Episodes
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Episode 137: More Japanese Stab Bindings. Or Chinese.
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
- Kutani-yaki (a colorful style of pottery),
- Wajima-nuri (a black & white style of lacquerware),
- Kaga-Yuzen (fabric dyeing),
- Washi (paper),
- Wagashi (Japanese-style sweets),
- Kinpaku (gold-leaf painting), and
- Matsudaira Sadanobu a politician who may have named Kanazawa's famous garden, Kenrokuen, Kenrokuen.
Thursday Jun 11, 2015
Episode 134: San Francisco Bound...
Thursday Jun 11, 2015
Thursday Jun 11, 2015
Suiko sent the people to China who brought back the writing system Japan still uses. Koken/Shotoku (the same woman was empress twice so she had two names) encouraged the arts including printing. She imported woodblock printing from Korea so that she could make 1,000,000 copies of a Buddhist mantra. It was the first use of woodblock printing in Japan.
Between the two, printing and writing flourished and with that flourishment (?) came the need to bind the pages together. From that need came what is known as Japanese binding or watoji (和綴じ). Among the more popular watoji are the hemp leaf, the turtle shell, the noble, and the four-hole bindings. Here you can see the pictures that go with the tutorial. Or go down to Episode 133 and see them there, too. Fun, eh?
Tuesday Sep 04, 2012
Episode 88: Naked Books and A New Novel
Tuesday Sep 04, 2012
Tuesday Sep 04, 2012
Naked Books
Last weekend I was taught, I didn't learn it yet, three-needle coptic binding. It seems to require less thread. Is that possible? And it looks complicated but it really isn't once you get started. Previously in the year I learned two-needle coptic binding which is a third easier than three-needle binding. In the last couple of days I sewed three books using either two- or three-needle coptic binding. On the left you can see the three books. From the Top we have: Blank Notebook with about 180 pages, A5 in size (pocketbook), all white pages. In the Middle we have: An Odd Assortment of papers, about 180 pages, all A5 in size. The papers are leftovers, misprints, and test prints from my 2013 Diary/Calendar book. Rather than throw them all away, I decided to upcycle them into a memo pad. On the bottom we have: a 2013 Diary A5 in size, about 140 pages, with a bookmark (more on this when it's finished.) These three books will probably be casebound either today or tomorrow, I hope. Here are the front of the three books. From the left are the 2013 Diary, the Blank Notebook, and the Odd Assortment memo pad. The logo on the Odd Assortment is a test print for the 2013 Diary's last page. The 2013 Diary has a tail, as you can see, which is actually a bookmark. All of these fit in your back pocket. Not at once. Unless you have extra deep pockets.A New Novel
In the past few years I have written a few (5) novels, all love stories. Two are available on Smashwords.Com.
The first one is The Venetian Slime Woman: A Biological Love Story. It's about an EPA water specialist who stumbles into and feels compelled to protect a strange unearthly woman from the Department of Homeland Security.
Homeland Security wants to capture her, experiment on her, and find out what makes her tick. Why? Because she is of a species that grows from slime mould and learns by osmosis. In theory, they can never die. If a human touches the mould before it evolves into a human-like form, they die. If Homeland Security gets her, the Venetian Slime Woman will die.
It takes place in Venice, Seattle, the American midwest, and St. Augustine, Florida.
The reason I'm talking about it here is that I have bound a couple of copies. Smashwords.com is a good place to find and buy ebooks for your Kindle, iPad, or computer. If you like one of my books you can order a real copy - casebound or coptic - from me.
Next week: Tristram's Printer: A Typographical Love Story.
Monday Feb 06, 2012
Episode 71: Hemp + Ink
Monday Feb 06, 2012
Monday Feb 06, 2012
Here we have three small books using two different Japanese bindings. Today, I'll talk about the one on the far left - First Hemp. I used the Hemp Leaf Binding (Asa No Ha Toji - 麻の葉綴じ) which I think is pretty but it still doesn't allow the book to open widely. This is my first attempt. Perhaps below you can see a close up of the binding. The picture might be too small, however.
