Bound To Please
I have tried my hand at a number of arts and crafts over the years. Pixel Point and all of the things that Pixel Point is about reflect a lot of those diverse interests. Bookbinding and handmade journals, though, are a little corner of the world that have caught my interest and are the art form that I wanted to have in my own gallery.
Folks have been bringing me their photographs and art work for years to be framed. Framing protects the art and, hopefully, adds to its presentation. I got to thinking, “What is the equivalent for prose or for poetry?” So I decided to pursue custom-made books to “frame” words. I also liked the idea of “putting to work,” in a functional way, the various types of fiber and paper art that I found produced by other artists.
All of these journals are made from scratch in my studio by me. Unusual fibers like kudzu, tobacco, and silk are often used for the covers. Some cover papers are hand printed or marbled by other artists. I love to drop in to the studios of fiber artists and meet them and find ways to incorporate their work into custom journals.
Environment friendly paper is used for the book blocks. I started with recycled paper, but now lean toward using alternative fiber papers. An example is paper made from sugarcane.
Some of the books house limited edition issues of prose or poetry. Some are blank journals for recording special thoughts. Some are theme journals for hiking, traveling or gardening.
Each journal includes a page describing the type and origin of the materials used in its construction.
The Petite Journals featured in my Etsy Store have covers based on Vintage Fruit Crate and Seed Packet art. I find labels, recover them using Photoshop and resize them to use as the cover art for this unique journal series.
