This is Marvels Ghost Rider
This is also a saved and upcycled vintage motorbike jacket.
The jacket was in a poor state when I bought it and its obvious to see the previous owner has loved it and worn it for years. The Jacket is two tone in colour as its been made from different patches of leather, the vast majority of the jacket is dark blue but has been darkened to black which has worn over time, this makes for a interesting night time sky to appear behind the design. A hand painted design of Ghost Rider has been painted on the back of the jacket with Angelus Paints.

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.

The Carving is a free standing carving for shelves, mantels, table tops etc..

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.

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 guilt paint in the damaged areas.
SOLD

As part of my on going work of using damaged and obsolete items in my art practice, I had a couple of damaged vintage photograph albums, this is the first that I turned into a diorama. This is a two way diorama using left over illustrations from a dictionary and alcohol ink . Set with a night time theme, you have the moon on one side of the diorama and a clear sky on the other. This is a lovely little shelf filler, free standing or with your books.

Size w.13cm x L.10cm x D.2cm

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.

The book is sealed and has a Perspex front to keep it dust free.

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

As part of my on going work of using damaged and obsolete items in my art practice, I had a couple of damaged vintage photograph albums, this is the second one. 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

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.

This little purse was found in a charity shop. It has some wear and tear as you would expect. The press studs have been replaced and the leather has been fed and cleaned. Hand painted skull with leather paints and re glossed.

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.

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.

COMMISSION

Commission art work of Harley Quinn from Batman and Suicide Squad on a leather motor bike jacket. Commissions open, please contact me via Commissions and Contact us for more details.

Commission leather painting for Harley Quinn on the back of a Motorbike jacket.

Commissions are open on these jackets, please contact me via commissions and contact us

Created as the first carving of 2024 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.

SOLD

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.

SOLD

The Story So Far......

1887 copy of The Quiver found in a antique shop with a damage front cover and damaged leather on the spine. I find the textures that develop from wear and tear interesting and adds to the outcome of a piece. I also like to possibly save the books ending up in the bin. With this book I was interested in the vast amount of illuminated letters in this book and decided to use those letters to create this carving.

THIS ITEM HAS NOW SOLD

This is a hardback 1st edition 2nd print run of Philip Pullmans' Book Called The Book Of Dust, Volume 1, La Belle Sauvage .
The book has a version of the front cover painted on the fore edge. The fore edge has been painted with the concept of not having the dust cover on the book, so the scene looks like there are stars above them in the boat. The book cover will be sent with the book incase you wish to use it.

Watercolour, fine liners, copper leaf and copic pens have been used to create this little work of art. The watercolour painting has been sealed and will not come off on your hands and the book is still readable. One edge has copper leaf wording of The Book and the opposite end has copper leafed words of Dust.

W. 16 cm x L. 23 x D. 5 cms

The Facebook
This book carving has been created from an old encylopedia and using the little portraits of many historical figures and is now known as The Facebook. This book has a perspex front to keep the dust out.

THIS BOOK HAS NOW SOLD

Ribs! (Closed cover) 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 at the out of date information and terms, but we are all one way or another fascinated in the workings of the human body. In exhibition at Concordia University, Canada 2024
For Sale is Ribs!, a 3D Book carving with opening cover that has been carved into the shape of ribs and when opened reveals old medical imagery and out dated medical terms.

Ribs! (Closed cover) 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 at the out of date information and terms, but we are all one way or another fascinated in the workings of the human body. In exhibition at Concordia University, Canada 2024
For Sale is Ribs, a 3D Book carving with opening cover that has been carved into the shape of ribs and when opened reveals old medical imagery and out dated medical terms.

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. Behind the window is perspex to keep the dust out of the carving. This is large thick heavy book and will make a great piece on a shelf or mantel piece.

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. Behind the window is perspex to keep the dust out of the carving. This is large thick heavy book and will make a great piece on a shelf or mantel piece.

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 I have created this one off 3D book carving.
All the books shown in my Esty store have been created using damaged book and reclaimed glass or Perspex.

THIS BOOK HAS NOW SOLD

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.

An Old Fashioned Girl Book Carving
Using a old warped book and illustrations from a Victorian shoe catalogue and turning it into this book carving. The book has a perspex front to prevent any dust getting in.

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

THIS BOOK HAS NOW SOLD

Its All In The Name
It has always made me wonder about where some of the names of conditions or ailments came from and some of the really old ones are wonderful but no longer used. This is a old broken medical book with the word and most of the illustrations used to create this 3D Book Carving wall art.