I had a productive week this week–completed three projects in my studio, even though I spent way too much time binge watching season four of Unreal.   You can skip season four of Unreal by the way, even if you are a big fan like me. They really should have stopped after three.  And I should have known since it was one of those reduced-to-just-eight-episodes seasons.

The first project is a photo album I made for a friend who recently retired.  C.J. made the marbled paper I used for the cover.  This is a binding I learned at the San Francisco Center for the Book back in 2011 called “The Ideal Album” because the design makes the spine end thicker so the addition of photos produces a flat book instead of one that bulges.  I’ve made a few, some that I keep full of pictures.  They really do work well as a photo album.

The second is a small mixed-media piece I made for The Canvas Project at The Brooklyn Art Library.  For a small fee then sent me the small canvas and a random word that’s meant to inspire the artwork.  I got “bardolatry” which means an intense love of Shakespeare.  A couple of thousand canvases were sent out. One returned they will be exhibited, mixed up and then sent off to random people.  It took me a while to come up with an idea but I’m still a few days ahead of the mailing deadline.  When I get a canvas from them later this year, I’ll post a picture of it.

The last project is a recovering one.  This spring I took a class, again at the Center for the Book, on converting a paperback into a hardback.  I’ve got a small stack of books from my “To Be Reread in Retirement” stack that I’m planning on turning into much fancier versions of themselves.  This one is Nathaniel West’s Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust. I saved the titles and some of the old cover art to use on this version.

This week I’ll be at the Center for the Book taking a class on how to make a book with a Byzantine binding.  It’s a very fancy looking binding with quite a bit of complicated exposed stitching.  I’m looking forward to it, ferry rides to the city and all.  Maybe ferry rides especially since they produce two hours of restful reading time. I’ll post of few pictures of the book once I finish it.