VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” February 2010
Next Meeting:
Wednesday March 3, 2010, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Burlington High School (BHS) *** Change in venue!
Directions: BHS is approximately 1 mile past the west end of North Street. Turn left at light on Institute Road and right into the lot.
Print these instructions! Come in BHS’s main lobby and up short stairs. Continue “nearly straight” down hall to cafeteria on your right. Pass straight through cafeteria and up stairs into adjoining stairwell. Go to top of those stairs and turn right. Pass through double doors, up glassed in ramp to next building, Take left after lighted display case and come down hall to Rm 102 on your left. Call (802) 864-8595 if you get lost.
Program: Technology: Resources, Communication & Inspiration by Elissa Campbell
Do you suffer from withdrawal in between monthly B.A.G. meetings? Do you envy someone else’s bone folder and wish that you knew where to get your very own? Look no further…B.A.G. member Elissa Campbell will take you on a tour of the world wide book web. She’ll introduce you to online message boards, suppliers, selling venues, image galleries, blogs, tutorials, and probably some other things she’ll find just before she shows up for the workshop. Hate computers and don’t know what these things are? She’ll teach you that too. You may actually leave the workshop liking your computer!
You can bring paper and pen to take notes. Elissa will have handouts with all the sites listed and will also post the list on the blog so you can click on the links from there.
Elissa R. Campbell
Blue Roof Designs
Website: www.blueroofdesigns.com
Blog: www.blueroofdesigns.com/blog
BAG Exhibit at Creative Space Gallery in May:
The Entry Form will be sent out soon as a separate e-mail notice.
Breaking news: Our exhibit has gained the “State of Craft Showcase status”, which comes with Vermont Dept. of Tourism publicity, to celebrate the Vermont Crafts Council’s 20th Anniversary! The jurors must have liked our application that addressed the goals of building new partnerships that build new audiences, and connecting communities of craftspeople that revive historical traditions. Also, several members have offered to give demonstrations or workshops, an added value in our application. Our exhibit will be the first event on the Showcase calendar! A feather in our book binding!!
The Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes will host the Book Arts Guild of Vermont in an exhibit titled Celebration of Hand-made Books during the month of May.
Guild members will display their work, have an opening celebration, participate in Open Studio Weekend over Memorial Day weekend, and offer classes and guest speakers. In brief, creative endeavors relating to Book Arts: hand-made books, paper, calligraphy projects, etc. are welcome, whether hung on the wall or displayed on a table. Artists may submit up to 3 pieces.
If you would like to be on hand for demonstration/display book arts/welcome the public on a Sunday afternoon or during the Open Studio Weekend Memorial Day weekend (Sat. and/or Sunday or part of either day), contact Eloise with your specific interest and contact information at arslonga@myfairpoint.net.
Reflections on February’s Meeting: Nancy Stone’s Personal Journey as a Book Artist
- Submitted by Elissa Campbell
People who attended the February meeting were in for a treat when they got to learn more about B.A.G. co-founder Nancy Stone. She started off with presenting a slide show of her work in watercolors and the book arts. It seems as though for Nancy, these two art forms are in a constant dance, each influencing her work with the other. Her eyes lit up each time she mentioned her “whimsies” – sparks of inspiration that prompt her creative work. Nancy brought samples of her work to the meeting so that we also would be able to experience them directly.
In addition, Nancy shared slides of her work as a teacher of the Introduction to Book Arts class at the Community College of Vermont- she clearly has a love for teaching and has great respect for the creative process. It was fascinating to see her students’ work and to hear Nancy describe how the students and their work evolved. Through watching the slides, it became clear that her great passion for sharing knowledge is what prompted the creation of the Book Arts Guild.
Nancy fielded questions from attendees throughout her presentation, which made for lively discussion. We are truly fortunate to have Nancy as one of the B.A.G. Ladies!
Thanks Nancy!
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
Planning Ahead: Edible Books at April’s Meeting
For our April 7th meeting, we invite you to combine your creative and culinary talents and bring a piece of edible art related to books. It can pun a title (The Brothers Karamatzoh, Grape Expectations); refer to a quote, scene, character or author (To brie or not to brie, Curd Vonnegut); look like a book or book form, or be a functional book made out of edible materials (Japanese sushi nori, Pop Tarts, etc.)
The inspiration for this meeting is the International Books Festival, an event held annually since 2000. On or near April 1st, bibliophiles, book artists and food lovers around the world gather to celebrate book arts by creating an ephemeral banquet that is consumed locally and shared globally on the Internet.
Of course, you are welcome to attend the meeting whether you bring edible book art to share or come to enjoy the creations, but here are some ideas to get your creative (and gastric) juices flowing:
- S’more and Peace
- Alice in Wonderbread
- The Bun Also Rises
- Tortilla Flats
- The Rosetta Scone
- A Confederacy of Blintzes
- Lord of the Pies
- Twelve Angry Gingerbread Men
For more inspiration, visit the International Edible Books Festival Website (www.books2eat.com) or check out the websites of the many organizations that participate (Google “edible books” for an extensive list). Flickr also has quite a few images of edible books.
