Rice Paper Tree

Fall 2011 : Letterpress

2011-12-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Letterpress, conducted by Sara Langworthy was a really great course.

The first few projects were simple with an increasing number of runs and colours on the press. The last project, documented the most heavily consisted of a total of 8 runs, which I brought down to 7, of which 6 are posted below.

The final project is part of a series of books called the 'Book of Trees'. The first of the series that is being worked on is on the Fir Tree. Projects 4 & 5 were treated as layout mock-ups for the final book.

Tied type

Project 2: Word and definition

f.h.b. : Family Hold Back

Project 3 : Broadside
Golden Spruce

Carving the block

Carving the branch of the cone on the resingrave block

Proofing the resingrave block

Resingrave, Linoleum, Polymer plate using a scratch negative and Polymer plate using rubylith

Proofing the various images

A series of mock-ups were developed before the final layout was decided

The final layout

Final mock-up

Linoleum block locked in place

Run 3

Map of run 4

Resingrave inked up

Run 4

Run 5 : Polymer plates

Setting the 100 pica line for the last run.

Can you spot the magnets holding the type in place?

It was a looong line!

Final run on press locked and ready to roll. Adding the captions to the run was a last minute idea - which cost me 4 hours

Map of final run

Final run ready to roll

Fall 2011 : Japanese Papermaking

2011-12-21T23:36:00.000-08:00

I had written a while ago about Islamic Sheetforming and posted a video of the sheetforming itself.

For my final papermaking project, my goal was to make Japanese Paper from start to finish. I wanted to take it from tree to paper and incorporate as many traditional processes/methods while doing so that I could.

Part of my goal was also to gain a better understanding of the processes, methodology and context of Nagashizuki sheetforming.

I would like to mention at this point that every part of the papermaking process uses freezing cold water, except cooking of course. The photographs below are a documentation of almost the entire process. They have been taken by Barbara Landes (who was working on the same final project) and myself. I will be posting some videos os a few steps shortly as well. The course was conducted by Timothy Barrett.

Harvesting Kozo out at the Oakdale campus. The trees are 1-2 years old, which is still old for Nagashizuki

The knife is kept at a nearly 45 degree angle and the branch is held under the arm of the non-dominant hand. Both hands are used to apply pressure away from the plant and cut the branch in one clean motion. Any smaller stems coming off are lopped off close to the main branch

The branches are steamed and ready when the outer bark pulls back a bit form the woody interiors to reveal a spot of yellow at the ends

The branches are cooled off using a stream of water

The outer bark is pulled away from the inner bark whilst forming a V shape in order not to have the fiber curl in on itself. This outer bark is what is used to make paper

The outer bark is separated from the inner woody bark while the branches are still hot from the steam

At this point, the branches can be hung up to dry for later use if desired

After peeling, the bark is scraped using a broad knife that is kept perpendicular to the wooden surface. The green bark is ideally scraped off in one smooth motion going with the grain of the fiber. Other impurities and decay in the fiber are cut off sharply using the knife

The fiber is left to dry overnight. It can be quite demoralizing to see the quantities of freshly scraped fiber be reduced to half its size on drying. After it is dry, the fiber is weighed

Some of the fiber that could not be scraped all at once was soaked in a bucket overnight. The next morning, the fiber that was not fully immersed in water had an unnatural aqua colouring to it that remained until the very end

Wood ash is covered in water and left overnight. By the morning the ashes sink to the bottom and the alkali solution or lye is what is used for cooking

The Lye is filtered through a few layers of interfacing and a colander to filter out any impurities before it can be used

Lye solution

The fiber is cooked using a solution of lye and soda ash the percentages of which are calculated based on the dry weight of the fiber

The fiber is rinsed thoroughly after cooking. This makes the fiber lighter but also makes the final sheet less crisp

The fibers are floated individually in water and any remaining bits of black bark are picked clean

Beating the fiber with mallets for 1.25 hours

The Tororo-aoi (Hibiscus) seed pods are harvested before the first frost

The seeds are bagged and stored for re-planting next spring

The Tororo-aoi roots are harvested a few weeks after the seeds. The plants are uprooted and the roots lopped off

Mary washing out the Tororo roots carefully. They hold a lot of mud in between each root leg

The mucilage beings to come off even while washing

The Tororo-aoi roots are beaten using a flat wooden mallet

The roots are soaked in freezing cold water and either left in the refrigerator or outside overnight whichever is colder

The roots and the water they have been soaking in, is poured into a colander through which it drains slowly into a pillow case

It is then squeezed through the pillow case back into the colander through which it slowly collects in a bucket

The Nagashizuki sheetforming set up

Sheetforming

The sheets are separated using string less than 1/4" away from the edge. Each sheet stays separated even after pressing because the hydrogen bonding that takes place between the fibers within each sheet is stronger than any bonds that could be created between two sheets when pressed together

The string is placed randomly on top of the post after the last sheet has been couched to indicate the top of the pile

A large bucket is placed on top of the post a water source is left dripping into it overnight

The post is sandwiched between two blotters to remove any excess water. The sheets are then carefully separated using the string

The sheets are carefully brushed onto a metal dryer and pulled off with care when dry

Dry stack of paper!

A fairly even sheet formation as seen in transmitted light. There are some stringy bits of fiber that appeared despite beating for over an hour. This was perhaps due to the fact that the trees that were harvested were 2 years old

Fall 2011 : Bookbinding

2011-12-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

Now that the winter break has begun I finally have some time to update this blog with all the work I've been up to this fall. The following are what I made in Bookbinding with Julie C. Smith.

Pamphlets

Hardcover pamphlets

The cover isn't paper, its highly starched cloth from what I understand. The pamphlet is stitched with a cloth spine using a 3-hole binding

The boards are covered separately and adhered to the cloth and a paste down is adhered to the inside of the boards to cover the hinge. This particular one was a double pamphlet - considerably more fussy than the single pamphlet

Accordions

Non-adhesive binding using paste papers made on maps

Blue. Like the ocean.

The next two were in particular to practice splicing two or three separate pieces together.

Not an easy task

Greens. Like in a plant.

Single Needle Links

Spines

Quick bindings and pleasing to look at

Slotted Tape bindings

Cover made using Cave paper's Layered Indigo Night

Punch holes and tipped in a lighter piece of paper inside the cover turn-in

Screen printed paper used for the endsheets inside this book, complimented by a forest green

Hardcover single section case binding

Similar to the hardcover pamphlets, these are hinged on cloth spines

The cases are made separately and then hinged onto the cloth spine, the paste downs attached separately

Alot of work for a single section, but it is a great structure for a chapbook

Case Bindings

Full cloth binding

Tipped on endsheets

Creating a slight depression in the cover for an inset

Endbands

Quarter cloth binding. Cloth spine and screen printed Japanese wave pattern

Sewn on endsheets

The gold is dull and catches the light to reveal a slight shine

The cloth is a yellow-gold with matching endbands

Quarter cloth binding using book cloth and screen printed cherry blossoms!

