{"id":10480,"date":"2016-04-22T13:29:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T17:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=10480"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:02","slug":"manipulating-stone-veneer-with-coleen-curry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/22\/manipulating-stone-veneer-with-coleen-curry\/","title":{"rendered":"Manipulating Stone Veneer with Coleen Curry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the first weekend in April, Third Year Studio hosted a workshop\u00a0organized by the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers<\/a>. Third Year Studio is located in Boston and is run by Colin Urbina<\/a>, who just so happens to be my friend and studio mate (Herringbone Bindery is run out of Third Year Studio). This was the first workshop we hosted and Colin was\u00a0so gracious to opened his space to members of NEGBW and to our guest instructor Coleen Curry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coleen traveled to a unseasonably warm, then snowy Boston to teach 10 local New England binders, book artists and conservators Staple Binding in Stone Veneer. Coleen learned this innovative structure from S\u00fcn Evrard, who developed this binding as a conservation solution under the Tomorrow’s Past<\/a> ideology. We began the first day of the workshop by handing around models of the Stone Veneer binding while introducing ourselves and learning about the structure and its history. The stone veneer comes from a place in Italy where it is cut to a veneer-thickness by use of lasers. This process puts an adhesive coating on the surface, while the back is coated with a cotton-fiberglass layer. The veneer comes in two varieties: slate or quartzite. Yet within these two categories you can find a range of textures, patterns and tones.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp-ErinFletcher\"<\/a>

left: Dorothy Africa and Coleen Curry | right: detail of \u00a0Toad Poems<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The decoration on the slate stone veneer binding of Toad Poems<\/em>\u00a0above was achieved by placing a gilt\u00a0piece of paper behind a cut-out in the covers. The windows are aligned\u00a0with the staples, an example of how to incorporate\u00a0the layout of the staples with the overall design.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp2-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The details of the binding above are of the blank model that\u00a0Coleen made during the workshop with S\u00fcn, where she learned this structure. The covers were decorated using a Japanese screw punch. The circular cut-outs were backed with various colored Japanese tissues, offering a small pop of color against the grey slate. The image on the left shows part of the interior construction.<\/p>\n

Another example binding that Coleen shared with us, is this binding of Jabberwocky<\/em> by Lewis Carroll. It was a great example of how well the stone tools and how it can handle embroidered decorations.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp4-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I especially loved the playfulness of the patched endpapers and use of embroidery to mend the edges.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp3-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After looking through Coleen’s examples, it was time for us to make our own model. After choosing our unique piece of stone (I chose a lovely light colored slate with splashes of yellows, pinks and purples), we were instructed to stamp a series of parallel lines into the center (or spine) of the stone. We did this by strapping our stone and a heated brass rule into a contraption and keeping it under the weight inside our large press. Afterward, we laminated a second layer of Japanese tissue to the backside of the stone. While that was put to bed, we laminated together pieces of colored Japanese tissue that would ultimately become our endpapers.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp5-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While our stone continued to dry, we trimmed down our endpapers to either match our text block or extend slightly behind the edges. The image below shows Coleen demoing the pamphlet stitch that we would use on the text block. The image on the right shows how I trimmed my endpapers. In the end I didn’t like how much of a square I gave the outer (green) endpaper. With the additional square from the stone, the overall square became to large for the size of the text block.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp6-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of day one, Coleen shared with us two fine bindings\u00a0on loan from a local collector. It was an unexpected and delightful treat to handle and speak with Coleen about her bindings and decorative techniques.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp7-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On day two of the workshop, we were all reunited with our backed stone veneer. We went through the unnerving task of stamping our veneer with the brass rule three more times to redefine the lines and make sure we had an even amount on the outside and odd number on the inside. It was very important to register the brass rule correctly each time, so that our lines stayed crisp and parallel to one another. I snapped a photograph at the very end when I was ready to take the brass rule and stone out of our jig.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp8-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We also advanced\u00a0on the text block by attaching the wooden spine stub piece. This stub could be made from a number of materials, but we choose from a selection of basswood pieces that were cut down and laminated to match the height of the outer endpaper and thickness of the text block. The wooden piece was also shaped to match the roundness of the folded signature. I painted the ends of my spine piece to offer a bit of decoration to the head and tail. After trimming, shaping and painting, the spine piece was affixed to the outer endpaper and the fore edge was finally trimmed to the final width.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp9-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At this point, we were ready to attach our text block to the stone veneer. The first steps were to create a punching jig to guide our awls to punch holes in the folds of the outer endpaper and in the stone cover. The stone was easy to pierce, once you felt it was in the right place, I simply used an awl to poke through the stone. We laced our text block temporarily into the stone covers in order to fold the fore edge and trim off any excess.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp10-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Before laminating the folded stone onto itself, you have the opportunity to add any decorative elements such as cut-outs, sewing, tooling, etc. Due to time constraints (I had to remake a painted wooden stay that I dropped on the floor), I chose to add some simple embroidered stitches just to see how well I could sew through the stone. This was mostly done on the inside of the front cover.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp11-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With a pile of stays (wooden, metal and vellum) and metal staples in hand, I was ready to securely attach the text block to the stone veneer covers. In the image on the right below, Coleen is demonstrating how to use plastic tubing to make it easier to insert the staples and stays.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp12-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For my binding, I chose to use both metal connectors and wooden stays. I painted one set of wooden stays to match the dark purple laminated to the backside of my stone. The staple is inserted through the stay and the vellum catches the legs of the staples on the inside of the endpaper. We stuck an orange stick into a piece of cork, this strange looking tool (seen above) aided in folding over the legs of staples. And viola! The binding is complete. At this point I could still add tooling, but I loved the look of my stone, that I chose to leave it untouched.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp13-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We had a great workshop with Coleen, she\u00a0brought so much experience and knowledge to the workshop. Her patience and persistence ensured that everyone walked away satisfied and with a finished binding.<\/p>\n

