Flores Mensajeras

"Centli" Hand-made Book and Codex with Corn Paper

Book Title:

CENTLI – Corn in the Nahuatl language

A limited edition of two handmade books on the theme of corn.

Artwork and bookbinding by Eduardo García-Villada.

Dimensions:

Book - 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches

Box - 4 1/2 x 6 x 1 1/2 inches

Binding:

Book I - Keith Smith's Buttonhole Stitch.

Book II -Long Stitch Variation.

Sewn with waxed linen thread on black book cloth.

Cover boards covered with marble paper and colored Japanese itajime (fold and dye) paper.

Text Block:

End sheets of dyed purple Mexican amate paper.

Signatures of handmade natural corn paper alternated with dyed blue Mexican amate paper.

Artwork:

Decorative applications of corn husks, paste paper, dried flowers, crash linen, and pheasant feathers.

Illustrations from "Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico" by Jorge Enciso (Dover Publication, New York, 1953) drawn with tempera, black markers, and acrylic paint.

Written Text:

Poem fragments by Pablo Neruda (1954) "Oda al maíz."

Calligraphy in Foundational hand with white zinc gouche.

Date:

April 2010

Ames, Iowa

USA

A tale of two Colombian hunters

Another coptic binding added to my collection of miniature books.

This one has a story and some illustrations. I used eraser stamps with alchemy designs and small pieces of decorated paste paper painted with pastel chalks.

The story is a tale I've always heard from my mother in Colombia.

"Two hunters were competing and trying to outsmart each other. One challenged the other to retell the best hunting episode. The other hunter agreed and said: 'I once went hunting and did not find any jaguars in the forest; so, I came across a waterfall and with my knife I slashed the waterfall in half.'
'That is nothing' said the first hunter. 'I was hunting in the same forest, and I saw a jaguar. When I got in front of it, he opened his jaws, and when he was about to eat me, I reached into the jaguar's mouth, grabbed his tail, and pulled him inside out."

Green Book 2: French link and kettle stitch on leather

Trying to get my creative juices going. It's winter and all I think of is green and primavera.

A "paper-clip" alphabet

I decided to write an entry about calligraphy, another important element in bookmaking . As an aficionado I wanted to share the inspirations that I get from following my fellow blogger Jean Wilson and her "pushing the envelopes" blog.



This alphabet came after the paleographic work I did on some 12th to 14th century Spanish diplomatic handwriting. I think those old courtly alphabets look like made out of wire; hence, the inspiration for my "paper-clip" alphabet.

It looks better when it is written with a maker rather than a pen.

Cross Structure Bookmaking II

I finally managed to make another Cross Structure Book. It is also green!

Seek: A gift for my niece

Seek
A poem in Spanish titled "De néctar de mango en la garganta", and a collection of randomly found objects arranged in an attempt to organize chaos.
My "unofficial shrink" tells me that I have "a compulsion for saving unnecessary things." True! I use that junk to make my handmade books. I am going to need more therapy.