With red endbands

Tipped on endsheets

Islamic Sheetforming

2011-10-15T17:25:00.001-07:00

Here is a short video of Islamic Sheetforming.

This is the second type of paper making that we are covering this semester under the amazing instruction of Tim Barrett! This coming week, we begin Japanese Papermaking.

Books and their...

2011-10-15T17:18:00.001-07:00

Covers!

I was so wow-ed by this cover, that I did not take note of the title.

Re-backed!

The Great Artists.

Books and their...

2011-10-15T17:01:00.001-07:00

While I've been working in the Book Repair section at the University of Iowa Libraries, I've come across some amazing books. Some books have amazing end papers, spreads, covers and text.

This is a part of a series that I hope to continue as I come across more amazing books and their...

Endpapers!

The Colonial Silversmith

And its gorgeous endpaper. Wood engraving printed in a colour to match the cover.

The Great Artists. The cover is beautiful too.

So is the endsheet!

A detail

William Morris : His Life and Work

Droooool....

It isn't clear in this image, but the endpage is a moiré pattern.

Book Repair

2011-10-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

One of my jobs is in the Book Repair Department in the University of Iowa Libraries. I get to re-back books whose spines are falling apart, tighten hinges, sew in pamphlets for the smaller and thinner stapled books, tip-in pages, erase peoples' pencil scrawls, and repair damaged or torn paper and hinges - three times a week! It's oodles more fun than it sounds!

I documented the rebacking of some books which I will try to describe below. There are two different types of books that I rebacked on this day. One of which is very unique in the way it had been bound. Many books between the late 1930s and early to mid 1940s were evidently bound this way. A simple stab binding, a lot of adhesive and a piece of cloth or buckram attached to the spine. The technique of re-backing these has some differences and the images for these are towards the end. One reference to it earlier is marked with a *.

A stack of books ready for re-backing

Making a light cut with a knife and a ruler 2-3 mm. in from the edge of the board on both sides of the book.

Prying the cloth or paper covering off the book board using a flat knife.

It comes off pretty easily unless it has been stuck down with a strong adhesive and the cover is made of paper.

Sometimes the spines surprise you! This one has a backing of what looks like an old newspaper.

The next step is to clip off the 'ears' that are created when the book is being made. These are the turn-ins that keep the book cloth or paper over the spine piece on the inside. These need to be snipped away.

Then the corners are cleaned using scissors form the inside.

All the books without their spines.

Pieces of book cloth or buckram are chosen according to the height of the book. A piece of cardstock that fits snugly along the spine is chosen and cut to size.

The cardstock is adhered to the spine piece - in this case book cloth. The distance from the new spine to the book board + 1 board thickness is measured and marked on both sides on the top and bottom.

The pieces are then trimmed to 1" - 1.5" at the top and bottom and are cut at angles just below the cardstock, using the pencil marks as reference. The triangular piece that is left behind, is folded up over the cardstock and glued.

All the pieces with cardstock. The one on the extreme right* just has the magnetic strip.

The book is placed on the spine piece, aligned to the base line. The opposite side is glued up.

The piece is carefully folded up over the book making sure nothing moves.

It has to be square, and using book cloth doesn't leave much room for error.

Using the bone folder to reinforce the book cloth onto the hinge.

The book is then opened and the tabs are folded in.

A bone folder is used to further secure them.

Another method of re-backing : by tucking the spine under the cover so that there is minimal encroachment on the original book cover.

This binding is different, in that it does not have a spine piece.

The cloth is just peeled away from the spine. Most times it comes away pretty easily.

Detail of the spine.

The Buckram is measured out to go around the book. Since there is no card stock used for the spine, the buckram is marked by folding it around the spine of the book itself.

The triangle is cut out and glued.

A detail of the triangle.

For this type of book, the tabs are cut into triangles so that it is easier for them to be folded in without damaging the book in any way.

It takes some doing, but they do get in there and fit very well.

The bulk of the square tab would cause the book to bulge on the top and bottom.

The finished book!

Wax paper has to be placed where the tabs come in contact with the first page and then they go into the press! TA DA !

There just one last thing though...

Spines that have been removed that are made of cloth have to be cleaned so that they can be glued on to the re-backed books. For this, the paper has to be carefully peeled off first.

The 4 edges are trimmed off. Any remaining paper and adhesive has to be scraped off using a flat knife.This could take a while depending on the amount of paper still adhered to the spine.

The dreaded book dust

After the books have been pressed overnight, the spines are ready to be glued on!

Fall in Iowa

2011-10-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I last posted.

I have re-located to Iowa City, USA. Its very different from Delhi,
and thats all I have to say about that.

I am currently enrolled in the University of Iowa's Center for the Book.

Im going to be posting some of the things I have been working on this semester and hopefully they will be of some interest.

On the way to North Hall.
You dont realize how many leaves trees have until they decide to let them fall.

On my way from the Library

Letterpress 1

2011-10-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

My Letterpress class is being conducted by Sara Langworthy.

Finally, I am able to understand Letterpress and Printing and not be intimidated my metal type! It slows down your mind and your hands, and you gain a superb understanding of the type, its history, the page and the text - or atleast, you should!

I wish we'd had a course like this while I was in Srishti, but its better late than never, I guess.

One of our assignments was to print a word and its definition. I picked F.H.B. - Family Hold Back.

The Type Kitchen

First run

Tied type

Locked and ready to roll!

Ready to carve the reduction

Carving the highlights...

Time Out Bangalore!

2011-07-04T03:41:00.000-07:00

There was an article in Time Out Bangalore about the Artists' Book Workshop I was conducting. A juicy well written piece by Jaideep Sen. You can read it below or on the Time Out website here.

Tome of my Life

A new show is looking to bring books created by artists to Bangaloreans, says Jaideep Sen.

Despite the air of exclusivity that sometimes surrounds them, many viewers of art remain unfamiliar with artists’ books. The form itself perhaps needs some explaining – artists’ books aren’t about written, printed or published records at all, but rather are works of art conceptualised, and created in the form of books. These books, often released in limited editions, aren’t necessarily meant for reading from beginning to end like conventional books; rather, they have come to be regarded as individual works of art.

The book as a form of art has found favour among many artists, including Matisse and Picasso, said Jenny Pinto, the artist and maker of handcrafted paper who lives in the city. “In the last three or four decades, every important artist has made an artist’s book or book sculpture,” she noted: “Anish Kapoor, Anthony Caro, and Anselm Kiefer, to name a few.” Radha Pandey, a designer from New Delhi, added that da Vinci was said to have cultivated the form as well. “The form has since evolved, depending on the historical contexts, needs and aspirations of artists,” she offered. “The intent of an artist makes the book into a work of art.”

