Another Textile Tome

Be careful what you start working on...it can become slightly obsessive! but I'm making these books as research for my Iceland residency so I think I can be excused....all in the name of research, right? Check out my residency: https://www.susanpm.com/an-iceland-narrative/

The accordion book can be made in any number of formats and layouts and there are plenty of ideas on Pinterest and other websites....just try looking!

I had a piece of linen that was painted but I added more "text scrawl" with black Derwent Inktense blocks - oh I love those so much! They are highly pigmented and very, very intense. After drawing I put a water wash over top to make the marks spread. Let the fabric dry and then fused an old magazine page onto the back.

For this one I had in mind a spiral version where the cutting started from the outside and gradually went into the middle. My page was 9" and I was going to make the folds just 1", but decided that might be a little small so I scored the folds every 1 1/2".

I didn't worry about making the folds until I had cut the spirals with an art knife along the scored lines.

After the cuts I began folding from the outside edge, going back and forth and squeezing with my fingers. Once its all folded it looks so small! Another Teeny Tiny Textile Tome!

It's fun to have it uncurl and be rather flippy-floppy to take the photos. I'm still working on how to take the best pictures but am so happy with this little book! I want to make them much, much larger but not sure how I'll handle the size!

I'm considering how I'll add stitch to these, maybe before, maybe after fusing and cutting. I also think I could create collage with fabrics and/or paper, paint afterwards or even dip edges into a dye pot....