Studio – Handcrafted Books by Michele Olsen

Boiled Books

With heavy winds and lots of rain on our North Coast we have enough fallen leaves to use for hundreds of boiled books. Sandy, Michele (the Younger), and I converged on Michele’s backyard to make a sandwich out of leaves and Bristol paper sheets. Michele had a great selection of dried leaves in a homemade press.

We had a big container for the boiling and could do all three of our books at once—this is the final bundle.

This is quite the setup with propane and everything. Boil, Boil, Toil,and Trouble.

We used white vinegar as the mordant and after 7 minutes of boiling added Ritz Navy Blue powered dye. This is not eco printing but the results are beautiful. The second boiling was 1.5 hours. These are Michele K’s prints after the rinse.

These are mine (Michele the Older)

Sandy’s are particularly interesting because she overdyed pages done with another method in the hopes that they pages would brighten up. She certainly did that, they are beautiful!

Eucalyptus, alder, bamboo (bright yellow), and maple leaves all worked well but are best when they have dried up a bit and hit the ground. The dry outer part of a yellow onion, swordfern, and some grasses worked well also.

I already have books in mind and the artist’s work that really inspires me is that of Annywyn Dean. Wouldn’t these pages be beautiful in one of her structures?

November 17, 2015/4 Comments/by Michele

Studio

Peace in the Studio

My first real day in the studio since early September AND I’m still in my pajamas! Heaven. The task is pretty pedestrian—making envelopes out of recycled calendars for our late (again) holiday cards. It has been a meditation to fold, cut, and tape these business sized envelopes. An unexpected treat is reading the other sides of the pages—seeing the calendar entries of those activities that kept me so busy this last year or so.

The envelopes are sitting on my massive paper cutter (30″ x 36″), located for me by my dear brother-in-law at an auction somewhere in the Great Plains. I will have to squeeze myself into the back corner to use the giant cutting blade but it is happy to be sitting on a secure surface and back at work. I have used it so much already that I’m wondering what I ever did without it. I’m not losing much table surface space since I can place my cutting mat on the top.

My next project is to create the books and materials list for the two OLLI classes this Spring. More on that later…..

December 27, 2014/2 Comments/by Michele

Studio

Paper Cutter!

Yipee! I just got this today. My brother-in-law is always going to auctions and he spotted this 30″ x 36″ paper cutter. It will be a vast improvement over the 8″ x 8″ when it comes to cutting my art papers. It is NOT portable and it will be “interesting” to see where is ends up in my little studio. I’ve been eyeing my husband’s workspace in our garage, but that is another story. It fills the entire back of the car for the long ride back to California. Bring on the paper!

November 18, 2014/0 Comments/by Michele

How-To, Studio

Car Workstation 2

We had to make an “emergency” stop at Raley’s in Winnemucca, Nevada, to purchase small plastic dental floss feeders (see light blue loop on the inside of the left cover). While sewing the Coptic Stitch for this book I realized that the holes that are drilled diagonally from the edge into the first vertical hole (cannot see in the photo) were crooked enough that I couldn’t pass the needle and thread through. After trying to straighten the path, use a small needle, and threading with no needle, I remembered those little handy floss feeders I use to keep openings of my tiny glue bottle sealed. They worked! So, these little things are now a permanent part of my tool box. I have finished the Coptic and tomorrow it’s on to the headbands. The wood is black acacia (thanks to Rollie) and the blue paper is handmade flax paper from Minneapolis. The other holes in the front cover are for a surprise.
PS. Somewhere on the floor of the car are two size 22 tapestry needles, toasted almonds, and three dental floss feeders.

September 12, 2014/0 Comments/by Michele

How-To, My Books, Studio

Car Workstation

With long travel days and a need to work on a book I’ve decided to create a lap workstation for the car. I purchased the least colorful lap desk—hard to imagine that the others were brighter—and put together a little kit of threads, needles, prepunched sections and boards that I can store by my feet. The drink holder on the table is perfect for storing needles and scissors. Of course, I cannot be without my iPod. To the right, on the dash, I can store my piping hot coffee.

So, how’s it working? I’ve lost one needle between the seats and can sew without stabbing Rollie in the eye while he is driving. I also decided to go with 6-needle sewing against my better judgement—one needle would have been easier to keep track of but the need for longer thread has it’s disadvantages. I am sewing a wedding album for a dear friend. I will keep you posted.

September 11, 2014/0 Comments/by Michele

Eco Dyeing, Studio

Eco Printing

It was an eco dye playday yesterday with friend, Sandy. Inspired by India Flint’s Eco Colour. We used dried and fresh vegetation—huge surprise that the dried leaves left so much color. We used Stonehenge printmaking paper and Watercolor paper with leaves packed in between sheets. The sandwiches were bound together then boiled for 1.5 hours in a solution of alum and fireplace ash solution. The blue shade comes from a blueberry! We’re ready to try other solutions for boiling!

January 30, 2014/3 Comments/by Michele

Studio

First Use of Sewing Frame

In his retirement my husband has taken to making fine furniture. I’ve been the gleeful recipient of a wall cabinet and standing cabinet especially made to hold my books and the books of other artists. So, I couldn’t ask for more, but I usually do. This has resulted in some custom bookbinding equipment: book presses, drawers for sheets of paper, jigs for woodworking, and most recently my sewing frame. I’ve never set up a sewing frame and after making substitutes for brass keys and fiddling around with cords, I managed to complete a book of my own as I followed my scattered notes from a 5 day workshop with Tim Ely taken last summer. I love the frame and was able to avoid pulling the cords into the interior of the book this time. I am also a convert to his technique for making book cloth—but I get ahead of myself—more on that in a later post. Hopefully next time it won’t take longer to set up the frame than to sew the book.

December 8, 2013/1 Comment/by Michele

Studio

Back to my Blog

My daughter is a web designer extraordinaire. She designed this WordPress website to provide a public space for my book arts. The site has a blog option. Early on I posted a few things and after I messed up some of my daughter’s wonderful work I didn’t get back to the blog. Well, Hello iPad WordPress App!!! It’s such a treat because the application is simplified (OK. Knowing some HTML helps) and that makes it so easy to restart my brief blogging career.

I’ve made books for about 15 years and this particular field of art has taken me places I wouldn’t have imagined when I graduated from college with a mathematics degree. I taught for 25 years and as soon as I retired I took my first drawing class. I continue to take classes that have anything to do with the art of making books: woodworking, surface design, structures, papermaking, metal work, journaling. I find that making or reading books permeates so much of my life that writing about them is like writing a diary of my life.

I will start with my wonderful studio, formerly my office. This art making space has been years in the making. My husband built cabinets and large shelves for paper, my brother-in-law was the electrician who rewired for better lighting, and I bought the fabulous worktop/desk from a friend who was moving. I am starting to use more wood in my books and the drill press, compound miter saw, and miniature lumber yard are all in the garage. I discovered that I prefer standing up to work and all tools are readily accessible. The studio is lacking a door but I may draw a line on the floor at the entrance—like Les Nesbitt of WKRP Cincinnati. The studio is one of my favorite places to be.

April 6, 2013/by Michele