CIMINERA BOOKS AKA BOOK-TAILOR
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iPhone skin

6/22/2015

2 Comments

 
I just used one of my designs to create a skin for my iPhone.  I think it looks fantastic and am so pleased with it.  Must try some more.  See for yourself.
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2 Comments

RIP Terry Pratchett

3/17/2015

4 Comments

 


Terry Pratchett, one of my favourite authors, died on March 12.  I have all of his books, and they have given me hours of unadulterated pleasure. I get really cross when people dismiss him as a fantasy writer.  Yes, many of his books are set in an imaginary world that is flat, travelling through space on the back of giant tortoises.  Yes, there can be magic and strange goings on. 

But trying to contain Terry Pratchett in
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"I Shall Wear Midnight" by Terry Pratchett
Midnight blue leather studded with diamonds
a little box called fantasy is as descriptive as saying that chocolate is brown.  While factually true, it does nothing to describe the sensual pleasure and the explosion of flavours and sensations that putting a piece of chocolate in your mouth brings.  Terry Pratchett's books are funny, and I mean laugh out loud on the bus funny.  They are satirical, perceptive, honest, revealing, intriguing, touching, informative.  In my modest view, Terry Pratchett was a genius. 

One of my favourite books of his is "I Shall Wear Midnight", which is actually part of a parallel series to the better known Discworld series.  It is my tribute to him.  The world is a poorer place without his brilliant writing.  I hope he is in a better place.

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4 Comments

Back to Work

6/29/2014

2 Comments

 
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After almost two months away from my workshop due to knee surgery (ugh!) I finally managed to climb back up to it - at the very top of my tall, narrow house.  Great light and views, but impossible to get to on crutches!  Spent most of the weekend preparing cartons for the slipcases of four books that are in the final stages of production.  What a relief to be working again!

This is quite a lengthy process: first the cardboard are cut roughly to size. 

The special flannel that will be on the inside of the case has to be dyed to match the leather, or one of the design elements of the book, and left to dry thoroughly.

In the meantime, the carton receives its first layer of brown packing paper and it is left to dry in the open.  The humidity in the glue causes a reaction in the cardboard and it curls in on itself as the glue dries and pulls the paper tight (that's why we use the packing paper - it's light but tough).  Then you wait 24 hours, and repeat the process, so now you have pieces of cardboard that are completely arced.  Like this one in the photo, which has been glued in preparation for the last step - gluing the flannel on. 

So the end result looks like the photo below.

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These will now be dried flat, between weighted boards, before getting cut to the precise dimensions needed and then assembled.  Will post the photos when they are finished.  They are looking good!
2 Comments

Satisfaction

4/20/2014

1 Comment

 
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The friend who commissioned this book just wrote to me to say that it is a work of art, and that he feels like the lucky winner of a big lottery prize.  Now that is positive feedback! 

It is hugely satisfying when something that you have made pouring your heart and soul into it is so well received and appreciated.  There is no other buzz quite like it. 



Some artists can toil away in freezing attics for decades without recognition.  Not me.  I love a compliment, I love seeing the look of wonder in people's faces when I hand over their book, transformed beyond recognition, I like to see their happy smiles.  Does that make me shallow?  I hope not.

Don't get me wrong.  I do work on a lot of projects that I do not have a customer for - books that I just fall in love with and feel a burning need to transform.  The Russian Legends book I blogged about earlier is one of those.  Maybe they will only ever be loved by me. and that is OK too.   In fact I am working on a series of projects now that I am terribly excited about, that are not commissions, but just the fruit of my meandering mind.  They will take a while to bring to fruition, but I can't wait to share them with you all.