First Hemp has 52 pages - 26 single sheets. It is a blank notebook and for the cover I used my first attempt at suminagashi, which I'll tell you about in a second. The hemp leaf binding is fun and quick to do once you remember the order. According to Keith Smith, there are about 18 different places for the thread to go. Each hole gets the thread multiple times with the first hole getting threaded about five times. Bulky, eh?
Last night I made another hemp leaf binding book - a book with content which I will show you in a future post - and was surprised how quickly it went. I think I finished in less than fifteen minutes. The book still doesn't open as widely as I like but I think the binding is pretty pretty. I mean, awfully pretty. Or, maybe, awfully delightful.
Now, about suminagashi. Sumi (墨) is ink and nagashi (流し) is flow or flowing. So suminagashi is Japanese-style marbling which uses ink, a solvent like soap or oil, a couple of brushes, water, and paper. Here is a video of a master of the art. He's been doing this about half a century and happens to live nearby. Here's another video of a more homey variety of artist. Both are in Japanese but you don't really need the audio.
You drip the ink and solvent into the water in alternative drops. The two don't mix so you get concentric circles. When you have enough ink on the water (it shouldn't sink), you can blow on it or fan it with a fan. This eventually results in a pattern you like. Place the paper on top, pull the paper off, wash off the excess ink, and set to dry. The end result is random with a little bit of control. Another end result is a pile of paper you can use as endpapers, text block papers, or covers.
I, obviously, also used suminagashi paper for the cover of the small book nestled in front of the cactus. This paper was my - literally - first attempt at suminagashi. More about this book and the yellow book in a future post.
Tuesday Jan 31, 2012
Episode 70: 大和綴じ - Yamato Toji Bindings
Tuesday Jan 31, 2012
Tuesday Jan 31, 2012
For Christmas past I got a copy of Keith Smith's Volume III Exposed Bindings and a serious cold. In said book is a Yamato Toji (大和綴じ - Japanese binding) binding which Smith calls, I believe, a Butterfly binding.
Now, I'm not much of a fan of Japanese stab bindings (especially Yotsume Toji - 四つ目綴じ - four-hole binding) because of the way they inhibit the opening of a book. Some people put a hinge on the spine to ease the opening but that just means they've found a workaround for the binding. The best way to use a 四つ目綴じ binding is to use thin paper and a thin cover. Many 四つ目綴じ books are Buddhist prayer books and they have extremely thin paper.
But the 大和綴じ (Yamato Toji) is different. It is elegant, smooth, a four-needle job, and looks like a Coptic binding's little brother. Using the four needles (for four holes, six needles for six holes) you climb up from the bottom to the top while crisscrossing between pairs of holes. It is quick, elegant, and the book opens wide; especially important if you're binding a sketch book.
The picture above is of Asa No Ha Toji (麻の葉綴じ - Hemp Binding) - from Billie's Craft Room - which I feel is more beautiful than the straight Four-Hole Binding (Yotsume Toji - 四つ目綴じ) but still doesn't allow the book to open flat - at least not as flat as either the Yamato Toji or a Coptic binding.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because first, I made two 大和綴じ (Yamato Toji) books while recovering from my bad cold and second, I have the content for a 麻の葉綴じ (Asa No Ha Toji) binding coming up soon. Photos of the two 大和綴じ books will be coming soon. As soon as the 麻の葉綴じ is finished, photos of it will be up, too.
Just a word on the words. Four is Yotsu (四つ); technically, 四つ目 means 'the fourth' or something similar. Yamato (大和) is an older word for Japan. Asa no ha (麻の葉) means hemp leaf. Toji (綴じ) is binding. Therefore, 大和綴じ is, I suspect, Japanese binding, 四つ目綴じ is Fourth Binding while 麻の葉綴じ is Hemp Leaf Binding.
Monday Jan 03, 2011
Episode 57: New Year New Book
Monday Jan 03, 2011
Monday Jan 03, 2011
Today being the first episode since the last one, I must gleefully report that I made one book and repaired another one. First, the repair job. One of my small green blank notebooks had a problem: the endpapers were falling out - not enough glue or the wrong kind. I ripped it off, glued it back, and counted myself an accomplished soul.