Over the last few weeks, Pinto, along with Pandey and Yasmin Sethi, another designer from Delhi, has hosted a workshop specifically for some of the city’s artists to try their hands at the form. The outcome of those sessions is a show that will be held this fortnight at Scion Theatre, with works by Ayisha Abraham, Sheela Gowda, Surekha,

SG Vasudev, Umesh Kumar and the designers Jason Cherian, Jayshree Poddar and Sarita Sundar, as well as a group of art students, including Kamini Rao, Nikita Jain and Niyati Upadhya, among others. For some of the established artists, making these works has undoubtedly meant a return to a more elementary process, allowing them to re-experience the honing of a skill.

As far as experimental practices are concerned, artists’ books may well exemplify a return to a more simple approach to art, with an emphasis on the craft of book-making. Some of the most enthusiastic responses at the workshops have been from the designers. Poddar, for instance, said she was keen on realising “a three-dimensional form [that] can be studied, handled and explored visually, in a tactile way, in its aspects of volume and mass, colour and contrast”. Having worked primarily with textiles, Poddar said she was keen on the connection between “fabric as a two-dimensional plane, and the aspect of a book as a stack – or a sheet of paper, many times over”.

Cherian said he was interested in the aspects of geometry and patterns in his works, and was looking to play with the organic nature of the materials. Kumar, in turn, said he was interested in matters of “form and materiality”, and that he wanted to focus on the “aesthetics of the ordinary”. His aim, he said, was “to examine the notions of a book outside of literature”, and work towards a small piece using a few common materials “from everyday transactions and domestic relations”. Sundar explained that she was hoping to attempt a “fusion of narrative, structure and the form’s theatrical possibilities”, and to try and work her way through the different dimensions and perspectives of the medium and its processes. “Artists’ books are an extension of telling stories,” she reasoned, “and that is what we all love doing – telling and hearing stories.”

Pinto pointed out that there is a difference between creating artists’ books and other related forms such as art catalogues – for one, with an artist’s book, the emphasis isn’t necessarily on efficient design and functionality. “The artist brings an individual, original take,” she said. “At times this could result in a conventional form, be it a book or just a folder, at other times, it could result in a sculptural or altered book.” Pandey added that the form can prove to be fairly complex and challenging. “It seems to me that it’s a natural evolution to move from a flat sheet of paper to exploring the more dimensional forms of the book,” she explained. “In some instances, it’s about creating a narrative, and a book form lends itself to that intent.”

Exploring the form could easily prove to be an extension for artists who already involve narratives, text and image in their works, noted Pandey. “On the other hand, it may be a complete leap in a different direction,” she added. “The possibilities of the page and the structure are endless – in treating the book as art, artists re-define the book as a whole.” Ultimately, in the various explorations of the participating artists, the show will also be about giving new definitions to the form of artists’ books.

Flag Book Workshop!

2011-07-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

I have had many requests for a workshop on Flag Books.

There is going to be one either on the 9th or next weekend. The date is still to be confirmed. Please contact me at radhapandey@gmail.com if you would like to attend!

Decorative Book-Binding Techniques

Flag Book

Date : Saturday, July 09, 2011

Timings -

Session One : 10 am - 1 pm

Session Two : 2 pm - 5 pm (Same techniques are taught in both sessions)

Cost : Rs. 2,000 (materials included)

Venue : CMYK Bookstore, 15 - 16 Mehar Chand Market, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

Participants will leave with 1 flag book and a tool-kit, which will enable them to make their own books, by the end of the session.

Time Out!

2011-06-01T00:36:00.001-07:00

Some of you may have seen this article on my workshops in the latest issue of Time Out Delhi. For those of you have not, here is the article below. For the online link, click here.

Yes, about the photo. I am in fact stitching and talking at the same time.

Make a book

Some binding commitments are easy to make, says Aayush Soni.

Reading a book is the easiest way to kill summer afternoons. Turn on the air-conditioning, sprawl out on the bed and lose yourself in Salman Rushdie’s Luka and The Fire of Life. But if you find your fingers itching to do more than just flip pages, you might want to think about making a book yourself.

Radha Pandey is an expert on the physical aspect of books. She’s a graduate of the Srishti School of Art and a former apprentice at the Still Water Bindery in Vermont, USA, specialists in handmade books. In December 2009, she spoke about the structural evolution of the book at the CMYK bookstore. Since then, Pandey has been teaching Delhi how to make its own books.

The typical process for a palm-sized book involves folding sheets of paper multiple times, aligning them properly with a cover that’s wider than the sheets, piercing three holes and stitching it all together with embroidery-thread. Initially, you feel like a novice surgeon debuting at the operation theatre as you fold, align, pierce, re-fold and stitch sheets together. But by the end of it, you’ll marvel at how you created something right from scratch. It’s non-sticky, non-greasy, easy to do and the workshop can keep you occupied for at least three hours. Equipment isn’t an issue – Pandey will bring all the material over and all you have to do is follow her instructions.

Should you get nervous about the fiddling and folding, Pandey will give you a crash course on the vitality of paper. “I tell them how paper is made and how it has a good memory,” Pandey said. “Whenever you do something with it, it never forgets. And once they realise that what they’re actually holding took such a long time to make, they respect that.”

Contact Radha Pandey (radhapandey@gmail.com) a week in advance to arrange a workshop. Charges Rs. 1,500 per person for a three-hour workshop. For details visit www.radhapandey.blogspot.com.

PAPER 101

2011-04-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Teaching at Srishti for a month this time around with my friend, Yasmin. The class was an interesting mix and seeing their work emerge and skills develop through the course was amazing. Their final projects were incredible, and they were a real pleasure to teach!

Bookbinders in the making

Ragini working on a prototype for the final piece.

Rajasee folding paper!

Alagu, Ragini and Rajasee's final project, made as part of the set for
their upcoming play written by Rajasee.
More on their project, here.

A collapsable origami book lamp.

A funky luminaire by Tanvee.

Exploration on sound made by paper by Boris.

Packaging for eggplants by Pratyush.

A lion's mask by Tanvee for their upcoming play.

Ankita and Shankhalina working on their paper dress.

Detail of the toilet paper flower.

An intricately cut 4 page book-lamp by Pratyush.

Folded paper aircraft by Abrar.

'Paper Remembers' : An installation by the Foundation students after my one day workshop with them.

Crimp : Seed

2011-03-06T00:08:00.000-08:00

A beautiful video by Crimp...Paper with a mind of its own...

Spring Fair!

2011-03-02T07:05:00.001-08:00

The Spring Fair was held at the Australian High Commissioner's Residence. It is a fund-raiser for Delhi-based NGO Jan Madhyam. Check out the amazing work they do here. A few friend's and I put up a stall and sold some of the various products we've been working on.

The spectacular puppet parade by Jan Madhyam!

The stall

Yes - Studio Chalk.

The T-shirt is ready! Available in Black, Red and Green at Rs. 350/- each. E-mail me to order!

My books displayed in a generously donated beautiful old shelf.

