Bookbinding with Tom O’Reilly

I’ve got out of step with my blog-posts. This brilliant weekend workshop happened over a week ago in the Print Room at the Dove. As well as being a master book-binder and teacher, Tom is a writer, illustrator and musician. Read about him here. And about his band here. On both days he drove back to Cornwall for a gig.

Eight of us from the book-art group ABCD achieved more than seemed possible in two days of Tom’s  teaching. Three books each! Two with hard covers and head-bands! One with a leather spine and raised bands! When people ask (they do, sometimes) what sort of books I made, I have always described myself as a coarse binder. Now I’ve had a brief taste of fine binding. I’m rather proud of my hand-dyed indigo book-cloth and end-papers, and the red glove-leather that clings to the spine like a tight-fitting evening gown.

Here are a few photos.

Finally, I want to mention that Nina is collecting the items below for recycling through TerraCycle.