Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Distinguished Winner Designer Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition 2013 In association with Mark Getty and the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, Great Britain
Read MoreWater
Binding for a hand printed book entitled ‘Water’. Winner of one of the sterling silver bone folder awards in the Designer Bookbinder’s international competition 2008. The book consists of a selection of poems on the theme of water in various languages and is illustrated with hand made prints by a variety of artists. I based my theme on the idea of water as a bringer of renewed life. The concept is of dried out mud containing dormant seeds. A water splash, created in sterling silver, is bolted to the book using a silver screw with a moonstone (water drip) head which appears inside the front cover. As the wetness from the splash permeates the back cover it brings a spurt of new growth (Eve’s seeds) for which a packet of wild flower seeds was grown to draw. One golden seedling (made of brass and gold plated) swings towards the water source, clicks into place inside it using a spring loaded catch and becomes a clasp for the book. Roots appear inside the back cover. 1. The binding contained inside it’s protective box. The ‘mud’ platelets are made from calfskin. Title on the spine of the book is in Palladium in matching typestyle to the book. 2. Detail showing the germinating seeds on the back cover and the sprouting golden seeding used as a catch. The hand-made sprung mechanism can be seen which this clicks into. Also shown is silver deckle on the edges of the paper giving the appearance of sparking water. Embossed calfskin with onlaid decoration. 3. Detail of sterling silver water splash (Rhodium plated to prevent tarnish). 4. Detail of the roundel of germinating seeds onlaid in various leathers. 5. Two details from the inside of front and back covers. Designer Bookbinders International competition 2008, ‘Water’. Below right, presentation ceremony presented with siver folder by Mark Getty (Getty Images). Left, afterwards with Mark Getty. Bottom, silver replica bone...
Read MoreSeven Pillars of Wisdom
Binding of Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence carried out for Mike Garbett of Bristol. An optical illusion of three pillars merging into an archway is one which has existed in many forms over very many centuries. Here an interpretation of it is created on front and back covers and, together with the single pillar on the spine, produces the ‘seven’ pillars. The title on the spine is intended to work alone as the book title but the last word also lead on to create the quotation from the Bible from which the title was based. The deeply embossed sand texture on the lower half of the binding has its texture taken across the pillars to create the illusion of a mirage. Through an opening in the centre of the arch the figure of T.E. Lawrence emerges on a motorcycle symbolising his leaving his desert life behind and heading towards the West where his life was to end tragically in a motorcycle accident. The end paper and doublure inside the front cover show a camel train of Turkish fighters carrying aloft the flag of the Ottoman Empire which shows through the opening on the front cover. On the inside is an oasis hiding this from view. The book is bound in shaded blue and yellow goatskins deeply embossed, onlaid with white pigskin, gold tooled and heat blocked in coloured pigments. The book is in a matching silk lined solander...
Read MoreItalian Stained Glass Windows
Binding: Italian Stained Glass Windows Another private binding carried out while working with Roger Powell and Peter Waters in 1962. Bound in goatskins with gold and blind tooling and blocking.
Read MoreThe Ravenna Mosaics
Binding: The Ravenna Mosaics One of the personal bindings carried out while working with Roger Powell and Peter Waters during 1962. Goatskins with gold tooling and blind blocking.
Read MoreRubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – A Memorial. Towards the end of 1966 George Kirkpatrick took part in a series of programmes for Ulster TV on bookbinding. The studio manager was very enthusiastic about the work and later gave a small commisson to bind a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The work was started but while still in the early stages came the shocking news that he had been killed along with his wife and two small children in a car crash. A small baby girl was pulled from the wreckage alive. Work on the commission ceased, but the dream remained that one day it would be completed and an attempt made to trace the ‘baby girl’, and that if she could be found the book given to her in memory of her family. It seemed like an impossible task. However in 2009 her whereabouts was discovered. Completing the task after so many years has given the binder a great deal of pleasure and finally this little bit of business has come to completion. It was also exciting to hear of a fruitful and happy life. The binding onlaid in many colours of leather and richly decorated with gold was intended to become an icon which would have a special meaning for future generations of this family....
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