Handmade book spread with cutout printed leaves on blue plaster page and painted pinecone on opposite page.
Tree Specimen Book

Tree Specimen Book

Comments 15 comments

I started this book in October of 2022. I have been adding things slowly and painting pages when I had leftover paint from other projects. I had thought I would sketch on the blank pages covered with a mix of plaster and matte medium but they were too rough and difficult to sketch on. I haven’t shown you the book since last year and I decided to “finish” it up because we are starting on a new book project that will be made differently and I didn’t want to try to keep working on this one. I will be able to add things into the book if I like but it at least has color on all the pages and some with more ‘design’ than others. I had to cover a couple of pages that were not in the main color scheme. Somehow I got off track and added red which I shouldn’t have done. The book is mainly browns, blues and greens. The red/pink that resulted from painting a couple of the plaster pages was just not doing it for me. That’s what happens when you aren’t really thinking about what you’re doing!

Handmade book spread with a page that looks like tree bark with lichen.

I am not going to explain each page but you will notice the piece of blue glass and a small rock on the left hand page. I am using these as weights to hold the page open. The problem with this style of binding is that the book doesn’t open out flat unless you hold the pages. So you will see the page weights throughout. You can click on the photos to see them in more detail. Please feel free to ask about specific pages or techniques used.

Handmade book spread with a page that has cracked green and yellow and pine needles on the right.

Handmade book spread with a teabag leaf and dark painted plaster page.

Handmade book spread with a page of ink samples from a variety of natural sources.

The page on the left is one that I covered that was too red. These are small samples of ink that we made from natural ingredients.

Handmade book spread with a print of black capped chickadee artwork and cut leaves behind handmade paper grid.

Handmade book spread with cutout printed leaves on blue plaster page and painted pinecone on opposite page.

Handmade book spread with painted green leaves on blue sky background.

Handmade book spread with dark brown painted plaster opposite a leaf collage.

Loads of tree bark interpretations 😉

Handmade book spread with green painted paper opposite painted "bark" on plaster page.

Handmade book spread with painted plaster page opposite handmade paper grid threaded with orange/brown feathers.

Handmade book spread with sample strip of pea pod ink mixed with various agents.

More sampling of ink.

Handmade book spread with light blue painted plaster page opposite green deconstructed screen print on paper enhanced with paint.

Handmade book spread with lino cut print of birch tree.

Handmade book spread with green painted plaster page opposite hand dyed hemp canvas page.

Handmade book spread with teal painted plaster page opposite teal painted paper page.

I made an error here. Do you see it?

Handmade book spread with deconstructed screen printed page opposite painted canvas page.Handmade book spread with painted plaster page opposite 'bark' collaged to ecoprinted paper.

The bark paper is from a napkin.

Handmade book cover made from deconstructed screen printed hemp canvas and bound with copper wire.

And for those of you who have forgotten or never saw the cover, here it is. On my monitor, the book cover photo is not showing correctly. If yours is also weirdly stretched, please click on the photo to see the book cover.

If you search on the terms “tree specimen book” in the right hand sidebar, you can see all the other posts about this book where I have given more explanation about it.

15 thoughts on “Tree Specimen Book”

    1. Thanks Ladies! One of my favorite aspects is the different textures included. It’s fun to have the page structure change on a regular basis.

    1. Thanks Tesi! The binding is a regular pamphlet stitch into three signatures. The ends of the wire were left really long and then curled to make it look interesting.

  3. These are exquisite Ruth. I was so focussed on the mustard coloured grid that I missed the bird on the opposite page. Can I ask what about the grid pages please.
    Helene

    Reply

    1. Thanks Helene, the mustard colored grid is a piece of handmade paper that I purchased. So it is a white grid and then I painted it.

  4. What a fab samples book Ruth. I like the way it includes text elements too. The cover spine – you are obviously having fun….’bound at the book store….’ Your binding is great and over time the copper will gain such a sympathetic patina to the contents inside….a stroke of genius.

    I hope you have got detailed notes of your sample methods….it is amazing how quickly the memories get pushed into the background!

    So what was your ‘error’ as it was not obvious to me.

    Finally your pea flower ink (or other inks for that matter)….are the baking powder, vinegar, baking soda etc mixtures permanent or fugitive?

    Xx

    Reply

    1. Thanks Antje, I really like the copper binding too.

      In regards to the ink samples, my friend Paula has a book with all the ‘recipes’. So I didn’t take any notes. The pea flower is definitely fugitive and fades fairly rapidly. But the changes you get with various mixtures is really fun.

      The error is an upside down tree on the left page. I painted it in blue (so subtle) but I had the book upside down. Oops!

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