\"StoneVeneerWksp14-ErinFletcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the first weekend in April, Third Year Studio hosted a workshop\u00a0organized by the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers. Third Year Studio is located in Boston and is run by Colin Urbina, who just so happens to be my friend and studio mate (Herringbone Bindery is run out of Third Year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[68,8],"tags":[776,173,1863,1991,1990,1011,1705],"class_list":["post-10480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookbinding","category-my-hand","tag-coleen-curry","tag-erin-fletcher","tag-my-hand","tag-staple-binding","tag-stone-veneer","tag-sun-evrard","tag-tomorrows-past"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2J2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10953,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/26\/my-trip-to-codex\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":0},"title":"My Trip to Codex","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"At the beginning of February, I flew\u00a0to San Francisco to attend the Codex Book Fair\u00a0for the first time.\u00a0The Codex Foundation was formed in 2005 by fine press printer, Peter Rutledge Koch and paper conservator, Susan Filter. Since 2007, the Codex Book Fair and Symposium has run biennially,\u00a0growing from 120 exhibitors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bookbinding"","block_context":{"text":"bookbinding","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/bookbinding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10865,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/31\/best-of-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":1},"title":"Best of 2016","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At the end of the year, I like to reflect on Herringbone Bindery's accomplishments and challenges.\u00a0To name a few successes that I'm particularly proud of include getting my work into two prominent private collections, creating work for 21st Editions and traveling overseas to study with two talented binders.\u00a0With all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "best of"","block_context":{"text":"best of","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/best-of\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bestof2016a-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bestof2016a-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bestof2016a-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6199,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/14\/bookbinder-of-the-month-coleen-curry-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"West of the Plains was a juried exhibition put on by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers\u00a0between 2008-09. Coleen Curry submitted two fine bindings to this exhibition, Desert Dreams\u00a0by Lawrence G. Van Velzer with illustrations by Peggy Gotthold\u00a0and Grand and Sublime Scenery\u00a0by W.W. Elliot.\u00a0 In 2008,\u00a0Desert\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/desertdreams-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/desertdreams-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/desertdreams-coleencurry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/desertdreams-coleencurry.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6161,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/07\/bookbinder-of-the-month-coleen-curry\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":3},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"W.W. Elliot's Grand and Sublime Scenery was bound by Coleen Curry in 2008 as a French-style fine binding, sewn on cords with lace-in boards. Covered in black Morocco goatskin with matching edge to edge doublures; cover has an embedded Colorado agate. The head edge is decorated with graphite and title\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/grandandsublimescenery-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/grandandsublimescenery-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/grandandsublimescenery-coleencurry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/grandandsublimescenery-coleencurry.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6285,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/28\/bookbinder-of-the-month-coleen-curry-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":4},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Every three years, the\u00a0Guild of Book Workers offers a national traveling exhibition based on a general theme. In June 2012, Horizon, the most recent GBW exhibition began it's journey across the nation starting at the University of Kentucky. The exhibition is currently on it's way to the University of Denver\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tamalpaiswalkingdetail-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tamalpaiswalkingdetail-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tamalpaiswalkingdetail-coleencurry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tamalpaiswalkingdetail-coleencurry.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6251,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/21\/bookbinder-of-the-month-coleen-curry-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":10480,"position":5},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2012, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers put on a juried set-book exhibition which was held in conjunction with the Standards of Excellence conference at the J. 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The set-book,\u00a0Fantasy and Nonsense, is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fantasynonsense2-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fantasynonsense2-coleencurry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fantasynonsense2-coleencurry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fantasynonsense2-coleencurry.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10480"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10507,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480\/revisions\/10507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}