I am delighted to report that my book "River Fragments" won the John Purcell Artist Book Award Ist Prize in the recent Society of Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition 2026.
The book is based on the river Thames and features a short poem inspired by the wildlife in and around the river, also its connection to human activity and the treasures washed up on the foreshore.
The pages are deckle edge Khadi paper, which I stained and painted with watercolour. The calligraphy is in walnut ink and the miniature illustrations are watercolour with gold powder sprinkling and black ink.
I bound the book in individual sections sewn directly onto a paper cover with a decorative leather spine. The cover features a painted strip of Wasli paper with hand made leather buttons, designed to resemble coins. The fastener is a decorated strip of Wasli paper cut from the deckle edge and secured with a hand made cord. The book is housed in a clamshell box.
The colours chosen for the project reflect the brackish nature of the river, sometimes muddy and full of silt, other times golden and sparking in sunlight.
This was my very first entry into a bookbinding competition and I was suprised and honoured in equal measure. Thank you so much Society of Bookbinders.
