Book Arts: Florence, Italy

First off, a small confession: when I visited Florence, Italy, in early April, I was so busy looking all the beautiful things around me (it was my first visit) I didn't spend very much time seeking out bookbinding/book arts related places to visit. So my "Book Arts in Florence" post will be on the short side.

That said, I did visit a wonderful establishment called the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Sant Maria Novella. It was established in 1221 by Dominican monks, who grew medicinal herbs and used them to create medications and ointments. Here, you can see part of the interior of the pharmacy:



In 1866, a layman took over the pharmacy, and it's now open to the public and has exotic, herb based perfumes, pot-pourri, liqueurs, elixirs and more for sale. There is a small museum about the history of the pharmacy, and it's well worth a visit just for the unbelievably wonderful smells that greet you when you walk in. In one of the museum's display cases, I found a couple of magnificent herbals that had belonged to the monks:







In my rambles around Florence, I also ran across several shops selling handmade journals and marbled papers, but only thought to write down the names of a couple of them:

• Il Torchio (marbled paper and journals) at Via dei Bardi 17, San Niccolò
• Zecchi (http://www.zecchi.it/), Via dello Studio 19r. I did briefly visit Zecchi, which has marbled papers and other art supplies.

If you know of any other interesting book arts related places to visit in Florence, please feel free to suggest them in the comments section for this post, as I (and I'm sure other people) would love to know about them. :)

International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day in my own small way, I've been making some goddess - themed journal/sketchbooks:

This journal has a rustic ceramic pendant on the cover with a stamped Nile River Goddess. The Nile River Goddess is a very old symbol of fertility and strength. The woman in the photo next to the journal is Isadora Duncan, the artist and free spirit who created modern dance.

I also made a Moon Goddess journal/sketchbook:


This one is black leather, and has a full moon-shaped ceramic pendant with the image of a goddess holding the moon. I've been a bit obsessed with these little goddess images lately. Something about them makes me want to put on some flowing robes and do an Isadora Duncan-type interpretive dance. I'm afraid I might frighten the dog, though. :)

Happy International Women's Day!

New Bonefolder

The latest copy of the Bonefolder (a most excellent online journal for bookbinders and book artists) is out, and (yay!) one of my books is in it. It's a book (pictured above) that I talked about in an earlier post -- I submitted it to the Bonefolder's annual Bind-O-Rama, and it was accepted. A nice bit of news in the dark days of winter.

This issue of the Bonefolder has an interesting article on book arts in Cuba. Cuba has a really vibrant printmaking and book making scene. I visited a studio in Havana a few years ago, and bought a couple of artist books. The diverse cultures in Cuba make for a rich mix of influences in the book arts scene.

Eco-Friendly Journal and Some Other Stuff

Here we are in the depths of January, and I think I'm trying to deny it by making books with trees and birds and other things that make me think (prematurely, I'm afraid) of spring.

This is a journal I just added to my Etsy store that has eco-friendly paper. This paper is made from a mix of coffee fiber and recycled papers, and it has a kind of marbled or antiqued look. I added a leather bookmark with a tree of life charm:






This one has a little ceramic bird pendant on the cover:

I've also been making some new quote books. This has a quote on the first page by George Bernard Shaw -- a little inspiration for the new year:

"You see things, and you say 'Why?'"

I see things that never were,

and I say 'Why not?'"

New Hippie/New Age/Nature Journals

The ol' brain has been working overtime lately, and I've come up with some new leather journal designs. These are all kind of hippie, nature, and spirit - themed journals.
I've added leather bookmarks to some of them, and also, in this one, used eco-friendly banana fiber paper for the pages:

I've been planning to use some eco-friendly writing papers, but it took me some time to find papers that I liked. The banana paper has a nice, natural color, and little brown flecks:

I'm also doing some journals with ceramic pendants on the covers. This one has a wee owl design:

Away You Go...

Recently finished a big (24 notebook) order for a business. They will be giving them out as gifts to visiting speakers and other guests. I boxed up my little children and sent them off to their new home, but now, sadly, there's no time to sit around drinking eggnog and eat rum-soaked cookies, as the holiday shopping season is here, and I am busy making many more books for my Etsy store. Not that I'm complaining--it's good to be busy!

I vaguely remember reading a story when I was a child about elves who came at night to make shoes for a cobbler and his wife. When the cobbler woke up in the morning, lovely shoes would be finished and waiting. Where are those elves when you need them? :)

New Quote Journals

Has is really been two months since I posted here? Where did the time go? Well, I haven't been lounging around (ok, well some lounging, but not too much, anyway :) . Among other things, I made some new quote journals.

This one has a George Bernard Shaw quote:

"You see things; and you say 'Why?'
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?'

And this Writer's Inspiration Journal, with a quote by Ernest Hemingway:

"My aim is to put down on paper
what I see and what I feel
in the best and simplest way."