Beautiful postcards by Anjora. She also sold some beautiful stamps along with them.

Mail-a-Plant by my amazing paper buddy Yasmin.

Magnetic poetry that sold like hot cakes

Magnetic pixels that sold like hotter cakes

Another one of the wonderful products by Yasmin. A magnetic butterfly that can be clipped on to any surface.

Workshop at CMYK

2011-03-02T06:50:00.001-08:00

A wonderful space above CMYK that has recently been converted into a cafe was where we held the workshop.

A surprising number of people showed up, that made the whole thing a whole lot more fun!

Here is a picture of the instructions of one of the bindings we did. Sewn Chains, in a book by Keith Smith.

Click to enlarge.

Workshop Weekend - Exposed Sewing

2011-02-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

Decorative Book-Binding Techniques : Exposed Sewing

Date
Sunday, February 13, 2011

Timings
Session One : 10 am - 1 pm | Session Two : 2 pm - 5 pm
(Same techniques are taught in both sessions)

Cost
Rs. 1,500 (materials included)

Venue
CMYK Bookstore,
15 - 16 Mehar Chand Market,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

Participants will leave with 2 exposed sewn books and a tool-kit, which will enable them to make their own books, by the end of the session.

Open Elective 2011, NID, Ahmadabad

2011-02-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

I was invited to teach at the NID Open Electives this January. It was great fun. A class of 13 students over a span of two weeks and 15 book structures. It was an enormous learning experience and the work that evolved through the course and the final presentation that the students put up was really inspiring.

Day One : Pamphlet bindings and Accordions.

Amrita working away at her books.

Within chaos, there is order. I promise.

Akanksha looking zonked!

There was actually time to take a morning heritage tour of the city one Sunday.

I am not a morning person. The walk began here and I do not remember what this picture is of.

The idea for the final presentation being fleshed out by the students.

A sign showing all the various steps for making paper at the Gandhi Ashram.

Not quite the vatman's shake, more like the vatman's hand-shake.

A sheet of muslin being laid on directly onto the mould before couching.

Delicious drying paper.

Pranav of CEPT demonstrating sheet forming. You can read more about Pranav's efforts here.

Yogita about to pull a sheet of paper.

One of the kakas watching over the progress. It was a pleasure to see all of the kakas of the printing lab get involved and enthusiastic about the bindings - especially the Long Stitch!

Some of the books on display.

Dilli Haat Design Intervention

2011-02-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

In mid January, my friend Yasmin and I were asked to work with paper crafts people from Nepal and Bhutan and help them improve their existing products and develop new ones for an exhibition at the end of 10 days.
It was challenging and alot of fun. The women were an absolute blast to work with and I hope to fetch up with them in Nepal and Bhutan later this year and have a look at their paper units!
I've posted some pictures of the process and products here.

A woman from Bangladesh taught us the intricacies of Batik on cloth, which we then evolved to paper - this was something they'd never done themselves before - in Bangladesh and Nepal a few experiments had been carried out, but no final product had resulted. Hopefully this was a push in the right direction. A lot like Encaustic.

Explaining to Aruna of Jamarko, Nepal the pattern in which the lamp should be stamped. Aruna's and her sister started Jamarko years ago. They source Lokta paper from a village 6 hours from Kathmandu and make and sell products in their store as well as several other stores in and around Delhi.

A broad and deep block is needed for wood block printing with wax. They usually use Paraffin, but again -it is flammable when overheated, so it is best to have a mix of beeswax and paraffin. It's safer.

.
One of the lamps I worked on for the final show.

The finished lamp.

A lamp made by the Bangladeshi Batik craftwoman as directed and design by Aruna from Nepal.

A long-stitch I taught Aruna using their batik Lokta paper.

Some blinds that were taught to the Bhutanese and Nepalese craftswomen by Yasmin.
The paper used was the batik Lokta paper which would look wonderful against the light.

The final exhbition!

Getting a book cover woven from one of the craftsmen.

His fingers moved so fast! And the colours were wonderful. Check back for the finished book.

Paper cuts!

2010-11-22T04:14:00.000-08:00

Here are better images of the work I did at Haystack this summer.

The first cut.

Detail of the little holes

Working with incorporating patterns into a shape

Detail

'Put some colour! Make it POP!'

Click on this one to make it larger. T-shirts now available! Contact me to order!

An experiment with parallel cuts in an Accordion form

Arromont School of Craft, TN

2010-11-05T20:49:00.001-07:00

The drive through a place called Pigeon Forge to get to Arrowmont School of Craft has been the one the most ridiculous experiences of my life.
Pigeon Forge (as the name suggests) has everything - From a giant Titanic (yes, the ship), complete with its own iceburg, to an Elvis Museum, an upside down house, a more than necessary number of mini golf clubs and of course Dollywood - the Dolly Parton theme park!!
As you drive through this chaos of commercialization, you chance upon a rather old structure that looks like its been there for a while, something that blends in more with the Smoky Mountains that surround it. Arrowmont is a refuge, a haven from the tourism and chaos that surrounds it.

Arrowmont

Housing

The Smoky Mountains

Amazing colours first thing in the morning.

Passion flower!

Sindey Koretsky talking about the process of making the huge sheet of paper behind him in China.
It takes 14 men and a huge vat to pull this sheet. They then take it over to the couching area where they lay it on the post using a pulley system. It was mind-boggling!

Peter Thomas on the left, singing a song he made about making paper.
Peter and his wife traveled around the US in a gypsy caravan conducting workshops and meeting friends wherever they stopped. You can read about their adventures here.
Peter took the one day miniature binding workshop.

2-sided miniature accordion

The other side of the accordion

A folded accordion that can pocket small items when you travel. Ideal for large maps.

Non-adhesive covers for the travel accordion

Jim Croft has been one of my heroes. I was amazed at his books and the processes described in his articles that I'd read. When I met him, I was struck by his humble and generous nature.

He makes books the old way. He grows flax, to harvest and beat into pulp using a water powered stamp mill to make paper, to make these beautiful Gothic book structures. He also spins his own flax thread which he uses for sewing the books. Gandhian.

He also makes his own from bone and metal for binding and creating beautiful embellishments like these.

Alll the paper used in his books are cut to have rounded edges by hand.

Beautiful clasps with stained flax

Some more bindings

I was assisting Catherine Nash in her 2-day Encaustic Painting Intensive workshop. She is an amazing and wonderful person, and I have had the pleasure of learning from her at Haystack about 5 years ago (Japanese Papermaking). You can visit her blog here and her website here.

Catherine talking about Encaustic to a group. Encaustic Painting was first used to create the Fayum Mummy portraits in Egypt (100-300 AD). This ancient artform is being explored in many new ways by many artists the world over.

Catherine giving a demo of layering and removing wax to our group.
Encaustic or wax, helps preserve the substrate (we used mostly paper), it gives it a luminous quality, it makes paper translucent, it creates a sense of mystery, it can hide and reveal...Catherine described it at the perfect marriage between paper and books.

