I have spent the last few days shifting things around in my new studio space and I think I am now happy enough to work in it. It is a cool room at the back of the house, which will be very beneficial once the heat of the summer sets in. I have one tiny window so the natural light isn’t great but I will be glad of this once it gets very hot outside. I also have access to the barn next door which is stuffed with useful tools that the owners have left behind – I am very lucky!
I have spent this morning setting up a new piece of bookbinding kit that I am guardian to whilst in France, it is a multipurpose, all-in-one piece of equipment including a laying press, nipping press, plough and sewing frame (for geeky bookbinders out there, there is an article in The New Bookbinder Volume 1, 1981, written about it by the designer/maker Derek Beck). It hasn’t been used for a long time so took a bit of loving care to get all the bolts and threads working properly again! It will be useful to me in the capacity of both a laying and nipping press, and for the plough, however I can’t see myself using the sewing frame…
So, I now have no excuse not to start working on the many commissions I have brought down to France with me! First step is to pull a couple of books back into their sections in order to start afresh with them. I have some paste cooking on the stove at the moment to soften the glue on the spines, I am sure these books will feature in future blog posts of mine so watch this space…