I recently found some old photographs (very poor quality, technology has come a long way!), of some book projects that I completed. Not long after I moved up to North Yorkshire, I became seriously ill and as soon as I was able to stand I participated in a brilliant course taught by Christine Shaw entitled Creative Hand Made Books, if my memory serves me correctly.
I had become very interested in artists' books while living and teaching in Basingstoke; I had designed a unit of work for the AS into A2 year students, which encompassed their contextual research, something many of them found difficult. This scheme of work enabled the students to present their work in an artist book format of their own choice, enabling the less academic to create a more visual response to their chosen art historical area of research and the gifted ones to really excell. It was an exciting and interesting unit to teach and the students seemed to enjoy it.
Christine Shaw's class was really exciting, using simple book binding techniques coupled with her main area of expertise, which is textiles. A wondrous mess was made, culminating in some great books!
I gave most of these books away as gifts to family and friends. The techniques I used varied depending on the book; some of them were blank some of them filled with little images that I hoped the person I gave the book to would find pertinent to them. Techniques included collage, stamps, lino printing, mono printing, fabric dying, stencilling and embroidery. All very absorbing.
I have been pondering the age old problem of how to make some money and come up with the idea of using the sitting room of our house, once the space has been completed by the builders, to create a temporary gallery over two weekends and the week in the middle. I'll send out invites to everyone I can think of and just put up on the walls as much work as I can, with browsers of smaller pieces and some home made books. With luck I will make some sales. I shall serve cake too, complimentary if a purchase is made, at a cost if not, hah hah! With luck, I shall be able to pay for the new front door with the money I make, and, who knows, contribute to the rest of the fast dwindling building fund!
Once this mini pop up gallery is closed, we'll move back in, ready for Christmas. Groan!
All of the photographs of these books are on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/SueGoughArtist?bookmark_t=page
Examples of Christine Shaw's work can be found on the Brigantia web site:
http://www.brigantia.co.uk/member-template.php?member_id=26
All images copyright of the artist, all rights reserved
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