Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours,
and the Very Best in the New Year!

Take Care,
Wayne

Coptic Journals at Ashland Gallery and The Chesser Studio Project

These past few weeks I have been very busy binding Coptic journals for the Holiday Season. Hence the lack of blog posting...sorry about that guys. These books will be for sale at Ashland Gallery as well as The Chesser Studio Project. All of the books have interior pages of a really nice weight white drawing paper and exteriors that feature beautiful Centipede Stitches and Coptic Headbands. I really tried to make these books special with the hope that they would become a beautiful part of someones daily life. I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas Season and a Bright and Prosperous New Year. In these difficult and trying times just find beautiful things to enjoy and make you smile!

Binding as a Repetitive Textural Element in Cover Design

Here are photos of the latest book that I have made. It is a four needle Coptic journal with a Coptic Headband stitched onto the head and tail of the book. I have adorned the surface of the front and back cover with repeating graduated centipede stitches, as a texture over the top of the cover surface. The centipede stitches are purely decorative and serve no function in structural stability. The stitches on the inside of the cover run in parallel lines and provide a distinctive rhythm in the interior of the book. I must say this book is truly a delight to hold in your hands...that way a book should be. Enjoy till next time!

Exits: For the Dearly Departed

The Chesser Studio Project proudly presents Exits: For the Dearly Departed as our exhibit for the month of November. In celebration of Day of the Dead and with a kind eye to those we've left behind over the years this show offers a vibrant look into the artists represented. Artists include : Vikki Turner Finch, Wayne McNeil, Dee Carriglino, Bertice McPherson, Seven Scribe Three, Lydia Host, Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough, Cameron Hodges, Sol Davis, Allise, Angela Rand, Julie Day, and Rachel Wright. The Chesser Studio Project will be open Wednesday afternoons from 2pm-5pm and Sunday Afternoons from 1pm-4pm. Come in and enjoy.

El Manuscrito Illuminado de la Muerta

I've been teaching a Bookbinding Survey at Space 301 in downtown Mobile this fall and it has been very exciting. This Sculptural Book is an outgrowth of that class. (I'll post about the class next week after I take some photographs.) I challenged my students, which are a wonderfully talented bunch, to create books outside of class and bring them in to share. I took this as a challenge for myself as well. I plan to make 3 new Bookworks and this is the almost completed first one. It is an Accordion Fold Book with Concertina Pleating. When backlit it will tell a narrative about life and death using birds and dancing skeletons as characters. When unlit the book will be seemingly blank. El Manscrito Illuminado de le Muerta will be on display at the Chesser Studio Project (which I will post about soon) the second friday in November, 6-9pm for LODA Artwalk. The show will be exciting so please come downtown and check it out.

Until next time take care!

New Small Works

Here are two of the ten new small works that I have been creating for Ashland Gallery's Great Art Small Sizes show which opens November 13th in Midtown Mobile. (2321 Old Shell Rd. Mobile, Al 36606 - 251-479-3548) The works are Re-designed Vintage Book covers that have been over bound with historic Coptic stitches. They will be framed in very simple shallow shadowbox frames which will give them a very specimen like quality.

New Books-Bindings Sewn Over Tapes

Here are two new books that I have bound this week as a result of my Bookbinding Survey at Space 301. Both are one-needle sewing over tapes. The taller of the books features beaded embellishment stitched into the binding along the exposed spine. The smaller book features a hand cut silhouette of a bird on a branch in turquoise. Enjoy!