The beginnings of an altered book

Working the first 'snowflake' into the altered book

Embedding the butterfly

A detail of the transfer

The semi-finished piece

Other Adventures

2010-10-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been spent traveling. We've been from Ithaca - DC - NY - Boston - NY - Savannah, GA - Statesboro, GA - Atlanta - New Orleans - DC. Phew!

The beautiful location of Alicia and Jonah's wedding in Ithaca.

Camping in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The whole town smells like Chocolate. Not.

The H Street Festival. The Heaven and Hell Car.

I'm guessing the theme of this car was 'Hands'

I could be wrong...

Times Square. It was exhausting to look at.

I had the good fortune to be able to stay one night at Beatrice's amazing apartment. This was the view.

She had some amazing paper cuts all over her walls.

This one was tiny. It had been cut with scissors!

This one had been cut by one her friends in Japan.

Detail

Sigh...And so the southern leg of my journey begins.

The trees in Savannah are beautiful. They all have this amazing moss flowing down from their branches, like hair.
Gives them an eerie quality.

The squares are beautiful too and full of massive old Oaks.

The sunset at a beach was a dream...

A shadowmark by Dard Hunter at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Atlanta.
A well-maintained and extensive collection.

The paper curtain caught my eye.

Detail.

The huge trees in the Big Easy.

Not too many pickpockets, or loose woman for that matter.

But alcohol, lots of alcohol.

And policemen on horses.

Cave Paper

2010-08-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

The last three weeks have been spent in Minneapolis, at Cave Paper. An amazing cave-like space where alot of beautiful paper is made everyday with great care and effort. Click here to take a look their website.

Here are some pictures of Minneapolis, the cave itself and paper-making!
Click on the images to enlarge

On my way to work

The freight elevator toggle!

The cave. Where the binding, drying, packing and sorting happens.

Flax dipped in Indigo drying on marble drying racks. (Similar to those documented at Mr. Shimura's in the Philippines) Making Layered Indigo day, Step 1.

My whale work boots

Baby hollander beating 1 pound of flax.

The fiber releases alot of oxygen on beating.

The Maze (maa-z-ay) is used to distribute the fiber evenly throughout, when the vat is charged.

This is the sha that sits in between the wooden frame. The finer the slats, the better the paper quality

Couching paper on top of one another directly is a process specific to Japanese Papermaking. It amazing how this process works to wonderfully. The paper peels right off after it has been pressed. Its like magic!

Each sheet is separated by a line of fine thread. This helps separate the sheets after they are dry.

Gently pulling out the strings to separate two sheets.

Brushing the sheets onto boards

Sheets drying.

Painting on the pattern for the watermark.

This is the work of Amanda's tenant - an amazing 'origami' artist - Eric Gjerde. You can look at his Tessellations here
and buy his book here.

Its hard to believe that its just paper that has been folded!

The city maintains the areas around the river so well.

Its beautiful and a pleasure to take the long way home...

Short Cuts with Beatrice Coron

2010-08-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since my last post. I've been traveling around the USA doing many paper and book related things. I was up at Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine, with its beautiful trees, ocean, moss, cool breeze, lichen, and wooden campus for 2 weeks to attend an amazing course on paper cuts by Beatrice Coron. You can check out her fabulous work here. (Click on the images to enlarge for detail)

Moss caught in a tree

The forest opens out to the ocean

Beautiful beds of lichen (sounds like liken) around campus

A lichen covered tree

Sunset

Waking up to the trees

My time was divided between the Papercutting Studio (above) and -

the awesome kitchen with the walk-in fridge! -

in which the whole crew can fit! (that's the chef, Tom on the right)

This is Tom's incredibly soft cat

A sketch I did at the Museum of Art in D.C.

Cutting the sketch out of Tyvek

Now for the outside shape...

Ta Da!

And then the humidity came, and warped the leaves... and made them look so much more alive!

Starting on the tall cut

Finished piece. Don't know if the tiny spider web is visible, in between the ferns and the lowest tree branches.

Inspired by a t-shirt I saw someone wearing. I changed around alot of it
and added boats, ships, a train, and elephant, crazy looking birdies, two people - one sitting, engrossed in a book
and the other seeking shelter from the rain let off by a tap directly above them. Sort of a circle of Life theme. This will be on a t-shirt soon as I'm back home.

Considering I've never touched a sewing machine in my life, this was a challenge! Figuring out those patterns is like learning a whole new language! I don't know how you fiber guys do it! I chose a classical style 50s skirt pattern and began cutting with sweaty palms.

Almost done at this stage, just cleaning the cuts.

Ready and waiting for it to be stitched onto its 'slip'

The remains...

Ta Da! (the sun was in my face!) I wore it for the parade we had on the last working day. Felt like wearing nothing, and the sound it made while I walked was wonderful! There's nothing like the sound of rustling paper...

Getting ready for the parade.
The back panel had to be less intricate because it needed to be sat on! -
Although I didn't dare sit after all those hours of work!
It still needs touch-ups, but at least its wearable, right?

My table, ready for the final walk-through.
There are some other cuts I worked on, which I will have to take better pictures of.

Old Journal

2010-05-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

I finally found the time to take pictures of some of the pages from my old journal before it went to pieces...

Workshops for children

2010-05-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Planning a week of workshops for children this summer. Spread the word!

Timings : 2pm - 5pm
Cost : Rs. 500 per day
Venue : C-18 Chirag Enclave, New Delhi - 110048

monday, 17th - recycled papermaking

tuesday, 18th - simple book-binding

wednesday, 19th - tie & dye

thursday, 20th - clay work

friday, 21st - papier mache

saturday, 22nd - making pop-up cards

---

monday, 24th - recycled papermaking

tuesday, 25th - simple book-binding

wednesday, 26th - tie & dye

thursday, 27th - making puppets

friday, 28th - mixed media art class

saturday, 29th - jewelery making

Summer Workshops!

2010-05-05T02:38:00.000-07:00

Finally, the summer workshops have started! Its going to be a
fun and craft-filled May & June!

Timings : 10 am - 1pm
Venue : C-18 Chirag Enclave, New Delhi, 110048
Contact : Radha at 99-99-00-5343
Cost of materials included

Creative Book-binding II : Exposed Sewings
Date : 8th and 9th May
Cost : Rs. 1250 per day

Creative Book-binding : for children
Date : 15th and 16th May
Cost : Rs. 1250 per day
Traditional Paper-making and book-binding : 2-day intensive workshop
Date : 22nd and 23rd May
Cost : Rs. 15o0 per day

Bookbinding Etsy Street Team

2010-05-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

An article was written about me recently by the creative team and authors of the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team!
Every day of the week, pretty much, there is an interesting article that is posted, and once a week, an interview of one of the members. Last week, I was lucky enough to be the privileged one.
You can read the interview here -
http://www.bookbindingteam.com/

Book-binding 101 at Srishti

2010-05-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I had one week each with each batch of Visual Communication Design. During this week, we covered the basics of binding - ranging from an introduction to the tools, how to use tools, presentations on the structural evolution of the book, the definition of a book; to simple bindings - 3-hole, 5-hole and moving on to accordions, case bindings, stab bindings and simple one signature exposed sewings
On the last day, students had time to work on their personal projects. It could be anything, as long as it had the ability to contain information, fell into a structure, and utilized the basics that were taught on the first two days. Some even made edible books which turned out great and were fun to make!

