A Family member commissioned me for this piece. Generally do don't use bibles, but as it was requested this is what I did. I got to thinking about the paintings in churches that were for the masses. There is passage called Isaiah , 29:12 "Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, "Read this ,Please "And he will say, "I cannot read"

This is a Large Larousse Dictionary Book Carving which stands at 30 CMS tall.  The book had some considerable damage to it, the book had been well used and had wear and tear to most of the pages. The cover was black.  I saw a hint of green and gave it a gentle clean to see that the front cover was actually green.  The cover has been left so it has a partially ethereal look to it.  The spine is leather and the covers are fabric.  All illustrations within the carving are from the book and are all the illustrations that catch my eye as an artist. The book has an Art Nouveau cover but the illustrations are done in a Art Deco block style.

In the foreground of the carving we can see a young woman captured by the hanging vines and in the background we can see a large male demon coming to get her from the trap.
I called it you've created a monster because throughout history women have been often blamed for the affect they have on males and its their fault they turned the man into some kind of monster that traps women and prevents them from how they wish to live their lives. But this only came to me as I was carving the piece for me the illustrations just worked and it also can represent the good old fashioned horror movies of the damsel in distress and she need to be rescued. What does it make you think?
The book is also embossed with a bat on the front.

1980's Small Larousse Dictionary Book Carving

This is a repurposed brick sized French dictionary by Larousse. This is a 1980's copy and has a mixture of illustrations and photos with illustrations used in the book carving. All illustrations are from the book, I have gone old school cutting style with this little book, sometimes it’s just nice to be able to feel the carving with your fingers instead of it being behind Perspex.

Alice In Wonderland / Through The Looking Glass/ Kintsugi Edition Book Carving
This book carving is a combination of two books one is from the late 1800's and the other is a more modern copy of Alice Through The Looking Glass
The book had quite a lot of damage and it got me thinking about the Japanese art of pottery repair of Kintsugi, mending items with gold, so all the damage on this book has gold gilding paint in the damaged areas.
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PYE'S Surgical Handbook. A.K.A Handbook for the Happy
Psychopath

 We are grossed out by the human body and it takes a certain kind
of person to be a surgeon, possibly a happy psychopath if you will. We need
these happy psychopaths to help us all lead a health life and sort the problems
we cannot face.  This is PYE’s Surgical
Handbook from the 1950’s, it’s a guide book for practicing Doctors and Nurses
on procedures and how to preform them.    I have
always found medical illustrations and photo from this era in time quite skin
crawling and within this carving are just a few of the many that were in this
book.

Will be going in to exhibition at Norman Rea Gallery's "Adrenaline Junkie: Exploring Horror through Art Feb 2025

This is a Victorian photo album that I found in a gothic shop. This book had quite a bit of damage to it and pages missing/ damage to the inside. I also had a little ceramic dolls head that was found by a metal detectorist and have been wanting to use if for a project for some time. The little doll fitted perfectly with in the space in the centre which gives it that perfect spooky Victorian vibe. The book is a sealed piece and cannot be opened. The centre piece has been created with gold leaf and gold gilding paint. Great little spooky gothic piece.

Size w.12.5cm x L.15cm x D.2 cm

This is the second Magner's Horse and Stock altered book I have created. The first was approx. 5 yrs ago. This book dates from 1901 and is full of information for farmers and horse breeders on training and ailments that can affect animals and is full of illustrations. The book is a double sided carve

This is the second Magner's Horse and Stock altered book I have created. The first was approx. 5 yrs ago. This book dates from 1901 and is full of information for farmers and horse breeders on training and ailments that can affect animals and is full of illustrations. The book is a double sided carve.

Monster's Plant Form and Design. Book Carving Wall Hanging Art Work

Have you ever wondered about monster's form and design, Well here is a handy little book full of monsters, you cannot read about them as we have had to nail and lock the book shut, but you can observe them through the convenient window at the front of the book, and please take note of the keep out sign placed at the front.

Complete 1st edition copy of The Romance of The Shoe. The book cover has been damaged by the sun but apart from a little foxing to the old pages the book is sound. I recreated a Victorian Boot advertising in Indian Ink and original boot buttons attached to the front of the book.

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This book is a combination of two very different book. The main body of the book is a religious guidance book called The Quiver and juxtaposed are the illustrations from the graphic novel The Crow.

This book was a commission.

This carving has been created from a damage 4kg French Dictionary and illustrations from modern copies of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The illustrations have been arranged as they have been added and carved round in the book and then water coloured. Every thing has been sealed in and finished off with Perspex.

This book was created with various different elements from different books. The book itself was a damaged lexicon, which I found at a car boot sale. The book was warped and sun damaged. The mushrooms came from a French dictionary and the Alice illustration came from a new Alice in Wonderland book. The book still has the bend in it and all items have been combined to create a new work. Its all finished off with reclaimed glass at the front.

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Every Pictures Says a Thousand Words. Super Large Dictionary Double Carved Book Art.

To date this is the largest book carving I have done. Measuring 32cm tall and weighing a whopping 4.2 kg

This book carving has been created from large unloved French Dictionary. The leather was falling off and so the previous owner told me that they would be binned if he didn't sell them. The leather was treated and conditioned then the book was carved both sides with illustrations from a mixture of illustrations left over from previous book carvings I have created. Reclaimed glass has been added to both side to protect it from dust

Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes, Altered Book- Fore Edge Painted Book. Book Lover - Hunger Games
This is a 1st Edition 2nd print run copy of The ballads of songbirds and snakes by Suzanne Collins and has had its fore edge painted with a yellow and green snake in water colours. The painting is sealed in so wont mark your hands when reading.

