Dutch book art February 1, 2011

The Dutch graphic designer Kim Eggens, is specialised in crafting beautiful blank books. She uses a variety of techniques on the covers, such as quilting and embroidery. Next to this, she often works photographs into her covers too. For the inside she makes use of different sorts of paper in different sizes. The results are beautiful blank books, perfect to be used as diary’s. (Tip: click on the photographs to see more details.) There is a webshop on her website, but there is no sign of any of the books going on sale yet.

 

Interpretation of ‘The Bookworm’ October 2, 2009

The Belgium library of Kortrijk had a photo contest over the summer. People were asked to take pictures of libraries in Belgium and outside the country. The contest has ended and the winners have been announced. I was particularly interested in the picture of Roos Debrabandere. She went to Poland and took a photo in a restaurant in Krakow. She named the photo “Eat first, read later”. This is the photo:

You might recognize the paint work on the wall. The original painting was made by German Painter Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885), called The Bookworm. Spitzweg made the painting in 1850 and has become quite famous. (Click here to learn more about this artist.) This is what the original artwork looks like:

I love what the owners of the restaurant did with their wall. How they made their own culinary interpretation of this famous bookish painting. It will definitely provide a book lover with a great view whilst enjoying their dinner. Unfortunately I am unable to tell you the name and address of the restaurant. If and when I find out, I will post an update.

If you like to see all the entries of the contest, you can click here. The photo of the restaurant did not win by the way. Probably because it wasn’t a picture of a library, as asked for. If you follow the link you will see the photo that did win.

Covers with books September 12, 2009

My favorite Dutch bookish blog is ‘Boekendingen‘. On occasion they do a post about book covers that have books on them. They had a great selection of bookish book covers again yesterday, that I need to show you. You will love them, even if you do not understand Dutch. (There are covers with English and German titles there as well.) The sheer beauty of some books… Click here to enjoy.

Bookish Etsy June 6, 2009

Browsing the web in hopes to find some cool bookish gadgets for you, I stumbled on the website Etsy.com. On this website you can buy and sell things that are handmade. Of course there are people on there that make fantastic bookish things. Below I will state some of the things I found. I do not know how long the products will be on there, so do forgive me when a link dies in the future.

Take this paperweight for instance. (Click here to go to the Etsy page.) Click on ‘more’ to see more of my finds…

Amazing bookish paintings

It is fantastic when the love for things get combined. My obvious love for books and my love of art. Quite a few artists make paintings of books. The Australian Victoria Reichelt (1979) is one of them. She paints modern books, which is quite different. Her style, realism, makes the books and other objects almost touchable. Love it! Click here to go to her website.

Another  artist that makes book paintings, he does not paint anything else, is the Dutch Gerd Renshof (1959). I discovered him when I was given a new calender for this year (Click here to see.). Every month has a beautiful picture of old books above it. Closer inspection showed me that it were prints of oil paintings made by this artist. Stunning! Click here to read his website in English.

Bookish table September 25, 2008

The Italian company MOCO has an interesting design idea with books. A table, called the Ex Libris. The company says that designing a table in a new way is a “difficult and fascinating challenge”.

This particular design does not seem too inspired, though. The design reminds me of a student in need of a table and decides to use its books for a base. The MOCO design looks very nice, even though it does not come across as very original. It still seems like a good design idea for bibliophiles, so that is why I posted it. I would have used a clear glass top, so the books look like pillars and you get the illusion of space. But who am I? What do you think? Click here to learn more.

(Thanks to Urbi.)

Library Dogs September 16, 2008

I saw this in my newspaper Friday and I knew I had to have one. A dog to put in the library! (My Jack Russell is not allowed in my library.) These wonderful little – non hairy – dogs can hold a number of books, which makes them very convenient. Above all, they look fantastic!

Unfortunately the website of the designer did not give any information on purchasing a piece. Neither did the manufacturers website. So I decided to contact the designer. He cc’t me in an e-mail to the manufacturer, asking them to provide me with details. Until now, I did not hear back from them. When I do, I will let you know.

For now, enjoy these great designs appropriately called “Pack of Dogs”! Click here and here to see them.

Update:

I have heard back and can now tell you about the designs, the prices and the way to obtain them.

Click here to see the ‘Pack of dogs’ brochure in PDF. The prices are:

Aguayo: 81 dollars

Dos Caras, Jr. (2 pieces): 72 dollars

Alushe: 90 dollars

Mistico: 107 dollars

El Santo: 369 dollars

You can contact O’Neal Spicer of Proteak to order a dog. You can reach him via this e-mail adress.

Interview with a book artist June 19, 2008

The people of The Design Files did an interview with book artist Nicholas Jones. I thought you might be interested in his work and what he has to say about it. You can read the article here.

Pimp my Billy May 9, 2008

German designers have designed a gadget to go along with the famous Billy bookcases by IKEA. Since a couple of weeks, I too have these cases. They are not only cheep, but you can buy loads of accessories for them. The best part is, you do not have to be afraid that any additions will not be sold anymore next year.

The Pimp my Billy is a fun thing. I was immediately interested in it. It looks interesting, fun and the color is just right for my library. Until I saw the price. One can buy a whole room full of Billy’s for the price of this gadget. Click here to learn more.

PS. I will be out of the country next week for business. If I find any great bookstores in the German city of Heidelberg, I will let you know!

Altered Book Artists January 18, 2008

As you know, I love art and I love books. (Hence my competition! For more information, click here.) I have posted about ‘Altered Book Art’ before. Even though the artists destroy books, they make something beautiful out of them. (Who can forget the work of Brian Dettmer, to be found here.) I believe they love books and get inspired by them. If you like to see some altered book art, go to the category section and click ‘Art’.

You can also follow this link. It is a page of The International Society of Altered Book Artists. Get inspired and make something for my contest!