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(Continued from part one and two)

Happy New Year! Okay, now where was I? It's about time to wrap up this series of posts. Last time, I talked about using custom jigs and securing the pages onto the cords. There is still a small piece of quick tip that I'd like to share.

Little signatures
It so happened that I was in the process of making a batch of little signatures, and apparently they were perfect to prop up the pages as well. When these little signatures are packed together, they allow me to quickly insert and pull out photos to check and see if they align right. They also have a spring-like flexibility so that they don't stress out the photographs.

This piece relies on a slight offset of each of the images and it's important to double check if they are in the right order before gluing.

(Continued from part one)

Using the jigs
Before all the "pages" are securely attached to the four cords, they need to be propped up. The jigs keep each of the pages in place, while they also provide a relatively sturdy structure when the cords are pulled taut.

Securing pages onto cords
Once the cotton cords were pulled taut through the pages, I applied a tiny drop of PVA glue onto each of the joints. A squeeze bottle with a tiny tip worked great for this.

When dried, the PVA prevents the pages from shifting on the cords, so as to maintain even spacings between them. Supports at the front and back of the train worked with the jigs to keep the structure upright. Once the PVA dried, the structure became pretty sturdy and can now stand on itself.

By the way, that's my trusted HP-22S scientific calculator in the second picture. I had it since high school, it's been 20+ years and it's still working great.

(To be continued.)

Pages took me about a little bit over a month to create. It was quite a cautiously-made piece: for every step, I had to be extra diligent and careful, as mistakes couldn't be covered up easily.

Pages is constructed from images of eight of my earlier volumes, which are held onto 4 cord cords with PVA glue.

Model
Before working with the photographs, I made a model to see if PVA would be strong enough to keep the card stock on the cotton cords (I had a lot of old name cards to spare.) I also wanted to see if I could avoid using grommets, which would add unnecessary bulk. I wanted the piece to be as minimalistic as possible, so extra hardware just doesn't sound like a good idea.

Arranging the photos
The photos were then printed and trimmed, stacked and ordered. Each photo in a group offsets slightly to create a staggering effect. By looking at the edges, I double checked to make sure the order was correct. I placed a card stock in front of the first photo to protect the print surface from accidental scratches and finger prints.

Spacers/jigs
After piercing each of the photos, they were ready to be threaded with cotton cords, a few photos at a time. The challenge then was to keep them at equidistant from each other, while the cords are pulled taut when I applied PVA at the joints.

I made eight jigs of equal thickness from scrap boards. The center of the jigs is hollow to reduce waste and for the ease of handling. I could move the jigs around without touching the photos on each side of the jigs.

(To be continued.)

A little over a year ago, Rapzunel left home and traveled from New York to Delaware then to Maryland. Now she's back with me.

When the package was dropped off by the art handler, I couldn't wait to open it, as if it were a present. I opened the box excitedly, then felt a little bit emotional. I truly missed her!

Do artists change the title of their work? Especially when the work has been exhibited and documented in various places?

I have absolutely no idea.

Originally, I titled this piece Hokusai's Yurei (Hokusai's Ghost), but a few months ago I finally realized that it makes no sense. Since then, the title has been bugging me mad.

You see, I intended to use Romanji (Romanization of Japanese characters) and English together, but the Romanji part was not exactly Japanese. It had an apostrophe! It was English. The word yurei was also incorrect: it should've be yūrei.

Today, I am changing it once and for all: 北斎の幽霊 Hokusai No Yūrei (Hokusai's Ghost). It now has Japanese, Romaji and English, which covers all the bases!

It's my work, afterall, I can call it whatever I want, isn't it? Indeed, mistakes are also part of the process.

The letterpressed thank you card from LetterMpress arrived yesterday for my Kickstarter support. I've had the app installed on my iPad for a while now, but honestly I feel that the controls are a little off and I often find myself frustrated not being able to grab or drag objects around. Looking forward to the next update.

I have been giving away these new name cards for a few months now. In fact, I have also made a second batch to give away during my solo this past summer. Apparently they were a big hit, or so I was told.

Since I have seen those mini cards from Moo that people have, I've always wanted them for myself. They might not be handmade, but they are easy to order, and each card can have different prints. It certainly is a great way to showcase my work, and the cropped photos works really well with this form factor.

They are really cute, and because they're so much smaller than a postcard and business card, maybe they would create less waste when people decide to discard them after picking them up from the gallery. Boo hoo!

Maybe someone would want to collect the whole set one day...