shredshredshred

Got a hand powered paper shredder a while back. I love it! Well worth 8 dollars. The photo above is from the series of small sculptural installations, THE PAPER GARDEN. This one was at Bundanon.




The great thing about the hand shredder (sounds dangerous!) is that it's easy to shred half a page, so it's good for making books like those below, and the one in the first photo, too.


These photos were taken in what was my Bundanon studio, except for the first picture, which was taken in my usual studio.

dirt paint

Bundanon is very sandy. A nice grey sand, though sometimes red. I collected some to mix into a kind of paint, with a bit of paste and glue and sometimes a bit of gouache. Made a nice texture.

For this book i used some of my 'dirt paint'.

The photo below sort of shows the sand, peeking through river stones and casuarina needles.

lazy little monster drawing

sketchbook drawing detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

I'm kinda working on a little book of drawings like this - might make it as an edition. Probably it will take me a while, other things keep getting in the way. I might even lose interest before it is done...

Click on the image to see things more clearly...

shredded paper handmade paper

book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

All that shredded paper would be really good for making handmade paper, you've got to kind of shred it anyways....
This picture is from a book i made with handmade (and other) papers.

from The revolving theatrum

from The revolving theatrum, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This little piece (about 12cm high) was in my show at Wollongong City Gallery last year......and is now in the collection of the very lovely Vivian Vidulich (i can't emphasise enough just how lovely)

book book book

another book thing....this one is made by 'splicing' two concertinas together, and adding a few bits. (sounds a bit like genetic engineering, eh?)

honeycomb book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

close up book

book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

this is some detail from a book. Salvaged book pages and various papers have been haphazardly woven together and then machine stitched.

the Tidal Bind

'the tidal bind' book detail, originally uploaded by me-jade.

this is a 'spread' from one of my books. It's made of printed books, handmade paper, machine stitching, and other bits and pieces.

books books books

I make lots of books.....books to look through, book sculptures, book toys. There's a lot of stuff i like about books and about making them. The books i make tend to fit into the category of artists books.....some are books to look through and touch....others are more sculptural. I make 'one of a kind' books, though i have plans to make an editioned book....or two or three...


The meeting of public (or published) knowledge and private intimate experience is something especially interesting about books and paper, i think. To 'make a booking', bookeeping and 'on the books' seem to imply something official.... Yet the diary, sketchbook and journal are books, too, and are all very intimate personal things....and books are generally read alone. And of course books are circular (at least the traditional western codex is), or that is the shape they make when opened, the pages radiating out from the spine. This fits nicely with the book being a medium for circulating information.





I first started stitching paper about 6 years ago...it was by hand then, i only got my sewing machine around 2 years ago. Binding books often involves stitching paper, and that's how i came to add the stitching as part of the drawing, if you know what i mean. The text transformed to textile.

I like how it makes the flat surface textured and 3d, for a long time i have been fascinated by other peoples fascination with the illusion of depth given to a flat surface...i think i like making 3d collages partly for this reason.


Lots of my books are like toys...things to play with, or like puzzles....Sort of reflecting the 'problem-solving' process of making and 'reading' art, or something like that. Textbooks and literature are 'pulled apart' and reconstructed as something playful and tactile.