Take the road up the hill out of Broughshane, along the coggaly lane to the old farm house now converted into a cosy home and the address of Willow Leaves Handmade Books. The trees all round are hanging on to to their autumnal leaves, the views of Slemish Mountain are stunning and there’s a welcome on the doorstep. Rosanne Cecil has baked scones and biscuits but they have to wait because we’re off to one of the stone outhouses, no longer sheltering hens but rather Rosanne’s beautiful handmade books.
It’s not often you get to met a bookbinder of this professionalism and imagination and to appreciate the elegant results of the skilled work that goes into fashioning these books. We’re surrounded by work benches, tools of the trade, the nipping press, a sewing fame where she stitches hand folded papers, binding together four pages at a time using a special needle and thread. There’s an old fashioned iron, heavy enough to press both the papers and the cover because you don’t want cockling! Stitching the spine comes in a variety of procedures and she likes to use the work of her artist sister for unique ‘endpapers’ – the pages fixed immediately inside the front and back covers – and some books will enjoy being marbled by stirring inks and pigments in water giving a swirling finish to the decoration. She confides that this can be achieved using carrageen moss but there is little detail, why give away secret techniques after all.
Ancient And Modern
Rosanne uses a mixture of traditional methods with modern developments when building a book and buying the paper is a skill in itself, some from as far away as Japan. The pages are empty when Rosanne has finish, just waiting for the new owner to record their special thoughts, Her volumes are in demand as wedding presents, for photographs, guest books, birthday and at the moment Christmas gifts but more often acquired specifically for personal poems, sketches and writings, always a special journal.
“I’ve just competed a set of 20 books for an event at Queen’s University, each one is different and unique to the new owner. Although I get commissions, I also sell in craft shops and I like to welcome people here to my house by appointment to see what’s on offer and have a chat about what they want.”
Now a member of the Society of Bookbinders and of County Antrim Open Studios, when she was a little girl Rosanne loved reading books but she was also fascinated how they were made from the cover, the stitching to the illustrations. She began making her own little books and when she started school her mother, who taught art, explained to the teacher that the child would be quite happy sitting in the corner reading and examining binding the pages together, already she was looking at methods as much as story. So, with this background, art and paper soon became much more than a hobby ,
Learning Her Craft
A course in bookbinding at West Dean College of Arts, Design, Craft & Conservation in Chichester was followed by perfecting other techniques and skills at bookbinding studios in Scotland. She admits she is still learning every day and certainly you can see how the countryside around her influences her exclusive designs. Although there are many other interests in Rosanne’s life her craft work is priority at the moment as her books are in such demand,
Happy Coincidence
This charming bookbinder grew up in London but came to Northern Ireland as a research fellow in social administration at Magee University. It was there she met and married a man also from London and she and Julian set up home at the Giants Causeway. “But it was important to find somewhere between the north west campus and the university at Jordanstown where I often worked and so we arrived at the townland of Correen 28 miles from each venue and a perfect spot for artistic inspiration.”
She and Julian love the countryside to the extent that they have planted thousands of trees both in their own grounds around the house, two for every book she makes, but also in Newtowncrommelin in the Glens of Antrim area where they have planted 10,600 native trees, including elder, birch, hazel and Scots pine especially brought in from Scotland.
“It’s all about being aware of the environment,” she explained, adding, “and giving back for all the paper I use!”
And so it was back to the warm kitchen and tea and scones.
Telephone number for appointments 07840 245764 and https://folksy.com/shops/willowleaves for more details
So, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I couldn’t believe the results of the American election as they came in overnight last week. I always had a sneaking feeling Trump would triumph but never in a month of Sundays would I have guessed by how much. The amazing thing is that so many Americans are lamenting the result yet their voices were drowned out on the day. Being an eternal optimist I wonder if he has learned his lesson over the last while and will calm down and forget point scoring and turn to positive and fair government. Time will tell. I don’t care for his running mate who could be an even harder ticket. They both must be worried about assignation, certainly it seems there are people out to get them. What an awful world just now, so much hatred bubbling beneath the surface and eruptions of evil. Just look at the violence in Amsterdam last week when Isreal team Maccabi played football against Ajax. There were tensions on both sides and the riots following the match were vicious and anti-semitic. Then there were the fearful floods in Spain and the television reports and pictures from Valencia were hard to believe, cars on top of cars, the thought of families trapped in underground car parks, homes and people washed away.
Then you come across a little lady of 90 who is the life and soul of the party, out gardening on a good day and celebrating life with her family. Then you get a phone call from a dear friend you thought you’d never talk to again because you just couldn’t find her, it was such a thrill to hear her voice and know she was well. And a meeting with another over a cup of tea early in the morning before she flies back to London after 24 hours in Belfast. These little things bright your life. But then a close family friend is being buried tomorrow and although he had been terribly ill and is now out of pain, the loss is so sad for friends but so shattering for family. And that empty place at the table won’t go away and will be difficult to come to terms with for a very long time. I feel for grandchildren at a time like this, the confusion and questions in their little minds.
So another day, another dollar as the song says. The years pass so quickly, the Remembrance programme last night on BBC seems to come round more quickly and get more fancy. Some of the singing was to my ear very poor, coloured lights flashing and becoming a distraction but having said that the essence of memorial is as strong as ever. I stand for the silence because I remember by father who came home from war and an uncle who died as a result of the war, and sadly, as the years have passed there are more and more war dead and injured to think about because conflict is on the rise. Two minutes twice a year to remember them doesn’t seem a lot although there are those who condemn the gesture and those who don’t even notice.
Who knows, maybe Trump will fulfil his promise and have some influence where it is needed most and conflict will end. As I say, I’m ever the optimist!