The junior VC batch. A mostly enthusiastic batch of 20

A blue workspace

Measuring out paper for the cover of the Stab bound album

Drilling through the entire book

A case-bound in progress

Edible book #1 made with rotis, a breadstick, and mint stalks

Edible book #1 open

Edible book #2 made with bread, power boiled maggi, gems, jam, chocolate....ahem

Varun & Mimansa eating their creation

Edible book #3 made with alot of unknown ingredients - there is definitely caramel, cinnamon, flax seeds and chocolate though

oh, and power boiled noodles

anda type of tortilla...?

Paru and Diya eating their book

Workshop at Trapeze

2010-04-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

I was in Bangalore recently, teaching at Srishti School of Art, Design and Techonology.
I had one day off in the middle of the week, and that's the day I took a workshop at Trapeze. A design studio in Koramangala.

Colourful workstations!

Demo-ing the glueing

Cutting covers

Happy Sybil with her books!

Golden Kon'nyaku Workshop

2010-04-02T00:07:00.001-07:00

I was recently in the Philippines, in a tiny village called Poking, overnight from Manila. After two straight days of traveling I finally arrived.
Poking is a small village of 40 houses. Pretty much everyone in the village is related and some have been around for more than 60 years. The work day would begin at 7 am. After a heavy breakfast we would work till 10 am, at which time we would break for tea. Then we would work till noon and break for a light lunch. Mr. Shimura's wife made sure I was well-fed on all the veggies she could possibly find. The main dishes were served dry, with a bowl of red rice. It was a healthy diet. After lunch we would work until 3 pm at which point there would be more tea to drink followed by more work and dinner and 7 pm. After this long day, all you wanted to do was sleep. I would be in bed by 8.30 ready to wake up again at the crack of dawn.

Day One
We beat Saba fiber in the Hollander beater for two hours. We also beat some fiber by hand so that we could pull some papers that had the long hand beaten fibers.
(I will be uploading some illustrations of the entire process soon)
At this point, it is important to mention that the village was facing a water problem. So, we pulled small sheets, which required much less water. To wash the fiber after cooking, we walked down the mountain until we reached the source where the village gets its water from. A small pipe with a narrow stream of water. We hauled buckets of water back uphill. These would be used for the entire duration of the workshop.

We also hand beat some New Zealand flax fiber that had already been cooked. These would be later beaten in the Naginata Beater - a beater used for separating long fibers.

Walk to work at sunrise

Saba Banana extracted fibre

Cooking Saba Banana

Saba after cooking

Dispersing Saba into the Hollander

Hand beating New Zealand Flax fiber

Breaking apart the flax fibers by hand after beating

Day Two
On the second day, we pulled sheets out of the Saba that had been beaten the previous day for 2 hours in the Hollander. We also pulled some sheets out the of the hand beaten Saba using the western sheet forming technique. We used a beautiful mould and deckle that Mr. Shimura had been using for the past 35 years.
The paper was then couched and pressed using a 30 ton hydraulic pump. After a few hours, we used a brayer to transfer the sheets from the felt to the wall, where they dried overnight.
We also mixed mesured quantities of Kon'nyaku with mordant and natural dyes. We used, Cochineal powder, that comes from the female cochineal insect and gives a bright red; Japanese Indigo; Achote powder that gives an orange; Alnus that comes from a tree and gives a dark brown; Walnut that also gives a brown; Logwood powder that gives a lighter brown; and Gold dust.
We then brushed large sheets of beautiful Kozo, Gampi, Pina and Saba with Kon'nyaku paste. The brushing has to be done in one smooth motion with a large flat brush. It was hard!

Sheet Formation

The mould and deckle

Mr. Shimura transferring the paper

Kon'nyaku Plant. The Konjac powder is extracted from the dried tuber of this plant.

The tuber. 1 year old tuber (left) and 4 year old tuber.

Konjac/Kon'nyaku Powder. On mixing with a measured quantity of water, this plant extract becomes jelly like. It gives paper wet strength, and was used as a dye base in this workshop.

Carefully measuring out the Konjac

A measured quantity of Gold dust.

Aiko mixing old and smelly Cochineal power with Konjac.

The dyes mixed and ready to be used

Brushing Kon'nyaku onto the sheets.

Day Three
On the third day, we removed the sheets of paper from the walls with a sense of extreme satisfaction. Saba looks so beautiful when its dried. We also pulled out the Kon'nyaku form the formica boards. We then pasted the other side, and began painting with the dyes. The consistency was thick, and so one could carve out patterns onto the paper. When certain dyes were mixed they sometime reacted with one another to form a different colour or texture.
Later in the day, we took a break and beat some New Zealand flax fiber in the Naginata beater. We would pull sheets from this the next day.

Pulling the Kon'nyaku off with Kenji, Mr. Shimura's son.

Painting!

Joey creating beautiful prints with the Kojac.

Paintings drying in the sun.

Beating New Zealand Flax fiber in the Naginata Beater.

Day Four
On the fourth day, we pulled large sheets of New Zealand flax fiber from the left over water in Mr. Shimura's large cemented vat. We added some quantities of Tororo-aoi (muscellage) to this and pulled papers with a large western-style mould and deckle. Between these, we placed a wet Sha, made of organza. This would make the paper thinner. This also meant that we could only pull one sheet per
Sha. The weight of the mould and deckle can be shared with the edge of the vat. That way, its easier to disperse the pulp without being hampered by its weight. After two or three pulls each time, the deckle is removed carefully and hung on a hook above the vat. All the water is then drained from the mould which is held at an angle. The mould is then carefully aligned to the post, over which it is then laid.
At this point, we put all our weight on to the mould in order to squeeze the water out.
We invented a Poking style Yoga!
The post was then pressed overnight.

Mr. Shimura pulling a sheet

Taking a closer look

Removing the deckle

Letting the water drip drip drip

Aligning the mould

Couching

Joey doing some Poking-style Yoga/Couching

Lift-off

Day Five
On the fifth day, we removed the sheets from the press and brayed them onto the walls.
I also worked on a personal project, making miniature books from the Flax (which I was later told are 0.1" too big to be considered miniature). Later in the day, Mr. Shimura showed us how to make Shifu, or paper thread out of Pina paper. A long process requiring alot of skill. The threads are then woven, soaked and stretched, to create fabric that can then be worn.

