Month of Love - Secrets

It's that time of year for another Month of Love. This first challenge for this week is Secrets.

This book is all about the build up: unlacing the cover, opening up the layers, for a big reveal…

I also tried to make a brief animation of this book before I bound it, you can see it on my Tumblr.

Month of Fear - What Lies Beneath?

This week's Month of Fear challenge was What Lies Beneath? I made a box that opened with multiple panels to reveal different pieces of anatomy. There's a brain made of cork with thoughts pinned to it; a ribcage made of paper covered a heart painted on a stone; a stomach embroidered full of knots. The lid of the box is indented with a silhouette.

Month of Fear - Mirrors

Month of Fear is back in excellent form! This week's challenge is Mirrors, which led me into learning about the various death beliefs of the Victorians. Text reads:

Immensely obsessed with death, the Victorians believed that mirrors in the homes of the deceased needed to be covered to prevent the departed soul from being trapped behind the glass, unable to pass over.
The Victorians also believed that if a mirror in your home fell and broke of it’s own accord, it was a portent that someone in the home was going to die.

Cut paper on mirrors mounted in a handmade board book, measures 4.5 x 4.5 inches.

Month of Love - Love Thy Neighbor

It's time for another Month of Love! The first week's challenge is Love Thy Neighbor. As per usual, I decided to move forward with a tiny book.

I decided make a book focusing on homes around the world. They’re all different, as every culture and region builds a home that suits a certain purpose. But we’re all neighbors on this one earth we’ve got.

We've moved over to a new website and platform so update your links and check out all the fabulous art at monthofloveart.com

The Narrow House

Here's a little book I made with some leftover house pieces from another project. The covers are made from cut paper and the inside is illustrated in watercolor with ink details. Closed, the book measures a mere 1.25 inches wide by 4 inches tall. Open it fans out to about 7 inches wide. I should have taken a picture with an object for scale, because this thing can fit in the palm of your hand.

Month of Fear - Demons Within

Last week challenge for Month of Fear was Demons Within. I decided to go with demons within the home and made this small pop-up book featuring some household demons I created:

This short compendium includes Pedulefur, who steals individual socks from the drier; Tenentium, who takes up all the valuable space in the closet; and Mucilagosa, who is responsible for the pink scum ring around the tub.

Book Arts Final

As some of you already know, I spent the last semester teaching Book Arts for the Illustration department at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. It was an absolute blast and I worked with some truly talented students. Throughout the semester we work a variety of books, students learn different structures and fill them with content of their choice. For the final projects, students get a month to work on a book structure of their choosing which gets filled with content and is housed in a handmade box. Below is a variety of student's final projects:

See individual projects after the jump...