Sketchbook Project V 14: Thread Trails (combining pages )

 This is my final sketchbook 'Thread Trails' before posting back  to Brooklyn Art Library - I just had time before the deadline to put it back in it's original cover and show it to  fellow EDAMers  and friends Hazel and Teddy but neglected to take a photo !  Just have to wait until its digitised. 

I'm constantly  amazed how different  the individual pages look in juxtaposition with others ( but then  did spend ages playing with different combinations) . Keen to explore further possibilities of drawing and stitch.   

Sketchbook Project V14 : Thread Trails ( making pages)

 I've participated  several times with  the Sketchbook Project of Brooklyn Art Library ) most recently in the 'tiny Sketchbook project' )   and despite good intentions and ordering my sketchbook well in advance , I always seem to need a looming deadline to motivate me.

For volume 14 , I chose the theme 'stitch and story'  and after several  false starts , was inspired to use some of the monoprints  I'd done on fabric having reacquainted myself with them on EDAM book-making classes. When stitching , I'm always intrigued by  how different the  stitching can be on the backs , ' the unconscious  side'  so assembled several 'pages'  with different monoprints/ sheets of cotton organdie  glued together with bondaweb. I then had a fun time with them stitching on the train  ( above) and even at home (below) !   

These are the final 6 pages , front and back that made the  cut ( I did a few more that didn't  quite work ) . In the next post  I'll show how they work together   in the final  book format 

  

The Vital Spark - Sketchbook Project 18

With my studio out of action for more than 4 weeks while redecoration and refurbishment of our bedroom was going on ( I slept on a mattress  there!) , my creative project  was finishing ( ok starting)  my submission to sketchbook project 2018  with deadline  looming. I've  taken place in 4 previous challenges , 2 digitised  here and here.  It was brilliant seeing the sketchbooks in the flesh when they came to London. 
I'm thinking about having Sketchbook Project 13  and 'Special Edition' digitised.

I based it on the artists book I produced during Contemporary Drawing Sketchbook course based on electricity exhibition at the Wellcome Collection . I made the same concertina with pamphlet structure but attached to the cover through one of the pamphlets. 

The work was carried out at the kitchen table and what took the most time was imitating the  woodcut that inspired it , drawing on  7 x 20" watercolour paper strip  with a 0.1 Unipen!  My wrist is still recovering from all those lines but it worth it for the effect it produced. 

The other side with repetition of the phrase ' the elusive moment of the vital spark' was less strenuous! 

The pamphlets are a mixture of paper and stitched fabrics and as with the previous book, turning the pages gives a multitude of different combinations. It'll be interesting to see how they digitise it. It was posted 2 days before the deadline! 

Drawing Tuesday: Back at The Beaney

With an afternoon rheumatology appointment, I made the most of my bus ticket to Canterbury, revisiting the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge  in the morning. It's an excellent museum for sketching in , with well chosen ( and lit!) display,  good interpretation and lots of  chairs and tables , even pencils, laid out. I loved this medieval greyware pot (above) in the 'Materials and Masters' Gallery with it's thumbprints round the base and I've got these green pots in mind for my next visit!  

Instead of the Clangers, 'The Drawing Room' had a new exhibition  of artists books  titled ' Prescriptions'  with interesting, thought provoking and moving (sometimes disturbing ) interpretations  on the themes of well- being and medicine.  I recognized a few names from 'sketchbook project challenges'

 The low lighting for conservation purposes and the glass cases made photography a bit difficult  but these caught my eye.

 37.  ' Suturing' Margaret Cooter ( she blogged about it here)

 96. 'Osteoporosis'  Lizanne van Essen

 22.  'Scan Square Book ' Bini Atkinson

24.' Biological Correlations'  Heather Beardsley

 The exhibition is on until August ( the 'magic Lantern' exhibition  was also intriguing)

Thread and Surface

 

 Just received my copy of the 'Thread and Surface' Limited Edition  Sketchbook  Project   which includes a spread from my 'Distressed Doors' sketchbook.  

 

It's fascinating to see what other people have done with the same theme,  reminding me with pleasure of the evening I spent at Canada Water library looking through sketchbooks and giving me the inspiration to get cracking with my 2013 project which I've left to the last minute as usual!!

 

I think they chose well - the image of the door in a cave at Sougia in Crete  is the strongest composition.





 

 

The pages of my sketchbook were constructed from used 'colour catchers', treated with either inkaid or Golden Digital Ground and inkjet printed photos. I joined them together with connecting strips of non-printed colour catchers using zig-zag and then stitched them by machine using Madeira Polyneon thread.
Above are the 2 sides of the same sheet and below that how it looked once bound.