The importance of pressing the books overnight ('before' at the back and 'after' at the front)

A quote from Frank Cottrell Boyce for the endpapers (I heard this on the radio a few years ago, and wrote it down in the hope it would come in useful one day)

Starting to take shape, with the addition of Trodat stamped dates

Grappling with my vintage typewriter to add the memory captions to each card. Who knew centring type was so tricky in the good old days?!

Hand lettering on the pockets of all the road names

Stamping on top of the digitally printed illustrations

Hand carved rubber stamps for the house numbers

Lots of folding to create the pocket concertina structure

Illustrations were digitally printed onto A3 gesso paper, and then cut down into individual cards and the corners of each rounded with a punch.

Carbon paper illustrations of my second five homes

Carbon paper illustrations of my first five homes

A new book created for an exhibition as part of the Athens Print Fest 2018, on the themes of nostalgia and interruptions.

It is a catalogue of the ten places I have called home – the depictions of these houses represent punctuations in my life. The houses are originally illustrated with carbon paper – a transient medium that fades over time – but digitally reproduced for longevity. The concertina format reflects the chronological nature of the content, and the use of cards and pockets is reminiscent of childhood memories of library books: checking in and out of each place. The visible information (house number, road name and date) is factual, with typewritten personal memories of each place hidden within the pockets. I chose to cover the books with woodchip wallpaper – a common feature in all of my childhood and student homes, and a wall covering I have spent many hours scraping off walls of homes I have renovated as an adult.

I've only finished three books so far, but it will be an edition of 20 (once I can carve out a little more time to make them!)