My books are going to be on display at this event in
Bangalore on the
24th & 25th!
Please visit the stall!

The Press!!!

I finally got my book press!!! (Also called a Daab Press in Hindi)

The colour was a sweet surprise - time to start making those books in bulk!

Making Banana Paper : Stage 1

I found a banana plant that someone was throwing out... This was an excellent opportunity to try making some paper out of it!

The first thing I did was so strip the 'trunk' until I reached the bast

Banana fiber is surprisingly strong. This is what it looks like, when the bast is stripped down further.

I then cut up the bast into small pieces with a knife. I cut off the parts that were rotting and kept them aside for composting.

When I reached deep within the bast, I found beautifully rolled up, translucent leaves, ready to be born.

I then let the pieces dry in the sun

Travels...

The fir forest in Old Manali

Keylong

Coptic Bindings

These books and other posts marked with * were made during my apprenticeship at Still Water Bindery in Vermont with Patricia Johnson, 2008
Click on the images to do them justice.

This is a binding I tried with beads on the spine. It was a little tricky to make, but it worked out fine. It doesn't hinder the opening of the book, which opens absolutely flat like all Coptics.

The paste paper used for the cover of this book was part accident, part -intention.
And the olive green and maroon look great together.



Found a shopping bag that I couldn't bear to throw away.
And so the Everywhere-I-Go book was born!