Next, the new book. To call it a book is a misnomer because it has about 16 pages. It contains a work of fiction, however, so it could be a book. The fiction is called
"The Box"
about a boy who wakes up in a box. He spends the day in his box until, as publishing marketing corporate types would say, He Learns a Valuable Lesson.
What did I learn from making "The Box"? Planning. Again. You'd think I'd learn after a few years that planning is kind of important. Measuring is kind of important, too, if you're not going to use standard sized paper.For those of you who listened to Tedorigawa Bookmakers: Check out this link for the axolotl and Lake Xochimilco: Link
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
This Is... Invisible Rhino?
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
Sunday Mar 29, 2009
This Is... used to be called Invisible Rhino, eh? But because there are no invisible rhinos in the entire book, the title has been revamped.. But there is life? Well, with the aid of a lot of huge and small corporations, I have recycled a bit of this and that. This book has eight signatures of four pages each for a total of about 128 blank pages. Included are three cords that keep the notebook closed - two cords circumnavigate the tome while one just leaps over the front edge and wraps itself around the pink button. What's the purpose? Keep it closed? I think I need one for my mouth. Actually, my last book was quite plane: green cover and nothing else. This is a reaction to minimalism. Clutterism, I think I'll call it. The endpapers are rough and torn which gives the book a bit of character. On the back are the Japanese words: 手取川. This is pronounced: Tedorigawa. This is a sake manufacturer near here. It is also a river and the site of a major battle in a major war about 400 years ago. It is also the kanji for Tedorigawa Bookmakers. What did we learn from this book: I like long stitch and will attempt it again. I also learned I need to much more careful whilst sewing it together; the long stitch is nice but the link stitch at the top and bottom are not very pretty. Downright ugly, if you ask me. But still, a cute little book with a lot of cheerful smiles about it.
Sunday Mar 01, 2009
Episode 23: Invisible Rhinos
Sunday Mar 01, 2009
Sunday Mar 01, 2009
Here we have a couple of shots of a Work In Progress. (I love that phrase; it might mean: not finished yet - may never be.) Cool. Anyway, here is a shot of the parts including pages that are as of yet blank. They will, hopefully, be filled with ramblings, stories and drawings before the book is 'finished.' I have the ideas, not the time. There are eight signatures of four pages each for 16 pages per signature. I'm going to beeswax some colored thread, in the foreground, there, and use a long stitch (exposed) binding. Next, details from the front. Here we see a fish-like creature with a fishline-like object jutting out of its southern mouth area. With 'Premium roast coffee' and a couple of buttons. This book has three cords - two wrap around the whole book while one is content with just flipping over the front edge. These two buttons are what the cords will wrap around once they circumnavigate the book. Both the coffee boast and the 'ECO' (Enron Company Officer?) are from a McDonald's takeout bag, hence the existence of half the easily if not readily identifiable 'M'. Besides the insides, I need to put on the endpapers and drill the holes for the exposed binding. Hopefully, someday soon this will no longer be a "Work in Progress."
Some sounds (some? Most!) from FreeSound.
Monday Feb 16, 2009
Freakishly Odd?
Monday Feb 16, 2009
Monday Feb 16, 2009
Hopefully by this time next week I will have a few snaps of a fun book I'm in the process of making: A non-blank notebook - a doodle book, if you will - that is going to encompass all sorts of new techniques that I haven't even come close to mastering or even non-mastering. An experimental book to go along with the experimental nature of Tedorigawa Bookmakers. All part of the master conspiracy in my mind. Oooh, that sounds ominous, if I do say so myself. The new book will have a linkstitch exposed binding, a cool cover, eight signatures of four sheets each for a total of 128 pages, and about B6 in size. And a cool cover, I hope. The cover will incorporate found objects, at least two different kinds of paper, and an odd doodle or two. Content will include stories, drawings, receipts and other stuff I haven't decided yet. Blank notebooks are good and I get a lot of practice from them but most people don't pick up a blank notebook and think, cool binding. They pick up a blank notebook and think, uhn, nice? Anyway, hopefully next week. What should this book be called? I'm partial to "The Invisible Rhinos of Tokyo."