Handmade Book with Clairefontaine Paper

In this post, I hinted at a new Book that I was binding using several different sample Clairefontaine papers: Graf It sketch pad, DCP Digital Color Printing Paper, a Calligraphy Art Pad, and the Ingres Pastel Pad.

All the papers serve very different functions, so binding them into one journal is a way for me to provide a more extensive review of each type of paper. And, a way to keep me artistically on my toes! (Sure, we’ll go with that).

I used a simple long stitch and then glued the bound signatures into the cover. To make the cover, I used leftover mat board from an art project, and covered it in some blue ribbon.

(Making a new book without buying anything new = so rewarding.)

I’ve already been using this book throughout the exam season, so that’s why there are already some extra papers sticking out of it.

I think the order of use is: DCP copy paper, pastel paper, Graf It sketch paper, and then the calligraphy paper. I’ll try to post more extensive reviews as I finish each section. However, I have played around with all four papers already, so I can at least provide some preliminary thoughts…

• So far, I’m loving the paper from the calligraphy pad– especially the off-white color, which I’m not used to seeing in Clairefontaine/Rhodia products. This paper is SO smooth, but less “slippery” than regular Clairefontaine paper. Plus, it’s a bit heavier which means it can handle wet media (sort of).
• I was actually surprised how much I liked the Graf It sketchpad: it seems like a similar product to those “all-use” sketchbooks that you can buy at craft stores, with the rough-ish paper, but the quality of the Graf-it paper is a huge step up.
• I love the DCP printing paper because it seems like basic Clairefontaine paper, but has the benefit of being available as loose sheets. I think when I bind small books for gifts in the future, I’ll use this paper instead of regular computer printer paper to fill them. Like the paper in Clairefontaine notebooks, though, it doesn’t offer the same versatility that the calligraphy paper and graf it paper do– it’s definitely more light weight, and not compatible with wet media. My guess is that it’s best used for writing and inking (and of course, printing. I’ll get to that in a later post)
• The paper from the Ingres pastel pad seems really, really similar to the paper in the Exacompta sketchbook: it’s off-white, laid paper. And hey, I love the Exacompta sketchbook, so this just may be excellent paper. I found that it takes both wet and dry media equally well, and pastels are buttery smooth when used on this paper. This will be my first extended paper review, in the next few days.

Love Where You Came From

…I’m not going to say, “Happy Mothers Day,” because it’s a silly holiday that reinforces the idea of nuclear families and maternal instincts in women. Sorry to be a downer!

I’m taking today to appreciate what a positive, inspirational force my mother is, and how much I respect her as a woman, not as a mother.

Mom and Me, 1989

Also, reading suggestion for today: In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, by Alice Walker.

Reason #34 Why I’m Glad To Be An English Major

My last class of my college career was yesterday– “American Gothic,” an English course. We had just finished reading Beloved (which was my fourth time reading it overall, yikes). Our reading list had started in the 17th century so, three centuries later, we had a fairly good understanding of gothic novels in America. For our last class, my professor brought in the film version of Beloved, produced by and starring Oprah.

Now, critics generally agree that the film version of Beloved was a bit of a disaster– everything is sub-mediocre, from the screenplay to the acting to the cinematography. But what watching the film clips really made me think about was how glad I am that I’m an English major.

I’m not saying that good films can’t be made from good books– but I do think that there is inevitably something lost when you transfer a text into a visual medium. Especially with Toni Morrison, who rarely uses linear narrative and often fucks with basic elements like.. character identification, and, um, reality. So you can see how unwise it might be to try and make a film from her works.

But I was also disturbed by my professor’s ease with bringing in the film and showing only the most graphic clips. Her point was well-taken: that the film brushed over all the horrific memories in the novel and condenses them into one brief, confusing flashback. But I do take issue with her perpetuating that insensitivity by showing the most graphic parts of the film out of context. It was literally two minutes of watching dead babies and tortured slaves, without much discussion.

I think her assumption was that our generation has been desensitized to film violence, and therefore we can watch extremely violent scenes any time, any place.  Sure, piece of cake.

Except– this is exactly why I’m an English major, and not a film major. Because graphic violence in novels is different. It still forces you to visualize violence in intense detail (for example, from Beloved: “to feel the baby blood pump like oil in her hands; to hold her face so that her head would stay on; …to absorb, still, the death-spasms that shot through that adored body, plump and sweet with life…” hello?!).

But violence in literature also forces you to do more than “watch” violence; it also forces you to reflect on that violence. To think about the meaning of it. Violence in films, or on TV, requires no reflection– just absorption.

So, that’s the long story of how my last class of college was: a little frustrating, but also making me satisfied to have the degree that I do.

Exams and More on the Horizon

This week is my last week of college.

…which is scary.

And that’s the thesis of this post. There are so many things I need to sit down and work through (emotionally, financially) before graduating. All I know is that I’m moving to Boulder, Colorado in one month, and I need all the connections, help, and employment that I can get.

My final project for my figure drawing class is a seven-foot-tall portrait of myself. From head to toe. It has been incredibly time consuming, but also very meditative: I’ve spent hours with a bottle of white wine, just shading. I feel like it should be challenging me to do some self-reflection, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Soon.