“Intangible Law” : Miniature Book Project- 9/8/23
Miniature book w/ Coptic stitch binding & hard cover. 2”x3”. ©Sheeba Maya 2023.
Project overview
After making my practice book with the Coptic stitch, I wanted to make some improvements based on that experience.
Make a hard cover this time. This binding was rough on the soft cover I did before. If I were to go with a soft cover again, I would use gromets to protect the paper (bonus…that would be a beautiful way to add gold hardware)
Use better quality paper all around.
Use the thinner thread i have with a smaller needle since this thing is so tiny and I want it to look clean & polished
Design pages with intention. Experiment with abstract ink work incorporating calligraphic lines.
Make something small to conserve materials and work within the limits of my seriously small workspace.
The pages
I started by working on the pages. I did some experimental mark making with black and metallic inks on a few large sheets of rice paper. (GAW these metallic inks!! i cant get enough!!) I played around with different brushes, transparencies, scale, calligraphic strokes, asemic writing, and energetic splatters.
Ok so it was a big ol mess but it was fun. I keep telling myself that less is more beacause I’m drawn to elegant simplicity. But my illustrator brain says “OOoo add something to that empty spot!”
I tried not to overthink the design of the pages while cutting the larger sheets down into pages i would fold into signatures.…just cutting to get the most out of the materials and see what happens.
After cutting the pages down, everything balanced out. New individual abstract compositions emerged that i absolutely loved. The spreads were gorgeous and any 2 folded pages looked amazing side by side. They just flowed together even if they were cut from different larger sheets. I liked selecting which pieces would go together, which would be spreads, and arranging their order…they seemed to talk to me and have little stories and moods.
The covers & Binding
I wrapped the same rice paper around individual boards for the covers. This paper is such great quality and i loved the way it molded around the board like a fresh pair of silk stockings…so smooth and clean and perfectly expressing the shape of the board…extremely mailable but durable….and still delicate. I need stacks of this stuff!
I tried my hand at the coptic stitch again for the binding using paired needles. Looks much better than the practice book…using the same thickness of thread helped achieve a cleaner look. Next time I may add more signatures.
I really love this structure because you can see the whole ass page! Nothing is swallowed up in the creases where signatures are attached. You get all your page real estate and get a true spread on every page turn. That spine is such a show off…i like being able to see the inner construction and I like that its so pretty. As functional and sturdy as it is beautiful.
The Meaning
Initially this was meant to incorperate items that belonged to my grandmother. But I didnt like the pages and it morphed into 2 seperate projects.
This book ended up being a conversation with the materials. Everytime i said “What happens if ido this?”, it let me know. The act of creating this big beautiful mess, breaking it down, remixing and rearranging, moving on infomred intuition….this is my life right now. The harmony that resulted from changing the perspective when things got in order….a beautiful, fluid story unfolds….looking deeper into the facets and seeing that they will always connect was weirdly affirming. In all this craziness there was something beautiful i knew i could count on….
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
I really love this binding for pages that are pre designed and I really love that this is a presentation of experimentation. I was just trying stuff to see if i like it what i made the lager pages…making decisions based on the results i observed during the mark making. The process is meditative. It’s a nice ebb and flow between seeing what lands and intentional construction.
I loved the way the pages communicated with each other and with me. I was very inspired by the tiny compositions that resulted from the cut. They would make great foundations for layouts or collages.
what’s up next
I have a ton of pages left over from odd cuts at different sizes. I’d love to make additional books with other bindings and/or box to protect and present them. I’d like to add some kind of info card about the work too.
This was satisfying… looking forward to making a larger book like this with asemic writing or illustrations or some sort of storybook.
