Where e'er my eye falleth, there I see books! Today, we got a DVD in the mail, a promotional film for a tourist attraction here in Arizona. Tonight, while setting the table, I noticed the bubble mailer it came in was sitting there. Hmmm, nice size. Already folded over. Padded. BOOK!
I cut the envelope open and started taping the cut edges with leopard print duct tape. I was going to leave part of the white envelope showing but changed my mind because that leopard print was just too cool. So I covered the whole thing inside and out. It did add a nice rigidity to the book while still keeping the nice cushiony feel to it form the bubble wrap inside. I cut a pile of light beige paper to fit and clamped the block inside the book cover. Punched holes through the whole thing and bound it with black waxed linen thread in a typical Japanese stab binding stitch.
I knew I had a sort of African-y looking bone bead somewhere, so I left longish threads at the top edge. It took a while to find the bead, but finally I tied it on and called this one done.
I'm Donna Meyer and this is a Daily Journal of a Challenge: to make a book a day for a year, to stretch my imagination, creativity, skills and discipline. Inspired by Noah Scalin's Skull-a-Day. Why books? A book can be made of almost anything, and I can stretch its definition. Some will be fancy, skilled and take time. Others will be quick-&-dirty, maybe just images, or ephemeral, disappearing books. Follow along. We'll discover together how to create a book a day for 365 days.
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.
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