Luring the Muse

My sister saw me doodling the other day on a piece of paper and asked me, raising an eyebrow: "Teo, what are you doing, are you working with non lucrative purposes?" :) I told her "But of course, I'm playing!" It's something I deeply appreciate in my life, it stimulates my creativity and it keeps me sane in stressful situations. And sometimes, when the outcome is not that bad, I release it into the world (wide web) for like-minded people to see it.

Here's a project I'm playing with in my free time - first with the ideas, then with the text and the drawings, later on with the book concept and design... hum, who knows when it will come to its completion, but it doesn't matter. It's set aside for the days I need an inspiration boost, as creativity is always powered by fun, games, doing something different. You know... muses don't just drop by if you sit and wait, they have to find you playing!

My version of Pablo Neruda's "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair", during the making

 

Being on vacation I have time to work at a comfortable pace and take care of some ideas I've been having for quite some time. Here are some pics of a series of three books with miniature paintings on the front cover. I really enjoy to spend time working on tiny details like these.

It wasn't easy to let them go but it makes me happy that they're in the best hands

and I know they will be treasured.

 

A few details during the making

    

Two in One! Bookbinding Press

  

I got this beauty last summer in Romania from Mihai, a bookbinder friend. Being away until now, I haven't had the chance to properly test it, but the last few days I did so and I have to say that I love it! It combines two essential pieces of equipment for bookbinding, the lying press and the standing press. It also comes with two boards with beveled edges which makes it good for backing.

This type of press, the jobbacker, is usually made of iron which makes it a heavy equipment, but mine is made of wood and is quite light (for which I could bring it in my apartment). I confess at first I was a bit concerned about its stability but it actually proved to be very well made and perfectly stable even when filled at maximum capacity in vertical position. Hooray for Mr. Adrian Ghetea who made it for me. I'm very happy with it and grateful to Mihai for hooking me up with it.

For the locals who might be fancying one of their own, please check Mihai's blog because a similar press is still available for sale.

And while at it, please don't forget to check out Mihai's work, it's impressive!

http://artacartii.blogspot.com

 

 

2014 Blog Revival!

After a long year of silence I have decided to revive this blog. Inspite abandoning it I have continued to receive positive feedback on its content and I realized that people actually read it and find it useful. There are so many interesting things going on and I really look forward to sharing them with you. So here's to a great 2014 and Happy New Year to you all!

 

 

Gold and Silver Touches

Two books I recently finished. I indulge myself from time to time in the use of metal fittings. What a delight... a touch of old, a touch of silver or of gold.

The Legend

I just finished this book. Tooling was pretty hard on the hands but I feel it's well worth it :)

And a little sneak peek into the tooling process...

Finally, a little confession - I almost never sketch out my cover design before hand. I plan it in my head and adapt it as I go. But this time I needed some guidelines, so I used this paper adhesive tape which proved kind of useful, especially because it was looking so cool while ungluing. Gave me book art ideas... for the future! 

I'm Back!

My holidays are not yet over, but I missed my books so much that I couldn't enjoy another day without binding something :) So here I am, having a wonderful summer, spending time with my family and doing what I love most: books. This time, in a joint adventure with my sister!

 

So many new books... soon to be listed in the shop!
  

Letterpress Printing

Bookbinding love doesn't come alone. I find myself interested in the most addictive things such as letterpress printing and papermaking. After having the luck to find some metal types at the flea market a few weeks ago, I now went to visit the typography where they came from. The owner was so kind to make me a printing demo on a Heidelberg press.

I enjoyed very much his workshop. Huge space, full of heavy machinery. But mostly I fell in love with the letterpress wood cabinets and the metal types.

 

  

 

 

It was a great opportunity for me to see how it's made and hear all sort of stories from the pressmen. I went away with a bag full of goodies. Next time I'll share with you what was inside!
  

New and Old Tools

I haven't been posting much lately as I've been completely swamped with work. I did however found a bit of time to purchase some new and old tools. Now, must find time to put them to good use.

 Early 1800's finishing tools, scored on Ebay

 Beautiful set of old tools from a flea market in Porto

Finishing tools from Tom Mc Ewan,
and styluses and brass band nippers from Dimitris Koutsipetsidis. 

I'm very happy with all these and normally want more!

Saturday's Fair Finds!

Today was a good day :) I got this box of goodies, not a common find at all at the flea market. And it seems that there are more where this came from. I'm going directly to the source next week to check them out. Can't wait!

The question is ... what font is this? And ... is that a question mark in the end? It was the only symbol that appeared like it. A bit strange but I love it anyway!

 

   

1st Artist Book!

I am a bit late at posting this but here it is - my first artist book - "Walk with a Blind Man" by Razvan Supuran.

The project took place in November last year at Atelierul de Carte from the Romanian Peasant Museum. I first went there to learn how to make handmade paper but the idea of making a book with Razvan was immediately born. The book was written by him, and illustrated and hand-bound by me. It was printed on handmade recycled paper and published in a small edition of 30 copies. We made it in a record time of three weeks which was only possible due to the joined efforts of the Atelier's wonderful team. I'm grateful to Razvan for giving me this opportunity, I learned many things from him and was inspired by his creative spirit. This project came into being thanks to two other people who put a great deal of effort and time into it - Catalin Buzoianu, who produced each beautiful sheet of paper in this book and Raluca Popescu, who printed it out. The fun atmosphere, the inspiring space, everything contributed in a way to the making of this book. I had a wonderful time, it was truly a great experience. So thank you, guys!

Here are some photos during the making :-)

Sketching sketching sketching... I kind of lost my practice at it!

Catalin teaching me how to make paper. Awesome!

The atelier with Alex and Raluca at work

Paper drying

All printed and ready to be bound

All bound and ready to be cased in

Working, cold November at the museum :-)

Stacked, awaiting for the hole

 Binding around the hole - not as easy as I thought!

All piled up and waiting for the letterpress printing

 Letterpress block for printing the cover - Razvan made magic with this one!

Fresh out of the press. Razvan evaluating.


And finally, the book!

 

I see :-) 

More pics of the book on Flickr and Facebook, and now the book is available in my Etsy shop!