Aureus Silva Tome
February 2021
A small solo journal I bound in early 2021. I almost kept this one, which surprised me. After years of making journal after journal, it has gotten easier to let them go.
The Aureus Silva Tome is named in Latin and translates to “Golden Forest” after the use of 23 Karat gold and gold toned silk used in the embroidery. Snakes are symbols of rebirth, transformation, and healing and I tried to convey these themes throughout. After this piece I often found myself drawn back to snakes time and time again.
The binding was very small, and the pages were deliberately 'deckled’ to give a rustic feel. The book was bound on hemp chords in a medieval style and the covers were beveled and sanded to taper the edges and appear thinner. This gave the book a more cushion looking appearance which I liked very much. This was also one of my first uses of a leather treatment while tooling, which resulted in very dark blind tooling which complimented the gold toned leather beautifully.