Beverley had prepared about 20 icecream tubs of recycled archival board that she had dyed different colours and we had three vats going at once. One started yellow and ended up blue, one started pink and ended up yellow and one started blue and ended up pink.
We are going to put the books, which are miniature (7 cm cubed), in the Valda Quick Biennial Paper Arts exhibition which will be held at the end of the year in Bundoora. Each of us will be doing a different binding.

Last week at Yabbers we worked through Keith Smith's instructions for Greek Binding, I chose to use five different coloured threads to go with the rainbow look. Most of the thread is some hemp that I bought at Victoria Market a couple of months ago. It is described as beading thread but it is really too thick for most sewing. I have found that it splits quite easily and for this small book I used four strands which I waxed so that they held together well. This is such a clear photo of the stitches you can see that I got a little lost with some of the overlapping stitches in the middle.

Since last week I have been doing some preparation for the class that I'm teaching at the Geelong Textile event Fibres Geelong. The class is called Brazen Breastplates and the subtitle is Colour and Texture in Handmade Paper.
I have made a whole lot of textured samples and have started some of the treatments on them.

Graphite and Shellac first coat

wax crayon and shellac

irridescent medium

watercolour (will get irridescent medium)

first stage of verdigris wax (acrylic paint)

untreated

Collage Paste Paper

I used some of the red paste paper to cover my sample for the bookbinding class tomorrow, a W Binding or binding onto a concertina.