New Design Binding by Robert Wu 2014

Design: I wanted to show the imagery of the cat lurking behind the fish bowl and preying on the dazzling Beta fish. The overlaying effect also signals its own demise when the cat was later drowned.


Technique: French fine binding technique bound in blue morocco. Handsewn silk headbands in blue, turquoise and green. Various coloured onlays with gilding in gold and tooling in colored foils. Endpapers and flyleaves are hand marbled by me as well. Housed in a leather bound solander case lined with velvet and covered with my own hand marbled paper in blue/gold stone pattern. Titling in gold on spine.
 
 

Letterpress Wedding Invitations

 
Just finished printing on my 100 year old antique treadle floor press for a customer's wedding letterpress invitations. They loved the letterpress printing I did for them. The customer did a great job in designing their invitations. The young couple has a keen eye for detail so they wanted me to do their wedding gifts too. The bride was captivated by my marbling art .... So after a few weeks, all 140 wedding gifts with sheets of my "Marbled Graphics" ™ in assorted designs were ready for them... I always find great pleasure when young people or the general public have an appreciation in traditional crafts, ie: printing by hand, bookbinding by hand and marbling by hand. Time honoured tradition will never go away. William Morris' tradition continues...

 
From my paper cabinet, marbled paper by Robert Wu for bookbinders, paper collectors, picture framers and day dreamers.....


Shakespeare's " A Mid-Summer Night's Dream " Designed & Bound by Robert Wu, 2012 Toronto

 
Shakespeare's "A Mid Summer Night's Dream"
 
Designed and Bound by Robert Wu, Toronto, 2012
 
Full French binding technique with chemise and slipcase. All edges gilt in rough and solid. Full leather doublure inside with Opal inlay and onlays. Handsewn silk headbands in blue, red and yellow.
 
All marbled papers are hand marbled by me specially for this binding on the box work, chemise and inside flyleaves.
 
Gilding and titling in gold, palladium and foil. Custom tools of fairies were made specially for this binding.
  
Design concept: The viewer peaks through the bushes into the nightly sky and sees fairies frolic around the ribbons. The ribbons form the shape of doubled hearts respresenting the human characters in the play. I hope to achieve this idea of constant play / struggles between reality and fantasy world.