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The Facebook
This book carving has been created from an old encyclopaedia and using the little portraits of many historical figures and is now known as The Facebook.

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Ribs! The things that keep your innards in.
It's our internal cage, it's the thing that keeps our innards in. I always find old medical books fascinating and sometime outrageous because of the out of date information and terms, but we are all one way or another fascinated in the workings of the human body.

2024 In exhibition, B/OLD, 4th Space, Concordia University,
Montreal, Canada

The Gothic Arch
Using a old discarded Larousse dictionary I have created a gothic style arch window. The carving uses illustrations from Eric Fraser to create a myth and magical view through the window. The windows open out so you can see the book with them shut or open.

This little book carving has been made from two different Art Nouveau books. The book The Two Dorothy's is a book of fiction with no illustrations and the Art Nouveau illustrations came from a 1910's book on how to draw Art Nouveau Illustrations. This book was packed full of illustrations but was all but destroyed with mass damage to pages and rot in the spine that could not be repaired. So taking the illustrations from this one and using the other book.

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Found this old Art Nouveau Postcard Album squashed and out of shape in a antique shop. I restored the shape of the book to make it stand again and created a diorama/book carving style book at the back of the book and keeping the wonderful illustration on the front cover. The book has a Perspex front to keep the dust out and leather straps to keep the book secure.

This is a small Larousse Dictionary which has been carved into a free standing sculpture. comes with Perspex at the front to keep the dust out. This is a bespoke piece, never to be made this way again.

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I found a old key case/ clock combined, the clock originally being on the front. The Alice carving replaces the clock, the clock then placed to the inside (non working) along side another carving hidden by a door recreating the small door and hallway within the book. The door is held ajar by a miniature tea cup.

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I found a old key case/ clock combined, the clock originally being on the front. The Alice carving replaces the clock, the clock then placed to the inside (non working) along side another carving hidden by a door recreating the small door and hallway within the book. The door is held ajar by a miniature tea cup.

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Small Larousse dictonary. This was a commissioned piece after the client saw the large Larousse Dictionary online.

This is a small Larousse dictionary that has been carved from the back to keep the illustration work on the front of the book.

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Using the mushroom plates left over from a previous book carving project and using a book that only had text a small grassy verge has been created with mushrooms on both sides and a view through the top. Glass added to each side.

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Little Shop of Horrors 40th anniversary tribue book. I was asked to produce a piece for this exhibition for the 40th anniversary of the 1980's musical. In exhibition at the SugarMynt Gallery, South Pasadena CA, 2022

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A side Large Larousse book carved on both sides of the book to create a 3D diorama using the illustrations from inside the book to create an art piece.

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A side Large Larousse book carved on both sides of the book to create a 3D diorama using the illustrations from inside the book to create an art piece.

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This was an old album that had been used for military pictures back in 1915 and then subsequently used as a scrap book for art clippings from news papers. The year, details of what the book had originally been used for were written inside. The book was falling apart when it was found at a car boot sale. The book was stripped, spine mended and then turned into this Alice in Wonderland diorama.

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Large boys 1920's Chums Book Sculpture.

2022 Notts Book Arts Exhibition, Nottingham, UK

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1905 copy of Magners Horse and Stock Book, Commission Piece.

1905 copy of Magners Horse and Stock Book, Commission Piece.

This is the 3rd time I have used Readers Digest book called Folklore, Myth and Legends of Great Britain.

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Out of date home medic book with original postal packing. This was my 3-4th book carving and my most viewed pin on Pinterest.

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1930's children's fairy tale book, re imagining of the stories within the book. The book has been extended by using the front cover to the back. This is also one of my very early book carvings

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When I first started experimenting with book carvings, this was one of my first attempts at an open book.

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A few years ago I was commissioned to create three carvings using donor books and illustrations all taken from Larousse Dictionaries.

A few years ago I was commissioned to create three carvings using donor books and illustrations all taken from Larousse Dictionaries.

This copy of the Readers Digest Folklore Myth and Legends of Great Britain was my second ever book carving while I was a mature student at Dunstable collage. During the summer break I entered it into the Discerning Eye Exhibition in London where it sold before the exhibition began and my first ever sale.

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As I have been going through my practice I have been looking more at saving books at this point. This book was one of the dirtiest and smelliest books that I ever found. With this book it taught me that anything can be saved when you take time to learn.

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This book was packed full of illustrations, coloured and black and white, so I doubled carved this book to show colour on one side and black and white on the other. This is the second side.

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This was a copy of a book called the Quiver that was a bible story type of book. I wasn't too keen with the illustrations but loved the amount of illuminated letters inside, so that is what I used.

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When I went back to collage I had a project brief called remake and the basis of the project was to take an item and remake it to something else but still looking as it did. After some research when I knew I wanted to use books I got inspired to try to carve, I had never carved anything before. This first one took me over 30 hours to complete. If you have read this far down the page, thank your for taking the time to do so. I haven't shared every book carving I have done but shown the vast majority. Commissions are open if you want a unique piece of art