1 Comment

Tools

4/2/2014

3 Comments

 
Back to work after a long spell of illness - caught a really nasty bug in New Orleans.  It feels so good to be working again - I have such amazing projects going on at the moment.  Today I have been using one of the most humble - yet most satisfying tools.
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The sanding block.  A small block of hardwood around which you wrap some fine grain sanding paper, and voilà, you can prepare surfaces and make them perfectly smooth prior to covering them, as below

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I am working on a fabulous edition of Walt Whitman's the Sleepers, with the most fabulous woodcuts, as you can see below.  And I think I have designed a cover worthy of it.  I hope you think so too!
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3 Comments

The Big Easy

3/2/2014

1 Comment

 
In New Orleans for Mardi Gras ....CRAZY!  The vibe in the city is amazing, and some of the sights eye-popping.  Lots of fabulous, quirky, eccentric and eclectic creativity around.  LOTS of feathers. My friend Charles took a photo of this mask for me. 
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I love peacock feathers. Today I even bought myself a hair ornament with them - gotta go with the Mardi Gras vibe. It is a very pretty thing as you can see from the photo here. Looking forward to wearing it tonight. And it is really making me think about using them again in my books.  The one I've already done (see below) is a great favourite. I've seen so many great sites in this great city that I feel inspired to try them again ... Keep watching!
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1 Comment

Russia continued

2/19/2014

2 Comments

 
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And here it is, my beautiful headband, with the real pearls, taken from the remains of a Victorian choker which belonged to the great-aunt of my teacher, mentor and friend, Jacqueline Liekens. I love it, and think it's a great start to an opulent work of art. Hope you like it too - let me know!
2 Comments

Portraits

2/12/2014

2 Comments

 
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I adore this portrait by Steve Mc Curry.  It is an incredibly powerful image, and it is also extremely beautiful.  The colour palette alone is to die for..

But it always leaves me wondering ... who is she?  What happened to her?  Where is she now?  What does she look like?  For me, this is true of all great photo portraits.

Which is why I started thinking of somehow creating portraits that might answer those questions.  How about if you put together images from different times in a person's life?  In different roles and places? So that you would get the answer to the question "what happened next.

While many people are happy enough to have a portrait of themselves on show, most people would be a little self-conscious to have many photographs of themselves displayed in one place.  So I came up with my idea of portrait books.
But a book can sit on a coffee table, or on a bookshelf, and be taken out when wanted, to show all the facets of a person - as a parent, a child, an athlete, working and having fun, young and old.  In other words, a complete portrait!
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2 Comments

February 07th, 2014

2/7/2014

1 Comment

 
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Nature inspires art.  How can you not be inspired by this amazing world we live in?
1 Comment

Russia

2/7/2014

0 Comments

 
I have been dreaming of things Russian since I saw the Anna Karenina film. last year. The sumptuousness of the costumes, the jewels, the architecture.  And then I found this book, in Pierre Coomans' wonderful antique books shop.  Instant coup-de-foudre.
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How fitting that I should be working on a Russian book during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Funny how life sometimes does that to you, themes and ideas converging. Just look at the illustrations.
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And this is just one of them.  I have created an exquisite headband, with real pearls - I will add a photo shortly.  And these will not be the only real jewels.  I have some diamonds, and some rough cut emeralds, and I am trying to source some rubies and sapphires. 

And the leathers? Kingfisher blues, emerald greens, burnt oranges, drawn from all my favourite suppliers: Norro in Brussels, Peausserie Poulain and Relma in Paris. This is going to be one hell of a binding, I promise..  Technically devilish, but worth in in the end.

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    Author

    Carla Ciminera is a Scottish-Irish-Italian artist living between Brussels and Umbria.

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  • Welcome
  • About Me
  • What I create
    • Portrait Books >
      • Birthday book
      • Flynn's Third Year
      • Grandchildren
      • Naiari's First Year
      • Brussels Years Photo album
    • Wedding Books >
      • Martine & Henrik
      • Sarah & John
    • Passions >
      • Alice in Wonderland
      • Black Beauty
      • The Cycle
      • Devil's Dictionary
      • Divina Commedia
      • Don Chisciotte
      • Fedra
      • Foligno in Particolare Version 1
      • Foligno in Particolare version 2
      • Iphigenie
      • I Shall Wear Midnight
      • Jane Austen
      • Legendes Russes
      • Lord of the Rings
      • Micheline de Bellefroid Catalogue
      • Mother Goose
      • Oscar Wilde
      • The Sleepers
      • Vogue
      • Voyages de Gulliver
      • Watercolour Album
      • Water Time Light
    • Objects >
      • Tissue Box 1
      • Tissue Box 2
  • Your wish is my command
  • Contacts
  • Blog