Folded Paper Collage 03

Folded Paper Collage 03 

Folded Paper Collage 03 enlarged and cropped

I am loving the enlarged portion of each of the collages in this series....not to slight the actual small collages.  It is giving me thoughts of doing some larger pieces using the enlarged technique.  I guess I just have to try it.  Have to finish the Washington state suffragette piece that is due on Monday evening first though.

Folded Paper Collage 02

Folded Paper Collage 02

I use to love the comic strip Dick Tracy when I was a kid.  I love the boldness of his profile.  My friend Sally has a large number stamp which I used today.  I am so envious of this stamp.  She is looking for one for me but they are expensive online.

Folded Paper Collage 02 enlarged and cropped

Folded Paper Collage 01

Folded Paper Collage 01

Today I decided to do some more folded paper collages.  I have not done them for awhile.  You can see past ones on the header of this blog...at least they are there right now.  The only criteria for these collages is that somewhere in the collage there has to be a piece of folded paper.

Partial View of 01

As I was copying the image 01 into PhotoShop I accidently used the 300 dpi version into a smaller PhotoShop page.  This is what transpired.  I like it a lot and it fits into the theme of Words and Pictures which is the theme for the 2020 year long workshop hosted and taught by Carla Sonheim.  Making these collages is not part of the workshop but I am inspired and have gone on my own a bit here.  You could say this version is a cropped version of my original.

Empty Book with Japanese Stab Binding

Japanese Stab Binding

80 books to go toward my goal of 365 in as many days.  When I started 80 seemed like a lot of books and it is.  Now that I am heading toward the end of this pursuit it still seems like many but not as many as 365 was when I began.

As I plan for Newport and the workshop on how to make Japanese stab bound books I had only planned on creating soft covers in the workshop.  Then I though OK why not do a hard cover one.  So now I am thinking that is the route to go.  I had made hardcover books in this style before but it has been awhile.  The hard part of making the hard cover is punching the holes for sewing.  So I might simplify the binding and the size of what we do in Newport.  This one sure was fun to make.

Diamond Pattern - Japanese Stab Binding

Diamond Pattern - Japanese Stab Binding

I am trying to use up larger scraps of paper.  In this case I bound a book using the Japanese stab binding, diamond pattern.  Maybe you can see it more closely if you enlarge the image.  I thought that I needed to soften the cover a bit with the Japanese calligraphy paper.  I made the marbled paper when I was in San Francisco this past fall.

Fabric Belly Band

Fabric Belly Band

My art buddy, Elsa, wears fabric bracelets frequently.  She has them made by a local artist.  They are quite beautiful.  So that was my inspiration.  I have made belly bands for book closures previously but never a fabric one.  So I decided to give it a try.  I have lots of fabric that came from my mother’s estate and so I pulled some out and here is my result.  Remember I have no training on the sewing machine, just from the school of trying it out.  This belly band works really well and is quite shabby chic in my opinion.

Experiment Using Clear Gesso over Encaustic Backgrounds

Clear gesso experiment over encaustic background

As I have mentioned previously I really am taken with the Hot Box method of encaustic.  I wanted to collage over the backgrounds easily without a great amount of hassle.  Yesterday I tried cold wax and liked it but since I am so into using matte medium I had to figure out a way to adhere on a waxy surface and I found a way.  Coat the encaustic surface with clear gesso.  Once dry collaging can begin.  There is a texture feel to the surface that is rough from the clear gesso but so far I am impressed with the results.