Bric-a-brac ABC, Clip Art, Garden Hands

Welcome to the nineteenth Love Thy Library post! This fortnight I’ve decided to do something a little different and share three books I’ve made over the years ^.^ I thought it would be a nice introduction to who I am, and offer a better glimpse into why I love books—leafing through them, using them, and collecting all sorts of ephemera for my art, design, and publishing practice.

All three books use found imagery, either collected and scanned physically or discovered online and edited. Additionally, A Bric-a-brac Collection and Fun Print include my own art—collage, painting, and drawings. The “what excites me” section for each book now includes both the creative journey and the finished details that light me up! I’ve also added a link to each title so you can peek at more spreads and learn about each book on my website.

I hope you enjoy this little window into my world of making books and working with found imagery. As always, chime in with thoughts, questions, and comments—I lovelovelove it! Until next time 🪄🌟

Title: A Bric-a-brac Collection
Author: Lucy Dellar
Year: 2018
Publisher: Ok Books
Loaned from: My shelf

The process of making this book, and the elements that excite me, include using construction paper throughout as a nod to working in art education (a common material in the primary classroom), the fact that “ABC” is in the title twice, the process of sourcing, collecting, and scanning every image in this book (nothing was found online), adding images and concepts that young people don’t know, to create points of conversation between young and older people, and the positive and negative space within and around a letter form.

Title: Fun Print
Author: Lucy Dellar
Year: 2024
Publisher: Ok Books
Loaned from: My shelf

The process of making this book, and the elements that excite me, include looking on the Internet Archive for hours on end and collecting images, creating mini collages with the found imagery, printing them on a receipt printer to add texture, combining words and images to create new meaning, and that it was the first book I had made in a while, as I was studying my Masters of Teaching :-).

Title: Hands Doing Things
Author: Ok Books
Year: 2017
Publisher: Ok Books
Loaned from: My shelf

The process of making this book, and the elements that excite me, include the cover image (tiny bud :’) I think it’s a carnation too, which I love), placing page numbers in various locations to balance the overall spread, playing with layout (!) I love finding good picture combos and experimenting with placement—I believe each spread is unique, the pop of coloured images sprinkled throughout and the crocus close up.

If you choose to share the content from this newsletter, by all means! But please give credit where credit is due :-).

See you in a fortnight!

Love Lucy from Ok Books