Snail Journal (for Richard) by Mo Orkiszewski 2014
4 & 1/2 inches (11.5 cm) H x 6 & 1/2 inches (16.5 cm) W x 1 & 1/4 inches (3.25 cm) D
old cat scratched leather, vintage Silkworm thread, lined with handmade spiral paper from Thailand, cartridge text block with hand deckled and painted edges
front flap with closure detail
distressed edge hand deckled & painted with layers of sepia ink, “Bark” Derwent Intense water soluble ink pencil, burnt umber & yellow oxide acrylic mixed with Matisse water based antiqueing medium & golden Titanium White fluid acrylic
getting the edges “right” took about 10 hours but it worked!
front page
back page
dedication to my good friend Richard who has taught me so much about seeing in the last 7 years
detail of stitching inside of front flap (above) and outside (below)
the amazing Vintage silkworm thread and no 7 crewel embroidery needles
thanks to Margaret Johnson for giving me these “proper” needles and introducing me to this magic thread !
The Snail Journal
Posted: February 26, 2014 by Mo Crow in It's Crow TimeTags: bookbinding, Margaret Johnson, works on paper
Comments
It's Crow Time 
I love love love this, you have such a way with curve and line. And tell more about the Silkworm thread, please
Margaret Johnson sent me a reel of the Silkworm Machine Twist thread back in 2012, I fell in love with it whilst working on the Hopeful Lunacy scarf and then again for the netted & knotted fringe on the Memory Keeper Bag. Found a box for sale online in a country town haberdashery in Victoria (not far from Margaret’s place) & just this morning unearthed a mention of the company in the business section of a newspaper from 1948 when they merged with Rothfield & Co. So I would say this thread would be at least 60 years old, it is strong, has a beautiful hand and waxes perfectly for bookbinding.
Oh and the curve and line is integral to the handmade spiral paper from Thailand
Stunning
thanks Debbie now I have to get cracking on a new crow book for Old Man Crow he is quite jealous and he never gets jealous (& doesn’t ever blush either )
what an extraordinary journal! well his teachings must have been something special to inspire you into making such a personal gift; and omg that thread,,,,,
Richard is an artist and teacher with the best eyes but gave up both after teaching at an expensive private girls high school where the parents expected their daughters to graduate regardless of talent… they paid for results after all… but the artistic soul can’t be quelled, he takes the best photographs and we visit art exhibitions most weekends. He should write an art column for the newspaper as he is the most knowledgeable man I know. He was my second set of eyes all the way through the drawings for An illuminated Book of Cats and gently lets me know when I should put the crow drawings away!
i love this look and the thread is perfect on the leather giving it that aged look.
Thanks Deanna, I am in love with that thread and the leather is so soft!
softly snail….just elegance, perfection
thanks for the good words Grace, must say I am pleased with this one!
next book is going to be for Old Man Crow… a crow feather and roses book as he is more than a wee bit jealous of this snail book and keeps pointing out that he only has 5 pages left in the last Crow Book I need to go to a florist this weekend and find a dozen Mister Lincoln roses that are just past their best which I will then behead (remember Mortica Addams’ rose stem arrangements?) and then scatter the petals through the pages so it smells of roses… India Flint did this back a few years ago and I have wanted to give it a go ever since…
Wow! I love the dark leathery outside spiral and the soft, pale stitchy inside spirals equally. They are like the dark and light side of the moon. Richard is a lucky guy.
Ah I’m the lucky one, this is pay back for the hand carved bone moon on the 4 strand plaited flax cord with the hand carved bone toggle that he gave me last year!
Absolutely gorgeous Mo. It’s lovely to make something special for a good friend hey. ox
Thanks Marg, you are one of those special friends who has given me some of the fabulous treasures in our house Your Crow Woman and Blue Star Woman look after everything that comes out of this place!
& Hey! I’ll send this in an e-mail too one of the NSW Guild of Bookbinders members Karen Vidler is holding an open studio day at her Book Conservation Services Friday March 7th & Saturday March 8th from 10am to 4 pm Room 48/ 1 Halford St Castlemaine, Victoria that’s not too far from your place?
Here’s a link to her website
Simply stunning, Mo, and a real treasure. Your spiral stitching is just beautiful and I love the dark edges. Rod’s book sound like a winner too, and I hope you take a photo of your rose stem arrangement! I’d forgotten that Morticia did that!
each book informs the next so crow book 3 will have stitched details black on black this time as it is a crow book after all!
Beautiful and perfect!!!
Richard is such a special friend!
Oh how beautiful. It looks so fine for holding in your hand and for slow writing. And I’m smiling at Mo-rticia beheading roses…
Hehe! I loved the Addams Family when i was a kid, Morticia, Gomez & their Kitty Kat have been life long role models
so beautiful- especially your stitching, round and round, carrying…
thanks Cindy you truly know about just going round and round with your beautiful word quilt last year!
gorgeous! Loved that you used “cat scratched leather.”
cats make such fine lines!
I just love this piece! The textures, the shapes, everything! Agree with others that it makes for a spectacular gift. The spiral gives me ‘snail’ and also ‘cosmos’ – fitting, I think, for an artist of your vision!
thanks Dee! am not feeling very visionary today, having the devil’s own time coming up with the right design for the Crow Book 3 for Old Man Crow!
hey mo crow like your snail book, found the link from spirit cloth btw.
thanks for popping in Anna!
Very very cool and it looks like so much work- you continue to amaze me!
well you know how it is Sharmon, once you get an idea you just keep going with it ’til it’s done!
This is beautiful, Mo. Really, what a special gift.
Thanks Susan, he loves it!
beautiful work Mo, what a very special gift, a treasure of you for sure!
Thank you Ayn, I was hoping Richard would take it to South Africa this month as a travel journal for his 60th birthday but he said it is too special & will use it to hold his mother’s stories…
Mo, I found this post of your snail journal, and then, by serendipity ( through the thread! :-)) was led to your illuminated book of cats while on a ‘whim’ looking back through Jude’s February archives.
I just love what you did with that book. The energy you put into the tail of the cats, which feels so sensitive to the power/energy of a cat–and the verse, and the gorgeous illustrations. All of it. My mother’s birthday is in February, and she is a longtime ‘doorperson’ to cats. I am going to send her the link. Think she will love it. She’s also into cloth and stitching, as I am. I used to do “illuminations” in my twenties, before I ever knew what they were really, so I am drawn to the concept. Cats are very dear to me. You began with an Abyssinian. I was honoured to care for one when my son was a baby, her name was Gabriel. Like the angel. My life is filled with cat-ness. Just wanted to tell you how great it is to have stumbled on your lovely book! I write poems, among other things. I’d like to have your permission to use one of the verses in that book as an epigram to a poem. Of course I would attribute it. To your partner? Not sure which one! They are all good. November is National Poetry writing month for some, as is April. Some call november “National Novel-writing month”, but for me, it’s poems. A poem a day.
All the best
Alison
thank you for the kind words Alison, Rod Morgan is the writer Ariel P Cat is the muse and please send a link for us to OK?
this is amazing work..so beautifully made.
I loved working with that cat scratched old leather!