Removing any fibers from the edges of the Sha after pressing

Pasting the sheets onto the wall with a brayer to dry

Local Pina (Pinapple)

Mr. Shimura rolling some pina paper to make Shifu (paper thread)

Separating the 'threads' before repeating the rolling

The rolling is done on a wooden surface to ensure friction

The finished Shifu. The ends are then torn into half-moons and worked in to make a seamless string

Mr. Shimura's portrait by Joey in Golden Kon'nyaku

Kami Nabe : Paper Cooking. Dinner prepared on the last day by Mr. Shimura and Ms. Andrea

In my second week, we took a road trip to the Mountain Province. Everyday we visited a new magical place. What follow are images from our travels.

Hopao Rice Terraces

Walking towards our hotel in Hopao

Farming carrots

Grinding for Gold

Delicious South African meal cooked by Mr. Shimura

Joey at BenCab museum

The Anthurium. Set up by Ms. Andrea's brother and looked after by his family

The group wearing Shifu jackets. I feel like this picture could be an old black and white picture taken way back when

Local lemon

Ben Cab and Joey at the museum

A collapsed bridge after the typhoon a few years ago

Susanne after harvesting some Golden Cocoons

Cow jaw bones

Orchids growing at Mr. Shimura's

Weekend workshop

2010-03-10T21:18:00.001-08:00

It was a good breezy day. This is probably the last time this summer any workshops can take place on the wonderful CMYK terrace. I am always giving workshops in my studio so please contact me if you or any of your friends are interested!

Busy hands at work!

Preparing book-cloth

Measuring out covers

Everyone with their books! (L to R) Shilpi, Monica, Kiran,
Heather & Mike.
(click on the image to get a better look)

Custom-made Book

2010-03-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

This coptic has been made for Amjad Ahmad. The covers have been made using a subtle and beautiful mulberry paper from Handpaperline. The inside pages are handmade as well. The six signatures have been bound using leather cord. It was a bit tricky to use this cord for the binding. It gives an uneven finish - partly because the cord itself slightly varies in thickness throughout.The cover has a small block-print mounted on two tiny squares of handmade paper from Khadi.

The front (Looks slightly warped in this image)

The end page

The print

The spine

March Weekend Workshop

2010-02-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

BOOKBINDING II : THE CASE BOUND BOOK. Pre-requisite : Bookbinding I
You will leave with the knowledge of case binding - stitching, preparing a hard cover and spine and details of pressing - and your very own Case Bound Book!
Timings : 11 am - 1 pm (both days) | Dates: 6 - 7th March | Cost : Rs. 1350 (Handmade papers) | Rs. 1250 (Mill made papers)
Venue: CMYK Bookstore, 15-16 Mehar Chand Market, Lodhi Road | Contact: 9999005343

New coptic on the block

2010-02-22T03:41:00.000-08:00

I saved this page from our calender last month, and thought this would make a very funky and kitsch coptic. A large size at 7.5" by 5.25" it has been bound with bright yellow thread that include 2 carefully off-center green glass beads on the spine.
The signatures have been lined alternately with bright red and bright blue papers.

One cover

The spine.

The book open

The other cover

February Workshop!

2010-02-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

You will leave with the knowledge of paper grain, precision cutting, stitching, pressing and pasting; 2 simple book forms, and a tool-kit.
Open to all levels.
Cost : Rs. 1250 (for handmade papers) | Rs. 1150 (Mill made papers)
Timings : 1 pm to 5 pm | Date: 20-21 Feb
(same workshop will be repeated on both days)
Venue: C-18 Chirag Enclave, New Delhi, 110048 | Contact: radhapandey@gmail.com

Workshop!

2010-02-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Case-bound book

Hey Everyone,
the next workshop is due to be scheduled for the first weekend of March.
Its going to be Traditional book-binding - The Hardbound/Case-bound book.
The pre-requisite for this workshop is Book-binding-I.
If any of you are interested, please contact me!
Book-binding-I will be repeating hopefully towards the end of the month, if there are enough interested parties!

In production!

2010-02-12T03:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the books I've been working on these weeks for People Tree.

2 signature bindings

A peek within

The bamboo impression books still need their closures!

Cook-book

2010-02-12T02:57:00.001-08:00

This is a cook-book I made for a friend who wanted alot of Indian food recipes. I found this paper at Khadi Gram Udyog in CP, and I suppose this was the perfect use for it!

Another custom-made book

2010-02-12T02:50:00.000-08:00

This coptic bound journal has been made for Anusha Lall. The cover has been made using a paper from the bark of a shrub called Daphne. It has been made in the ancient papermaking tradition of the Himalayan Region and has been individually dyed in vibrant colours in the ethnic shibori style, which lends each paper its uniqueness.
The endpapers have been torn out of sheet of thicker 'Rice Paper'.
Its a large size at 5" by 7.25" approx.

The coptic stitch

The endsheet

The head of the book

The book, standing

A Great Day for a Workshop

2010-02-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

The weather was perfect, the roof was lovely and the participants, enthusiastic!

Folding the Accordions for Book #1

Joy!

Cutting paper of the covers after learning about grain

Pasting

Piercing the signatures for Book # 2

Ta da !

Thank you all for coming :)

Fish Accordion!

2010-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

This Fish Accordion, which I've posted on Etsy is a subtle brown on brown block print of fish swimming from the front cover to the back. Wrapped in a delicious pink and brown ribbon, its a perfect little size for sketches and journal-ling.

Wall Painting!

2010-01-31T09:13:00.001-08:00

We've been painting a wall today! My cousin and his lovely wife are expecting a baby next month and we're painting these walls with a huge tree with pink blossoms, a lion, a giraffe, an ostrich, lots and lots of fish, an octopus, a whale and a mermaid!

Cutom-Made Book

2010-01-31T08:25:00.001-08:00

This is a book that I made for Pratik Chaudhari. A friend of his was leaving India and this was his present to her. It was a very tight time frame, and alot of effort had to be put into the book before its actual construction. Alot of thinking went into it, with regard to content, placement of content, the use of the book, and everything it would contain.
Here is the final result.

The Process

Pre-cutting the cover for pasting. Didn't want to make any mistakes with this one! The picture has already been mounted at this point, and sits behind a cut-out of the letter E.(Pratik's idea!)

The cover after pasting

Detail of the mount.

Constructing the docket. Alot of trial-and-error. But it worked out fine in the end!

Making the envelopes. This took the longest. I had to make them a few times before I got them to score and fold at right angles.

The pen holder.

--

The Book

The front face of the book. A photograph mounted beneath the letter E. The paper used is Neem Impression - A beautiful handmade sheet from Tara DA. The paper for the spine is a thick mill-made forest green. The signatures have been sewn using Maroon and Green waxed linen that has been tipped off with coordinating glass beads.

A detail of the spine.

The book open to its front few 'pages'. Printed flags cover the first few folds of the spine.