If you would like to bring a creation to share, please e-mail Jill Abilock (jabilock@japanlink-trans.com) so we can get an idea of how many of us will be bringing creations to share.
Book Arts Opportunities:
*** Making Connections: Technology, Art & Bookmaking, a Summer Book Arts Course
Dates: June 27- July 2, 2010
Location: The John L. Norris Art Center, Lyndon Institute, Lyndon Center, Vermont
Instuctors: Linda Lembke and Ellen Dorn Levitt
Sponsors: Vermont Alliance for Arts Education and Saint Michael’s College Graduate Programs in Education
Course fee with a credit option: $1200 (includes materials fee, 2 community meals, and administrative fee for 3 graduate credits through Saint Michael’s College).
Audit option: $900 (includes materials fee, 2 community meals).
Housing (optional): $250 for 5 nights (single room) or $160 for 5 nights (shared double room) at the Colonnade Inn in Lyndonville, Vermont
The course will focus on book design and the use of technology to self-publish books in the classroom. We will look at many books and discuss their design elements. We will also review and share information about the book design and book printing features of Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, and other software. Each morning will begin with demonstrations and hands-on work in the computer labs, including exercises in page layout, typesetting, and book printing. Participants will choose to work in either Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign, depending on which program they will have access to in their own classroom settings.
The remainder of each day will be spent on book construction. We will make several structures that lend themselves to books designed and printed on standard-size papers with personal computer equipment. In addition, each student will carry out an independent project that centers on the design, illustration, printing, and binding of a book with text written or chosen by the bookmaker.
Enrollment will consist of 18 participants divided into 2 rotating groups of 12 students.
For registration form and further information Email: lindalembke@gmail.com
*** Polymer Clay Collaborative and Mixed Media Retreat
According to B.A.G. member Meta Strick, who attended the retreat last summer, this event is going to be “funner than fun!” Organized for the first time last year by four artists, the polymer clay collaborative and mixed media retreat is held on the campus of the university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. (It is just a few miles south of Hagerstown, Maryland.)
Participants at the week-long retreat can work/play with their own projects in the main hall, and watch various demos in the evening. They can also choose to attend one or many of the workshops offered each day. Payment for the workshops is separate from the retreat cost, so attendees don’t have to pay for a workshop they aren’t interested in.
Workshops will include things like paper marbling, mixed media, and several polymer clay and metal clay offerings. Meta will be teaching five workshops: calligraphy; cards, envelopes & boxes; surface decoration; art journals and sketch books; and women in art history.
Visit the retreat’s web site at www.pccmmretreat.com for more information, to see photos of last year’s retreat, and to register for all this impending fun.
*** Popular Kinetics by Carol Barton: Carol’s latest on-line newsletter has fascinating student electronic book pop-ups www.popularkinetics.com.
*** Book of Hours Exhibit in NYC: Meta Strick especially enjoyed Nancy Stone’s Song of Hours interpretation of the medieval Book of Hours. She shares the following:
The simplest were very small and meant to be kept in a pocket (in those days pockets were separate from the garment and tied on around the waist). Only the wealthy and well-educated people had them, partly because they were costly to make (before the advent of moveable type) and because very few people were literate.
Instead of clocks and watches, most people kept track of the time by the ringing of the church bells. There were Latin names for the different times when the bells were rung (Matins, Angelus, for example) and the priest, the monks, and all good religious people, when they heard the bells, were supposed to stop whatever they were doing and say a prayer. (There is a very nice painting by Millet of a couple in a field, in the middle of their work, who have stopped and bowed their heads in prayer…it is called “The Angelus”.) The literate and wealthy people, when the bells rang, would reach into their pockets and read the prayer for the hour from the book of hours.
Super-wealthy people had books of hours which were much bigger and much more extensive than the little pocket prayer books. These included beautiful, lavish illuminated pages of the seasons, depictions of various biblical stories, and any number of special things that the customer might request.
The most spectacular and one of the most well-known books of hours is the one which was created by the Limbourg Brothers for Jean de France, Duc de Berry. At the presesnt time the pages are in an unbound condition, which means that many of them can be viewed at the same time.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City will have many of these pages, along with other artifacts from that time period, on display from March 2 through June 13. The name of the exhibit is The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry. Anyone with an interest in book arts will find this exhibit to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
***Note: Please submit news for the “MailB.A.G.” at least one month ahead.
- Book Arts Guild of VT chat room: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookArtsGuildVT
- Book Arts Guild of VT blog: http://bookartsguildvt.wordpress.com
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