Mica covered books part 1

We started by making small 3" x 5" x 1" books with mica covers.  The mica sheets we used were pre-cut stabilized sheets of mica.  This type of mica is less likely to split then natural mica pieces.  The mica is translucent, which allowed us to put small images between the mica and the Lokta paper used for the book cover.  End papers were wrapped around each of the three signatures of the book.

For the second mica book I used walnut dye on the book pages.  I then nipped and ironed the pages flat before folding, punching and stitching them to the book's spine.  Two pieces of Lokta paper were glued together to create the book's spine and also support for the mica covers.  For this book I inked celtic knots directly on the Lokta paper.  The final step was to add a twined thread closure with a small glass bead Steve Hilliard made.  Below are the two finished mica books.

Books of the Earth

I spent a week at the John C. Campbell Folk School taking an amazing book arts class: Books of the Earth.  Holly Fouts was the instructor and Cheryl Prose was the assistant.  The focus was using natural materials to make artful books with variations of the historic long stitch binding.  We worked with mica, natural dyes, wax, rusting and burning to create interesting pages for mica, copper or brass covered books.

We experimented with several tea, coffee and walnut dyes on a variety of paper types.  The berry tea dye changed color, depending on the acidity of the paper it remained red or turned green.  I used this dye on the pages for my first mica book.  I dyed all the pages of the second mica book using a walnut dye.  I used crumpled waxed paper both under and on top of the dyed paper to create additional texture.  The finished paper needed to be ironed and pressed before being stitched to the book spine.

We used small culinary butane torches to heat copper and brass to create colored patterns on the surfaces.   Heat treating metal alters their physical properties.  This is usually done to improve the strength or elasticity of the material (annealing and tempering).  It will also change the color of the material.  This process required careful heat control.  If the metal is over heated all the color is lost.  The trick is to stop heating as soon as the metal starts to develop the color you want, since the metal will continue to change color after the heat is removed.  I plan on using the copper and brass mesh as part of future art book covers.

We used a variety of rusty iron, copper and brass items to create rust patterns on different types of paper.  Vinegar is used to promote rust and transfer it to the paper.  We also experimented with wood burning tools and candles to carefully discolor, scorch, char and burn paper.  

Watercolors printed on mugs?

I have been using my Canon Pro9000 Mark II series printer to print archival pigment prints on Strathmore 90lb watercolor paper note cards for a while now.  Last past year I donated sets of flower, trout patterns and salmon fly cards to Trout Unlimited, library and other local groups for their fund raisers.

This year I decided to try something different.  I downloaded a template for a wrap around mug and painted four watercolors; Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Brook trout and Cutthroat trout.

I tried to create images that looked active.  The scanned 300 dpi images were uploaded to a commercial web site to be printed on mugs mugs.

I loved the way the mugs turned out, the colors closely match the original watercolors and the fish look great wrapped around a mug.

The mugs will be donated to local Trout Unlimited chapters for their fund raising events.