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.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Book 172 - "Imagine" . . . A Stab-Bound Book for Peace

I do like today's book. It's something I've been wanting to do for awhile. This is actually a prototype to work out the details since I plan to do this book as an edition. I'm not sure how many I will do in the edition-- maybe 25.

This is a stab-bound book with board covers in decorative paper. The pages are traditional Japanese style. That is, each page is double, folded in half with the fold at the fore edge. I used very thin translucent paper, like tracing paper, and I will probably change this for the edition. I like the look, but the paper is just too fragile. Also, the ink does not dry well on this kind of paper and it smudges horribly. I had to print about 75 pages to get the 50 clean ones I used.

Each page has a quotation about peace--and the stupidity of war--something I feel pretty strongly about. Of the 50 quotes used, here are a few of the best:

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" ~ Eve Merriam
The time not to become a father is eighteen years before a war. ~E.B. White
War does not determine who is right--only who is left. ~ Bertrand Russell
I hate it when they say, "He gave his life for his country." They don't die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them. ~ Rear Admiral Gene R. LaRocque 
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity. ~George Carlin

I look forward to making more copies of this, with some improvements.

P.S. Sorry I did not manage a book yesterday. I'll make it up, probably tomorrow. No, I'm not quitting!






10 comments:

  1. Absolutely love this idea/project!

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  2. A book all about peace!!! My heart just lifted and sang a little tune of happiness. Nice!! :):)

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  3. I sometimes use marker paper which is translucent and rather thin but sturdier than tracing paper. I made a moleskine-type notebook the other day which sits in my back pocket. The paper is holding up very well.

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  4. Becca - thanks for the tip. I'll look for marker paper as soon as I can get someplace that might possibly have it. Here I have to go 30 miles just to get to a Wal-Mart, and the single arts/crafts aisle there is as good as it gets. When I can get up to Las Vegas, I may be able to do better. Oh for a real art supplies store--even a scrapbooking store!

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  5. Don't you shop online? I'd be lost without it. Can't get so many things where I am either, even in town here. :)

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  6. I do buy a lot of things online, but I find it hard with paper, unless I know exactly what I want. I need to feel it and test the grain and the "tooth" to know if it's what I want. Besides, I LOVE paper, and many of my best finds were just the random luck of finding something I wasn't even looking for. That doesn't happen online. It's like digging through the scrap bins at Oregon Leather for treasures!

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  7. Ah! I see your point with paper. But I find that even being able to touch it doesn't always help me when it comes to how it works for writing, fountain pens, sketching, or watercolors. LOL! ;)

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  8. They don't always have it, but I first found marker paper at Office Depot in their "art supply" section. The art supply stores around me have it pretty consistently, but Office Depot has it about half of the time.

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  9. I love the look of the binding on this one!

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  10. I am not quitting either, but it has been a crazy (good crazy) week and I am behind in my comments. This is so nifty. You are right, you are surrounded by great supplies.

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