A Book a Day? What's Up With That?


Hi, and welcome to this year-long project. So what's this all about and how did it happen, you might ask. In mid 2007, artist Noah Scalin decided to make a skull out of anything he could find, every day for a year. It stretched him in ways he never imagined, as an artist, a writer and a person. His experience turned into a blog that went viral, and then a book.

Others have picked up on the idea: 365 Hearts, 365 Masks, 365 Bears drawn on a cellphone, 365 paper napkin mustaches.
I wanted to play, too, and I chose books. I love books, I know a bit about making books (thanks to my talented book-maker sister, Marilyn Worrix), and they're broad enough in definition to give me a lot of creative leeway.

The whole point is not really the books. The idea is to stretch myself in many ways as an artist and a person, to set up a discipline, stick with it and see what that teaches me.

I hope you'll join with me and follow along on the journey chronicled here, and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Day 53-A Little Chinese Notebook

Yesterday's book, "From the Hungry i," was stitched with the single needle coptic binding. I've done this a few times, but I still don't really "own" this binding, so I decided to do it again today.

This is just a simple little notebook. Th covers are a couple of playing cards from a particularly lovely set with Chinese characters. I cut the pages from plain text paper--7 signatures of 5 sheets each--punched the holes and stitched the book with a waxed red thread. It's a handy size for dropping in a purse or pocket and feels nice in the hand.




Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 23, 2011 at 7:21 AM

    hello!

    i just stumbled onto your site because of the link on CRAFT and... WOW! i love you pledge to make a book a day. they are beautiful and ultimately so creative! i love this card one.

    keep on going, i'm going to follow your blog along the way!

    sincerely, liz b.
    http://grazinggoat.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. DonnaMarch 23, 2011 at 10:39 AM

    Thanks, Liz. I'm glad you're enjoying it and love knowing I've got another follower.

    Can you please post a link for me to the mention on CRAFT? Thanks, Donna

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elizabeth PerryMarch 23, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    I'm swept away by your 365 project! Great, great stuff. Thanks for sharing so many details of your process. I've read through your archives, and am adding you to my RSS reader so I can follow each new book as it gets made.

    Like liz b., above, I came via the Craftzine blog post:

    http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/03/make_a_book_a_day.html

    Congratulations on all you've done. Now I'm inspired to put covers on this year's batch of sketchbooks, which are sewn, but uncovered... so far...

    Best wishes and many thanks for the inspiration,

    Elizabeth Perry
    drawing daily at http://www.elizabethperry.com/woolgathering

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blue Dragon ArtsMarch 24, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    that is lovely!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)