Red: the colour of courage

Help Ever Hurt Never flaming heart from the House of Blues in New Orleans 1999
Hep Ever Hurt Never stitched into the Stole of Bandaged Hearts Mo 2011
thinking about the colour of kindness
“As we stagger forward, I think about the colour of kindness, realising that its colours and shades are not painted onto a person. They’re worn in.”
Markus Zusack “When Dogs Cry” (p45)

Acey is considering the colours of the chakras
Red is her first one
a powerful colour
the bass note that strengthens our spines, giving us courage and the fire of passion

Mike Worrall  The Portal of Intoxication
I love how this painting so perfectly describes the magic power of red

here’s a few red things I’ve made over the years
Heartline book Mo 2006
Book of Spells Mo 2008
Firebird Book Mo 2008
Firebird Talisman Mo 2015
red highlights were hand painted in the limited edition of The illustrated lyrics of Old Man Crow Mo 2016

 

I would give you the moon and stars my love

Moon and Stars Journal Mo 19
Italian glove leather, leather cord, eggshell mosaic moon, antique parchment stars, marbled endpapers, black and white linen thread
H 11.5 cm
W 15.5 cm
D 2.5 cm
detail of eggshell mosaic moon, antique parchment stars and ladder
I would give you the moon and stars my love
bound with love into each knot
a moon ladder for finding the way in
  a sturdy binding
marbled endpapers and inside of the edge binding
it’s Old Man Crow’s birthday in 2 weeks & he really needed a new journal, the last one was bound in 2016!

Crossing Boundaries: The Art of the Book

Crossing Boundaries: The Art of the Book
Elizabeth Beronich has gathered book artists from all around the world for this exhibition
I sent “The illustrated Lyrics of Old Man Crow” Limited Edition no 83/100
the show opens this Friday, if you’re in northern California have a look!

celebrating another spin around the sun

celebrating another spin around the sun with Old Man Crow, he’s 71 today!
who would have thought we would still be here?
the mandala is tied to the dress form with waxed linen thread
Diane Patmore took these photos of my Book of Honesty at the Libris Awards in Mackay
good to see it displayed so that people can turn the pages and enjoy the details
you can see the whole book here
the catalogue is online here

Book of Honesty made the shortlist for the Libris Awards!

Book  of Honesty Mo Orkiszewski 2017
27cm H x 22cm W x 2cm D
bradel binding, relief sculpted spine, Moulin de Larroque handmade watercolour paper over boards
illustrations graphite and ink on Moulin de Larroque handmade watercolour paper, stitched Honesty pods
Artist’s Statement: seeking honesty in this era of fake news
(you can see the whole book here)
this is the first time I have made the shortlist for this award!
with many thanks to Madeleine Tuckfield-Carrano of Artsite Gallery for all the encouragement & support
here’s a link to my artist’s page at Artsite

PS Marti just sent this photo of her cloth confetti!
When I read your post about the Libris nomination, I went to my container of Winter Solstice/Christmas cards, decorations, etc. and took out your 2017 lovely Honesty Christmas card. Placed it on my dresser, tossed my cloth confetti (dyed long scraps) and said a joyful blessing for you. Thought you might like to see the photo. So proud of you, best news all year… Lv, Marti

wheel of life spins ’round and ’round

The Letter W
from An illuminated Book of Cats
by Mo Okiszewski, Rod Morgan and Ariel P Cat © 2010
It was 45˚C (113˚F) here yesterday… my brain melted down but this morning the memory of this page from our book put the heat into perspective with the deep cold happening on the other side of the world, the balancing act as Jude talks about today over at Spirit Cloth, she helps me keep my head on straight!

Judy Lemezis- a talisman book of love for our beautiful broken world

Judy Lemezis sent  a talisman of love for our beautiful broken world
with a card of blessings for the dream & inside a beautiful hand made envelope
containing a tiny handmade book!
(((Judy))) thank you for these beautiful words wrapped in love
namaste
you can see more of Judy’s work on her website
Judy’s talisman stitched into the dream

the chicken and the egg

The chicken and the egg Mo17
H 11cm x W 10.5cm
egg shell & chicken leg leather over bookbinder’s board, wishbone, waxed linen thread, vintage glass beads
inside the covers
back cover
outside & inside
this was a lot of fun to make, inspired by the English bookbinder Mark Cockram’s videos about making an eggshell cover back in January and the chicken leg leather was just waiting for the right book for a few years!

Book of Honesty Mo17

Book  of Honesty Mo17
27cm H x 22cm W x 2cm D
bradel binding, relief sculpted spine, Moulin de Larroque handmade watercolour paper over boards
illustrations graphite and ink on Moulin de Larroque handmade watercolour paper, stitched Lunaria pods
this book has given me so much…

binding the Book of Honesty

The Book of Honesty Mo17
27cm H x 22cm W x 2cm D
bradel binding, relief sculpted spine, Moulin de Laroqque handmade watercolour paper over boards
it’s almost finished!
here’s a link to see all the double page spreads of Honesty
I love making books, this is the most elegant one yet!
here’s how it went together
each double page spread was first sewn onto 5 linen tapes
a paper stitching pattern with an arrow indicating the top of the page
the spine is strengthened with acid free PVA & muslin between the tapes, then gently rounded with a hammer
the tapes are frayed and glued down to make a smooth interface then cut the text for the spine casing
preparing the covers
the front cover attached, inside edges need trimming and sanding before lining
(those red marks on the white lining are the bit of blood that all my work seems to require)
back cover attached ready for trimming and sanding
front & back covers are lined
there’s still some finishing to do, will post the finale when it’s ready!