The next three folds contain three signatures. Two in Olive Green, and one in a textured creme handmade paper, again from Tara DA. The Green signatures both begin with a collection of printed images. The purpose of these two signatures is journal-ling. The creme signatures are filled with writing for the eventual owner of the book by her friends.

The signatures and envelopes.

Every page of the green signatures is hand block-printed with dull gold fish. (The recipient of the book is a Pisces.)

The last two folds of the book, contain the envelopes. One of them has a small picture pasted on it. They are meant to keep any memorabilia or precious things that need safe-keeping.

The docket - containing two letters that were written at the time of making the book, and the pen.

A bookmark was made especially for the book. It has been made using the same paper I used for the cover. The waxed linen has been tipped off using the same beads used for the signatures.

The back of the book contains a mounted picture of Pratik himself.

The front and back of the book, after last minute additions and final touches. (Photo by Pratik)

The entire book, open. (Photo by Pratik)

Bamboo impression

2010-01-30T06:12:00.001-08:00

Found this beautiful paper at Tara DA! Had to make lots and lots of these books.
I was also lucky enough to find the right kind of Green handmade paper. It looks like the inside of a plant!

The book, closed. Two beads to open the 'doors' of the book.

The book open.

The book from behind.

January Workshop!

2010-01-25T08:24:00.001-08:00

Finally the workshop planned for this month at CMYK is happening!

Creative book-binding! - Introductory workshop

You will leave with the knowledge of paper grain, precision cutting, stitching, pressing and pasting; 2 simple book forms, and a tool-kit.
Open to all levels.

Timings : 1 pm to 5 pm | Date: 30th January, Sunday

Cost : Rs. 1000 + materials
Materials : Rs. 250 (for handmade papers) | Rs. 150 (Mill made papers)

Venue: CMYK Bookstore, 15-16 Mehar Chand Market, Lodhi Road Contact: 9999005343 or 99-99-806-707 or 011-24641881

Two bindings will be taught.
-An accordion binding, (which covers folding and pasting basics) and;
-A two-signature 3-hole binding with cover and optional closure (which covers stitching, folding, scoring, and closures).
Participants are encouraged to bring anything they want to use as embellishments - beads, lace, blocks, buttons etc.

Box

2010-01-21T05:06:00.000-08:00

I also tried my hand at making a box after almost two years! It isnt perfect, but its a start. I also think that the bottom of the box needs another lid just like it and the lid needs a bottom just like it.
I've used paper for the lid, thats been made with silk fibers and then block printed. It feels amazingly soft and delicate. Turned out to be very hard to work with! For the base, mill made paper. Size when closed : 4" square approx.

Accordions!

2010-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've been working on pocket-sized accordions for the past two days.
Here are a few.. The others are drying. They're a great size at 3.8" by 5.6". They fit right into your back pocket, or your bag. They're great for collage work, quick sketches and also a miniature photo album!

The three books. Two of them are screen printed handmade paper. The third is mill made paper, block printed with a beautiful block of a tree.

Two open accordions.

The leaf print accordion has beautiful dark green handmade paper inside. It reminds me of the inside of a plant.

The dark purple accordion with the dull gold tree block print.

Stall in Bangalore

2010-01-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

My books were on display at an event in Bangalore. A friend of mine took some pictures. Here they are!

Upcycled wedding card

2010-01-14T04:09:00.000-08:00

Everytime wedding cards come in the mail, I see potential. Its hard to find cards that have minimal printing and good quality paper. This wedding card, had a little printing on its envelope, and a whole sheet of screen printed paper on the inside as the lining - What better use than to turn it into a mini-book!

The book when closed

A close-up of the screen print

The lining use as end paper

The standing book, bound with yellow waxed linen, and handmade paper with marigold petals. This book is fairly small being a 3.5" square

Flag Book

2010-01-11T05:55:00.001-08:00

This delightful form is made by pasting strips of paper in equal intervals to form the Flags. It is dynamic in its form, and is always a fun surprise depending on the way it is opened or handled. Different people have thought of different uses for this book. Stories, textile swatches, flip book, character sketches, colour palettes and more.
This book comes in a Dark Brown with a Dark Green Accordion spine. 21 Flags total. Size when closed : 4" by 6.5" approx.

When closed

As viewed from above

Opened and held together

Detail of the spine

When open

Small Accordion

2010-01-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

Another Accordion, though much smaller in size. It can fit easily into your bag or back pocket. Made with a fiery combination of red and orange marbled handmade paper, with a hemp closure, tipped off with dark green glass beads.

The Accordion when closed

Detail of the closure

The book when open

A small detail on the back end-page, made with the same marbled paper

A block print in dull gold at the back of the book really adds to its appeal

Accordion with Sewn Signatures

2010-01-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

Finally found some time to make some new books. Accordions this time..

The closed book. 4" by 6.5"

A detail of the block print and hemp cord closure

The book when open

Signatures sewn in using Burgundy and Dark Green waxed linen

The threads were tipped of with small glass beads

Januray Workshop Weekend!

2010-01-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Creative book-binding! - Introductory workshop

You will leave with the knowledge of paper grain, precision cutting, stitching, pressing and pasting; 2 simple book forms, and a tool-kit. to all levels. Materials : Rs. 250 (for handmade papers) | Rs. 150 (Mill made papers)
Timings : 1 pm to 5 pm | Date: 17th Jan | Cost : Rs. 1000 + materials
Venue: CMYK Bookstore, 15-16 Mehar Chand Market, Lodhi Road | Contact: 9999005343

My Etsy Shop!

2010-01-05T01:33:00.000-08:00

Finally! I've put some stuff up on Etsy!
All the other names I wanted for my shop were taken,
so it is infact,

www.paperspirit.etsy.com

Its still being built on, so keep checking back!

Immanence to transcendence

2009-12-31T02:40:00.000-08:00

Yuri Lochan's work took my breath away, the minute I got her invite in the mail. I cut it up immediately and got it ready for a coptic. It was such great fun and so satisfying to see her work in the form of a book. The inside of the invite had another art-work printed on it. I used it to make an inset on the inside of the front cover.
She loved it when I finally presented it to her on the opening night. She uses gold leafing in her work, and most of her paintings are done in sections, pieced together as a whole. The expressions on all the human forms in her work are mesmerizing.

The art-work/invite.

The spine.

A detail of the spine.

The inset. Front and back covers were covered with Midnight Blue Handmade paper from Tara DA.

The book, open to the first page.

Wabi-Sabi

2009-12-31T02:35:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked to make a visitor's book for Veenu Shah's Wabi-Sabi exhibition at the Alliance Francaise de Delhi. It was a beautiful exhibition of her enamels. After having done all the collateral (catalogue, invites, posters and info tags) for the exhibition, the square format book was a pleasure to make. It filled up within three days with comments and orders, and I had to sew on 4 more signatures to the book, to make it last the rest of the week.

The book.

The book and the catalogue.