VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” May 2013
Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The May meeting will be held at UVM’s Special Collections in the basement of Bailey Howe Library. Click here to download a pdf of the directions to Special Collections.
Please note that in May we will not be meeting as usual on the second Wednesday at the Unitarian Church in Burlington.
Program: Visit to UVM Special Collections
Librarian Prudence Doherty will guide us through some of the amazing artists’ books held in the Special Collections Department at UVM. Not everyone knows that we have one of the finest collections of artists’ books in the nation, right here in Burlington. Join us in a hands-on exploration that will stimulate your imagination and spark your creativity!
* Please bring a pencil, not a pen, if you plan to take notes.
Reflections on April’s Meeting
April’s B.A.G. meeting was full of rich chocolate treats and rich inspiration for committing to making art. April is edible book celebration time and we had delicious treats including Lord of the Ring Dings and the Invisible Man.
As good as the food was, Marcia Vogler‘s sharing of her postcard a day initiative was the real inspiration of the evening. Marcia has been making collaged postcards with messages and sending one a day to friends while they’re going through challenging times.
Her postcards were exquisite and the whole undertaking beautiful on so many different levels. Marcia shared her process and we all had time to create postcards of our own. It was a very enjoyable evening and one that will resonate within our hearts and our stomachs too.
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
 *** B.A.G.’s 2013 spring exhibit, There’s No Place Like Home, will be hosted by Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT. The show will take place at the same time as an exhibit on children’s literature in the Main Floor Gallery.
Members are encouraged to submit work for this exciting show. This is a great opportunity to get your work out there, whether you are a first time exhibitor or a seasoned artist. The theme is very accessible, and brings up many references that are unique to each person. Beyond the reference to the Wizard of Oz, the idea of ‘home’ can suggest family, rooms, objects, memories, and dreams, just to mention a few. Start now with some brainstorming and word association techniques presented by Stephanie Wolff at the September meeting, and generate content for your book.You can download the entry form here. If you would like to bring your work to the May 8th meeting instead of mailing it, please email the entry form and your accompanying artist statement to Marcia to indicate that you will be bringing it then. The exhibit will be in SPA’s Third Floor Gallery from June 4 – July 6, 2013. The opening will be on Thursday June 6, 2013 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (please note that this is a date change). |
*** On May 25 & 26 (Memorial Day Weekend), the statewide Open Studio Weekend is offering a wonderful selection of book artsy studios for you to visit.
If you’re up for a tour, you can find your comrades in the following locations:
- Meta Strick: Fairfield, studio #7
- Nancy Stone: Williston, studio #36
- Jill Abilock: Shelburne, studio #38
- Lyna Lou Nordstrom: Shelburne, studio #39
- Marianna Holzer: Hinesburg, studio #42
- Carolyn Shattuck: Rutland, studio #96
- Elissa Campbell: Montpelier, studio #199
- Ken Leslie: Hardwick, studio #218
Elissa created a Google Map with all of the locations to help you with your tour. You can find maps and directions to studios on the VT Crafts Council website. You can also download a pdf of the 2013 Spring Vermont Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file.
*** B.A.G. member Nancy Stone will exhibit her handmade books in the exhibit Drawn to Music. Nancy’s work will include Line Notes, a window installation of seven translucent accordion books traced from her sketches of performing musicians; Vibrations, a suite of six triptych-books of watercolor paintings developed from Line Notes; and Ecclesiastes III, a suite of diverse pop-up, white-on-white books based on “A time for war; a time for peace”, etc.
The show runs from June 4, 2013 – August 29, 2013 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, VT. The opening is on Friday June 7, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with an artists’ talk at 6:30 p.m. Summer hours are Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 pm. Jazz, folk and classical musical events will correlate with the exhibit.
*** B.A.G. Chair Elizabeth Rideout will be teaching Bookbinding Intensive: Simplified Binding With Leather Relief Cover on June 22 & 23, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at The Bindery Place, Shelburne Pond Studios in Shelburne.
Discover the joy of working with leather as you create a relief pattern in leather for the front cover of this book! Using professional sewing, cutting and pasting techniques, you will create a text block and encase it an elegant binding. In addition to showcasing your leather relief cover, this binding style offers the opportunity to create well-crafted books with a variety of cover possibilities.
