TECHNIQUE
Full calf leather with linen board attachments. Hand dyed and decorated with foil stencil and tool work and 23ct gold leaf. Inlaid silver squirrels to the front and back boards. Painted and printed doublures and black suede fly leaves. End-bands part leather and part sewn. Edges decorated with graphite and pigment.
DESIGN
This fabulous story is rich with imagery. I harvested as many elements as possible for the design.
Without giving too much of the plot away, I shall simplify the details: I chose the storm, flood, forest and the “bunker” as the backdrop of the composition. I incorporated ‘VW’s’ within the line-work, which is a nod to the family business.
The circles represent the characters; Dickie, Imelda, Cass and PJ and 12 people whom I believe had influence over them in some way. Dickie and Imelda’s fractured marriage; the distorted gold ring and the pearlescent mesh ring (representing the wedding veil).
The two smaller circles, the indentations of which were made with the bottoms of glass bottles; a water bottle for PJ (innocence) and a beer bottle for Cass (alcohol). They were then embellished with coloured foil. Copper and grey for PJ (copper hair/grey squirrel). Red and grey for Cass (should have been the grey squirrel but wanted to be red).
The pink circle on the back represents Rose and her teacup, with golden swirls as the tealeaves. The two silver squirrels are an additional salute to Cass and PJ. On the verso of the front board, there is an impression of a bee design which appears, ghost-like, on the suede fly leaf opposite – there, but not there. Detailing in the end-bands: within the head end-band; the LGBTQ+ flag colours. Within the tail end-band, I incorporated the Trinity College logo colours and the Irish flag.
