Little journal, "Nature Speaking" Handmade journal based on gel prints.

This journal is small, it fits in the palm of your hand. It has been made by using my gel prints. They were collaged onto a watercolour paper substrate and then had other elements added, whether through collage, drawing, hand made stamps, or paint. It can be considered as a fully rendered journal or you can add to it yourself using text or image. I really like the idea of people interacting with my journals and using them as prompts.

There are 30 pages, (60 sides) in the journal. It measures 8.5 cm by 11.5 cm, or 3 1/4 in by  4 1/2 inch.

The front and back hardcovers have also been covered with gel prints. It has been stitched in 5 signatures by using Coptic stitch.

Here are some images of the inside.

As with all my images they are copyright Linda E Clarke Illustration.

"Chere Amie", little hand made, original accordion book.

Still enjoying the creation of my hand made books ! This little one is similar to the one I posted previously but has a couple more pages. It is collaged, drawn on, painted on and has lots of snippets of paper and ephemera glued on.

Front cover.
I created the butterfly image by using an old image from an out of copyright book and then digitally colouring it. The title page has some French text saying "Chere Amie" which I found in an old book in my possession. It means dear Friend (feminine) The spine has some really raggedy cloth  stuck on it. 

The image of the girl on the left is a copy of an image I created and have altered here. I have glued some tiny pieces of text onto the page. There is drawing on the page. On the right is a digital image of a bird which I made from another old book. Then it has been drawn on. 

Another copy of an image I previously painted which has had some collage added and it has been drawn on. The butterfly is another copy of a digital image and then added more collage and drawing.   

The little copy of a house has been stuck on the page and then the image has been drawn on. The bird is an image from a larger painting which has been drawn on and around. 

The abstract flowers are collaged and then drawn on as have the houses on the right. I stuck a piece of paper on the page which relates to snow.  

The back cover  has a page from an old hand written school book
which has a butterfly collaged on. and I have signed the back.  

Old distressed and aged paper you can write on. 

Where are the words?

There is something about holding a tiny book in your and and turning the pages that just makes my heart skip a beat. I have always wanted to create books but I was always hung up on what words I would include! I do not see myself as a writer although I love words! I finally freed myself up enough to not worry about words and simply create books of images.

Recently I created some accordion books for the first time. I have a lot of ephemera which I have collected through the years and finally I feel like I have a vehicle for using some of it! I incorporated my own imagery into the books as well; collage elements torn from previous images I have created, tiny scraps of left overs, and then I drew and painted onto the pages after they were collaged.

 I am really enjoying mixed media. Using so  many different media and techniques is very liberating. Following are some images of one of my books called "Love." This book is now available on my Etsy shop.

The cover is created from one of my paper tags and is collaged onto the cover with some ephemera. 

page 1 Collaged butterfly and ephemera and flower from my painting. Drawing.

Page 2 and 3 Collage, ephemera, paint and drawing. Bee and dragonfly were created from paper tags which I designed. 

Page 4 Collage, painting and pen drawing. Blackbird is a copy of an image I painted. 

Pages 5 and 6 Bird is another collage from a tag I created, ephemera, drawing. House is collaged from a copy of my painted design, drawing, and ephemera.

The back of the book has a gel print cover and a collaged flower and my signature. 

The back of the book is created by collaging ephemera and found paper and it can be written on like a journal if you like. The pages are edged with old fabric. 

This photo shows scale in comparison to a Penguin Classic book.