The John Willis Annual Memorial  Competition 2024

John Willis was a life member of the VBG, and our last meeting of each year is when set a challenge to our members. The topic is selected, and members make their entries around that theme.  The works are judged  according to a liberal mix of creative design, techniques, both traditional, and creative, and difficulty of implementation.

This years topic was accidental, on suggesting  clam boxes,  a typo made it Glam boxes. So make a box, or a few, using techniques  and materials of bookbinding and book making, with an element of zing or glamour.

Entries 

Debra Parry.

3 different boxes , all  traditional clamshell designs, with various different decorations .

Used for storage of various book projects.

Lyn Randolf   A box designed to protect a rare book bound in python skin. The traditional clam shell , cloth covered  and lined with marbled paper. The cover glam is the gold, hand embossed using the  hot pen technique shown in a previous meeting,  showing the scales of the python across the corner.

A clear reference to the contents, high level of technique in the pen work.

Gail Stiffe

This year's challenge resulted from a typo in one of the newsletters where a clam shell box became a glam shell box!

This was my interpretation. A shell box containing a set of coasters decorated with drypoint prints of shells.

Liz Forbes.

A book house  for storing 3 books. A creative design, with the spine of a book on houses  showing through the rear window, and the front of three books  viewed from the open side. An unusual storage  method . A 'house' box for 3 books about houses.  

Made from book board, book cloth and coloured papers.  The 'metal' decoration on the roof is old lace stiffened with glue and gold paint.