For more information please contact Jill Abilock via Email at SixLoonsStudio@gmail.com or call (802) 238-0883. There are only 10 places in the workshop and it is filling up fast, so download the registration form and send it in soon!
*** B.A.G. member Elissa Campbell is teaching Leather Pocket Journals – The Sequel, at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT on June 4 & 11, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Some say that a sequel is never as good as the original – but not in this case!
In Leather Pocket Journals Part II, you’ll learn 5 bindings that use only leather, paper, and thread – no glue needed! For each binding, you’ll sew 3 sections of folded pages into covers cut from one piece of leather. These bindings are very flexible and allow the books to open completely flat, making them perfect for use as sketchbooks or journals.
Each sewing technique creates a different decorative sewing pattern on the spine and we’ll try out different closure methods. No previous experience required – this is a great class for a beginner. You can even bring in your own leather to customize your book.
To register, contact SPA via phone (802) 479-7069 or Email.
Book Arts News
*** ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Literary Festival, are looking for submissions for their upcoming exhibit, Unbound Vol III: Art Using the Book as a Material/Format. The show will be juried by book artist Erin Sweeney, owner of Lovely In The Home Press in Peterborough, NH
The broad theme of UNBOUND: VOL III encompasses all of the possibilities of what we may think or may not think a “book” is. Is it story? An entry to another world? An exploration? What does it indicate? This juried show looks to explore these ideas of “the book” and all the ways artists use its format as a stepping off point or as a material to explore new ideas.
This call for submission is open to all New England and New York residents of the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older. All artwork must be original in concept, design and execution. Submissions must be postmarked by mail or Emailed by June 15, 2013. For more information, please visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.
*** On May 9, 2013 at 6:00 p.m., The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers will be sponsoring a talk by Amy Lapidow and Stacie Dolin on their experience publishing their new book, the Book Arts Studio Handbook.
The longtime North Bennet Street School bookbinding workshop instructors have put together projects; techniques; and tools from information gleaned from their teaching experiences.
The talk will take place in the Radcliffe Room of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.
Book Arts Classes
*** Bill Hanscom will be offering a Books in Motion workshop on May 18, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston.
Create books that burst open, tumble, spin, sway and dance! During this workshop we will explore the possibilities of movable parts within books. These elegant mechanical devices can stand on their own, in combination, or be used to enhance a variety of other book structures. We will explore the Flag Book, Blossom Book, Woven Flexagon, Exploding Map Fold Book, Jacob’s Ladder, Volvelles, and basic Pop-up construction.
Required tools: bone folder, utility knife, 12″ steel ruler, 12 x 18″ self-healing cutting mat, small brush for glue and pencil.
For more information or to register, please send an Email to gslisce@simmons.edu or call (617) 521-2803. The workshop will be held at 300 The Fenway.
*** Carol Barton will be teaching Book Arts: Paper Engineering and Sculptural Binding at the North Country Studio Workshops from January 28, 2014 – February 2, 2014. This is an ideal session for book artists, teachers, graphic designers, and anyone who likes to play with paper.
Discover the magic of the sculptural book through exploration of three-dimensional and pop-up forms. Learn how to use book structures to help convey your message. Participants will construct a series of pop-ups from simple to more complex glued structures, along with an accordion book, a carousel book, and a tunnel book.
Registration for 2014 opens June 15, 2013, so be sure to mark the date on your calendar!
*** The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is also hosting two workshops in June with Paul Johnson in Maine (one workshop will be repeated):
- Spirit House – A Three Dimensional Pop-Up Model: In this workshop, you will make a 3D pop-up spirit house from paper. There are no folds – the whole structure (comprising over thirty separate parts) is made from hinges and dovetails joints and will fold down flat.
- Book as Architecture: In this workshop, you will make a pop-up gazebo in which there are no folds and therefore no paper ‘fatigue’. All sections are fastened together using a range of paper hinges, locks, and dovetail joints. Sections can be modified and redesigned as the model develops – you simply take out one section and replace it with another.
For more information, please download the registration form(s) below or contact Todd Pattison via Email: bookandtile@att.net.
- Spirit House – A Three Dimensional Pop-Up Model: 6/21/13
- Book as Architecture: 6/22/13
- Spirit House – A Three Dimensional Pop-Up Model: 6/23/13
- Book Arts Guild of VT website: http://www.bookartsguildvt.com/
- Book Arts Guild of VT Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bookartsguildvt
Leave a Reply