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These last few weeks have been somewhat unsettled, the weather has been somewhat dominant in our lives, snow and storms and my second book to Fiona has taken a month to get to Australia and somehow I couldn’t move on until that part of the project had been completed.

My second book, ‘The Shape of a Yard’ has arrived!

Collaboration seems to me to mean more than sharing pieces of paper and a title. Fiona and I both create Artists’ Books and print is a major method of expressing our ideas. 

There are other odd things that we have in common – several blogs ago there was a view of Fiona’s studio and there on her windowsill there were several old wooden yardsticks. I have one on my window sill, it was my fathers and his fathers before him. I had been contemplating using it as a form of design source for ages and my mind brought these together. 

That was the inspiration for this book. It came in a flash, but it looks ages to work it all out.

The book is made up of two pieces of back to back Somerset 250 gsm  paper, a recess embossed along the centre where I have placed, every inch a Silk French Knot and between the stitches there is a blind print, measuring two centimetres square. One side of the ruler has a print from Fiona’s braille paper and the other side a blind print from my bodice plate. Each 9” section has been hinged with red paper.  I made a shallow open box covered with painted papers with  the addition of calligraphy to the base and the title inside.

Book is 4cm x 91.5cm.

Here is Fiona’s second book, which I’m sure that she will cover fully in her blog. Her book was a joy to hold in the hand and to explore the text with the applied papers and cut out holes, not to mention her neatness and precision.

The Collaboration become more interesting after every delivery. Now I will turn my mind to the third book.

The winter weather has been dominating life here over the past few weeks. Thankfully we haven’t had terrible times but the snow, ice and rain have curtailed trips to the studio, where it was very, very cold and photography had to be fitted in when there was enough light.

Alongside the Collaboration with Fiona Dempster in Australia, see here

I have been following up ideas for books which I have first sketched out in my notebooks, see previous blog here.

I had first thought that I would make three books without covers to be encased in a box together, then when I had completed them I changed my mind and put covers on them. I had made then out of Indian Cotton Rag paper and they were chunky and robust, so I felt that they stood well on their own. 

They are called ‘Memories Held Within I, II, and III and the small printed fragments are from the plates that I made for the “Shape of Things” collaboration.

And here they are.

The second book has now been posted, there had been a delay because of problems with the International post from the UK. As I write the books are hopefully crossing each other in mid air!

So here are three teasers for Fiona.