365: Make a Book a Day: piano hinge binding

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, August 1, 2011

Book 185 - A Piano Hinge Split Double Accordion Fold Book

This split double accordion book with a piano hinge over a piece of bamboo slat was a bit of a challenge. The paper piano hinge has to be precisely cut to work. So do the slits in all the accordion fold pieces. Then they have to be very carefully fitted together. But when they are done, you have a beautiful little book. It will be fun to make this structure again with the added challenge of adding text and deciding how to lay it out.

I should know the name of this paper--I've used it before, many times--but it escapes me at the moment. Suffice it to say, it's beautiful and lovely to work with. It loves PVA glue, and it molds itself perfectly to the board. This was a joy to work on.

STUDIO REPORT: I am getting a new 5' long hardwood workbench as a birthday present! So I have spent much of the last couple of days cleaning out and reorganizing the studio to make room for it. It's amazing what I found hiding in there! It is going to be SO cool to have everything organized, right where I know to find it, within reach, and clean! And a proper table to lay things out on. With an oversized cutting mat on top! Heaven! I'll try to take some pix once it's all together. And be on the look out for some... different... books as soon as it's all up and running again. Gotta use all the wonderful stash stuff I found!