next open day....

Phew! its been a whirlwind time!

I'm now hunkering down for winter and working on oodles and oodles of arty projects

The next BIG open day at the studio will be the long weekend in October 2012 which will have a distinct BOOK theme (with the possibility of a one day book arts workshop nestled in there too!) - I will be displaying handmade books and demonstrating book crafts with all the lovely bookbinding gear in the bookworks studio.

Of course the garden will be starting to emerge from its winter hibernation (like me!) and visitors can wander the grounds at will (hopefully I'll have a couple of new garden AND book projects completed by then....)

Lets make it a date eh?!


....

on the inside...

Now that I've opened the doors of the bookworks for the first time - 

would you like to meet some of my favourite bits of studio equipment?

here's 'Maria'...

... a huge French standing press

she gained the nickname 'Maria' because I picked her up in the nearby township of Moruya

isn't she a lovely looking girl?

but at 250kgs she is a substantial lass!

Phil welded her a special metal table/base so we can feel confident that she's fully supported

then there's 'Chappie'

weighing in at around one tonne

 'Chappie' - my late 19th century Chandler and Price clamshell printing press - does tend to dominate the space so I've tucked him into the back of the studio

nearby is my one chest of metal type (and letterpress bits and pieces)

(although 'Chappie' and mates do take up a lot of space in the studio, I'm not really a letterpress printer so I don't have mountains of gear & I certainly make no pretense at being a letterpress expert!)

My book journey started from the land of calligraphy

 and look - here's my tilted drafting table that's been my faithful calligraphy table 

since the early 1990s... 

its a homemade affair that has lovely a Vemco drafting machine - a beautiful drafting tool more commonly seen in an architects atelier than a calligrapher's studio...
My calligraphy table takes advantage of lovely easterly light
- and soon I'll be able to look out onto my beloved chooks in their own yard -
(right now they are living in a moveable chook tractor that you can spy through the window!)

also inside the studio is my smaller copy press ...

that I use as a nipping press

then there's 'tubbie'

my wooden finishing press and tub

my big wooden finishing press....

sewing frames....

and all my precious hand tools.....

Very soon I'll be announcing the next open day
(I'm hibernating for the winter!) 

when I'll be concentrating on just BOOOOOOOOKS -
so you can come and play with all these goodies
(and maybe even make some booky things)


stay tuned!


.....

sams creek bookworks - the journey has begun...

 

  

 

 

....

its a sign!

 

 

 

I've been repurposing my old sign

with a lick of vibrant (traffic stopping) paint

hand cut stencil lettering

(nearly there....)

 ....

spreading the news...

please feel free to shout it from the roof tops 

ps - the sams creek open day has been listed 

on the National Permaculture Day website

looksee

sams creek bookworks
is at Sams Creek - 10068 Princes Hwy (6kms north of) Cobargo NSW 2550

....

look at me now!

sooooo did you catch that piccie of me (in the usual place)
peeking out of the vibrant orange studio doors?

things are moving along 

here's a peek (or two or three) of how the garden is shaping up...

come to the open day May 5 and do the full tour!

....

painting...

Its Sunday morning 

and here's poor farmer phil up the ladder 

painting the hard to reach bits on the studio 

just WAIT until you see the final coat on the old building...... 

not long now until opening day!

..

grand opening plans

Soooooo....

 here we are a year behind schedule

but this time EVERYTHING is going swimmingly for a HUGE opening day

Saturday May 5 2012

 

Over Christmas Phil created a beautiful wheelchair accessible path
and undertook some urgent repairs to my funny little shed/studio

in the next couple of weeks I'm going to be painting the exterior

(ooooo just WAIT until you see how this baby is going to be transformed!)

Then I've got a huge studio garden to replant 

(its a MESS right now)

then there's the rest of the garden to get to work on

(we're ordering a semi-trailer load of mulch this week.... 

have you seen how much mulch that is? WOLF!)

and then there's the interior to get ready 

(painting, cleaning, shelves and curtains to make...)

and my planned 'kiddies art in the courtyard' thingy to get going 

and the 'under the eaves' art exhibition to get started

and the fences to be fixed

and the signs to make

and 

and 

and

and I KNOW I'm going to get there 

and its going to be FANTASTIC!

(hope you can come to the big day.....)




*** proceeds from the opening will go to Cobargo School P&C 
for the school's kitchen/garden/outdoor classroom project

...