{"id":8343,"date":"2014-08-03T01:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-03T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=8343"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:03:50","slug":"bookbinder-of-the-month-mark-cockram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/03\/bookbinder-of-the-month-mark-cockram\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookbinder of the Month: Mark Cockram"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheLivesofGallantLadies-MarkCockram\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2009, Mark Cockram<\/a> bound a two volume set of The Lives of Gallant Ladies.\u00a0<\/em>Bound in full leather with hand dyed elements, layers of gold leaf and tooled shapes creating brilliant texture and depth. Just like many of Mark’s bindings, you can read about the progression of the design on his blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below on the left shows the leather freshly pared with the first layer of dye carefully brushed on depicting a portion of a woman’s face.\u00a0Later, after covering the binding more color is added to the skin.<\/p>\n

\"TheLivesOfGallantLadies_progress-MarkCockram\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After each square of gold leaf was carefully applied, the tooling was done in a free-style way offering for a more expressive\u00a0design. Finally the gold was lightly rubbed away using a fine wire wool brush revealing the layer of dyed imagery.<\/p>\n

\"TheLivesOfGallantLadies_progress3-MarkCockram\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The base layer of this binding is revealed through the series of in-progress photographs included on your blog. Much of the design of the base layer is hidden under the blocks of gold. Why do you lean towards heavy applications of gold on your bindings? How does the use of gold project your artistic concepts?<\/strong>
\nI enjoyed The Lives of Gallant Ladies<\/em>. It is always nice to work on multiple volumes, more area to express and create a narrative. The images are built up with dyes then layered over with gold and cold tooled. I feel that working this way allows for great freedom in the mark making process. The gold is then re-worked to create layers that draw us into the binding.<\/p>\n

Though the gold may look heavy in the images online, the reality is that they are very light. When viewed at certain angles the images become more or less defined, rather like looking through a silk drape. Gold like other metals we use in bookbinding is traditionally used with hot tools, glaire and so on. I wanted something that was less stiff and moved. Using gold in this way enabled me to create a soft, final layer to the finished work. I tend to look outside of bookbinding to see what other artists do with similar materials, adopting and adapting to suit my requirements.<\/p>\n

\"TheLivesofGallantLadies2-MarkCockram\"<\/a> \"TheLivesofGallantLadies3-MarkCockram\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2009, Mark Cockram bound a two volume set of The Lives of Gallant Ladies.\u00a0Bound in full leather with hand dyed elements, layers of gold leaf and tooled shapes creating brilliant texture and depth. Just like many of Mark’s bindings, you can read about the progression of the design on his blog here. Below on […]<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,68,13],"tags":[1867,1148,1364,1534],"class_list":["post-8343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-book-of-the-week","tag-bookbinding","tag-leather-binding","tag-mark-cockram","tag-the-lives-of-gallant-ladies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2az","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8415,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/24\/bookbinder-of-the-month-mark-cockram-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":0},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Mark Cockram","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"August 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Die Nibelungen\u00a0arrived in Mark Cockram's studio bound together with staples. After removing the pesky binding material, Mark transformed this book into an intriguing sculptural object. What\u2019s the inspiration behind this sculpted binding? The additional panel almost appears to swing between each cover, although I believe it is attached to the\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\/2014\/08\/DieNibelungen3-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DieNibelungen3-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DieNibelungen3-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DieNibelungen3-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8402,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/17\/bookbinder-of-the-month-mark-cockram-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":1},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Mark Cockram","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"August 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Brush Up Your Shakespeare is a limited edition accordion from the Piccolo Press in New York. The text is a combination of music and words to the song Brush Up Your Shakespeare from the musical Kiss Me Kate (which is inspired by The Taming of the Shrew) and includes charming\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\/2014\/08\/BrushUpYourShakespeare5-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/BrushUpYourShakespeare5-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/BrushUpYourShakespeare5-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/BrushUpYourShakespeare5-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8373,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/10\/bookbinder-of-the-month-mark-cockram-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Mark Cockram","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"August 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bound in 2010, this is just one binding of Lysistrata that Mark Cockram has bound. Grabbing illustrations from the text for both the cover design, doublures and endpapers; Mark transforms them into a visual experience rarely seen on a book. The cover mimics that of a fresco painting. The book\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\/2014\/08\/Lysistrata6-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Lysistrata6-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Lysistrata6-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Lysistrata6-MarkCockram.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7566,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/02\/bookbinder-of-the-month-haein-song\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":3},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Haein Song","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The design on this full leather binding from Haein Song really transforms the material to mimic a textured painted canvas. Haein bound this copy of Whistler by\u00a0Haldane Macfall in 2009. Sprinkled on top of the hand colored natural goatskin are flecks of gold leaf. The title is also tooled in\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\/2014\/02\/Whistler2-HaeinSong.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Whistler2-HaeinSong.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Whistler2-HaeinSong.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Whistler2-HaeinSong.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7519,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/01\/february-bookbinder-of-the-month-haein-song\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":4},"title":"February \/\/ Bookbinder of the Month: Haein Song","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This beautiful binding of The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus was crafted in 2013 by Haein Song. Bound as a Bradel binding, the spine is covered in a natural goatskin with dark blue vellum covers. The sprinkled dashes on the covers are hand tooled in gold.\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\/2014\/02\/HaeinSong.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/HaeinSong.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/HaeinSong.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/HaeinSong.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9000,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/31\/best-of-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":8343,"position":5},"title":"Best of 2014","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As the year 2014 comes to a close,\u00a0I want to send out another thank you to the nine bookbinders and book artists who took time away from their busy schedules to participate in my interviews. Another thank you goes to those who read and subscribe to my blog and I\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\/2014\/12\/bestof2014d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bestof2014d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bestof2014d.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bestof2014d.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8343","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=8343"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8361,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8343\/revisions\/8361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}