Before It Is Bound: The Progress and Many Layers of the Baby Book

It started with an image for an invitation, turned into a collage, and an attempt at screen-printing…

The baby shower was fun, but my lack of organization as far as theme and lesson plan didn’t turn out any prints.

In the process of learning image transfer methods, I decided to use my research and experiments, (in the vein of science), as the backdrops to the story. I started with one experimental page, and when it worked, went on to do the rest all at once.
I layered in the same manner. One experiment page, then the rest all at once. The transfers were made in the same fashion as the planner post, but there are three layers. All made on fabric, the first layer is an environment, and the transfer is made with gesso. The next two layers, starting with an animal, ending with a plant(hybrid/collage from A Flower Book For the Pocket and flowers from a children’s gardening book), both made with Gel Gloss Medium (as pictured in the planner post). And a final layer of gel gloss medium to seal the page.

The final pieces to the book production were the cover and the text. I worked on the cover in and out of making transfers. The shell for the cover comes from a magical book I found a few years ago in Asheville, North Carolina, and held onto. I think I always pictured it for a child, because of its whimsy, but it had to contain a story, and the story had to correlate with the cover, without trying too hard.

The title and spine letters are partly from the insides of the original book and the rest of the letters from a typewriter. The title (Organisms in Their Environments) is inspired by an evolutionist, Richard Lewontin, who Richard Dawkins quotes in his book The God Delusion. In turn, I quote him, coming to many conclusions for myself, and hopefully giving some insight, open to much interpretation, by any individual who comes across it. Broadly, it comes to mean where you are when you read it. In the right place, at the right time, we are receptive to the most magic, with the most meaning.

On the final day, I sat down with the cover and pages, to write the text. The story is for August William Doe, as my advice on existing, inspired by the books I’ve recently read, and my own experience in being.