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Binding • 28 x 20.1 x 1.8
Grey morocco spine, suede-side, with onlay of suedeside
yellow native-dyed morocco at head. Handmade
paper sides, stained with acrylic paints, and impressed
title with George Mackay Brown's name and dates.
The impressions follow through doublures and endpapers
towards the white flyleaves of the book at front;
both front and back are coloured with sponged acrylics
in keeping with the surface texturing and colouring of
the other surfaces of book and box. Head is gilded randomly
in gold and palladium over airbrushed base colour.
Silk head and tail bands complement either end.
Container
Inner slip • 29 x 21 x 3
Outer case • 30.3 x 22 x 5.3
Constructed from laminates of millboard covered in
handmade paper stained and textured with acrylics
and plaka casein tempera. The inner slip profile is
angled to show the emerging lettering coinciding with
the 'headstone' lettering, and lined with grey velvet.
The book must be drawn upwards out of the box, imitating
the spirit rising.
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Concept
The ancient graveyard on the Craignish Peninsula is in
a beautiful setting overlooking the sea loch and hills
beyond, with its sculpted stones and headstones gently
settling, some weathered towards oblivion but peaceful
and thought-provoking. The lichens vary on each
type of stone and the mosses bed into the lettering -
unlike the newer, routed granites which have little
character nor signs of gentle ageing. There is a particular
headstone that is delaminating, and its splitting
further allows the weather in - it reminds me of a
book with its layers of a life and the effects of time. My
father lies in the newer graveyard nearby and his handcarved
headstone, too, is gradually being garnished by
nature. The birth of an idea both lives and dies in its
execution, though the spirit lives on. The binding and
its 'tomb' say enough: 'A name, two dates, cut deep'
(from 'Flower of the Stone', Stone, 1987).
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