VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” June 2018
Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
We meet at the Unitarian Universalist Society Church located at 152 Pearl Street in Burlington, VT. We will be in the Sophia Fahs Community Room, a large room located in the basement. Click here for more information on directions/parking.
Program: The Coptic-Bound Upcycled Artist Journal with Jill Abilock
Join us in June as Jill Abilock leads us in creating Coptic-bound artists journals from upcycled library books. Making journals from upcycled books is an excellent way of overcoming “blank page” syndrome, since the pages already have writing on them! (To use the book, you simply gesso, color wash or collage over the pages). Coptic-bound books also make excellent artist journals because they lay flat when open.
Jill has invented a method for attaching covers and sewing pages that is so simple and elegant, you might find yourself looking for more old books to cut up turn into artist journals!
Jill will bring book covers and pages from hard-cover books discarded by libraries that she has cut into the perfect size for making portable, Coptic-bound art journals. She will also provide punching templates, thread and beads for sewing the art journals.
Please bring the following tools:
- Scissors (to trim your thread)
- Awl, pin vise or needle tool
- Old phone book, cutting mat or punching pad
- Bone folder
- 4 curved bookbinders or upholstery needles (if you have them – if not, there will be needles available to borrow)
Request to more experienced members: Not everyone has specialized tools, like an awl, curved needles, or a bone folder. If you happen to have extra, it would be wonderful if you could bring them in to share with a neighbor who doesn’t. Thanks!
May Meeting Reflections
Did we learn a lot about how to price your work? I think so, and much more! Let’s review:
- Keep track of your time ( most important) and materials.
- Decide on a rate per hour to pay yourself
- Consider your learning time and skill level
- Consider size and number ( if editioned)
- Use the commission calculator: (YOUR PRICE) ÷ (100%- commission %) = Z ( Gallery Price)
Voila! And don’t forget to package your work safely and nicely, and take some good photos for posterity.
We all need a pep talk now and then to reinforce our own self-worth, and in extension, the value of our work. Congratulations, everyone, because I felt a definite surge in self esteem and power building throughout the meeting. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experience, knowledge, and energy.
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
*** Both Book Arts Guild of Vermont exhibits are now open…
…and they look fabulous! We are so very proud of and impressed by the work that our members create. Our membership has so much talent!
Beyond Words: Artworks by the Book Arts Guild of Vermont is in the second floor gallery at Studio Place Arts in Barre and will be open until June 30. SPA has given us a digital image that you can use to help promote the show. Click here to download an image of the flyer that you can share on social networks.
You can view images of all of the pieces in the SPA exhibit on the B.A.G. blog.
The Art of the Book is at Frog Hollow Craft Gallery on Church Street in Burlington and is also open until June 30.
You can view images of all of the pieces in the Frog Hollow exhibit on the B.A.G. blog.
Book Arts News
*** Now through July 22nd, Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord has fourteen of her Spirit Books on exhibition in the Hunnewell Building Visitors center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.
The Spirit Books connect my experience of the inherent spirituality and mystery of nature with the long-standing tradition of books as testaments of faith and belief. I gather twigs, branches, vines, and roots and use them to cradle stitched wordless books made of handmade papers from around the world.
The Arnold Arboretum is located at 125 Arborway in Boston, MA (Google map). For more information, please visit The Harvard Gazette’s website.
*** From June 11 – October 1, 2018, the John J. Burns Library at Boston College is hosting the exhibit Dreams of Art & Glory: Book Arts by the Roycrofters.
Roycroft, a reformist community of craftspeople and artists, was created by Elbert Hubbard in 1895, in the village of East Aurora, NY. The artisans who worked there were known as Roycrofters. When Hubbard was unable to find a publisher for his book Little Journeys, he set up a private press to print the book himself, founding Roycroft Press.
His championing of the Arts and Crafts philosophy of work attracted many craftspeople to East Aurora, and he formed a community of printers, furniture makers, metalsmiths, leathersmiths, and bookbinders.
The exhibition focuses on the printing and bookbindings executed by the Roycrofters, and includes an array spanning the modest *Little Journeys* pamphlet series, to beautifully printed and hand-decorated text-blocks, as well as books bound in stunning modelled leather bindings.
The John J. Burns Library is located at 140 Commonwealth Avenue in Chestnut Hill, MA.
*** ArtisTree Gallery is accepting submissions for their 8th annual juried exhibit, UNBOUND: VOL VIII. The theme of the show is simple – an exploration of what a book can be…art using books as a material or a format. The exhibit will be presented in conjunction with the Bookstock Literary Festival in Woodstock, VT.
This call for submissions is open to all 2D, 3D, installation, assemblage, film and video artists who are working in New England or New York who are 18 years of age or older. All artwork must be original in concept, design and execution. Note: Reproductions, if used as mixed media, will be considered.
This year the exhibit will be juried by book artist Valerie Carrigan. The deadline for submission is June 29, 2018. All submissions must be made through their online entry form.
For more information, please read the online exhibit prospectus.
You can also contact Gallery Director Adrian Tans at gallery@artistreevt.org.
*** For those of you interested in building your collection of bookbinding equipment, this one’s for you.
There are two used bookbinding presses available for purchase in the Burlington area. As you can see in the picture, both are finishing presses. Compared to the prices for the presses if they were new (check out Talas), you’ll find that these prices are very reasonable.
For more information, please contact Zoe Papas at zoe@zoeink.net.
Book Arts Classes
*** The second annual Artist Book Intensive will be held at 26 Split Rock Cove in South Thomaston, ME from August 3 – 5, 2018. The event is sponsored by Midcoast Book Arts.
What is an Artist Book? Do artist books require words? Or images? What about structure as a part of the content? Yes, yes, and yes. Because artists’ books are works of art that use the form of the book. They may be published in small editions, though they are often produced as one-of-a-kind objects. And their subject matter is as varied as any other art form.
Three book making structures and two decorative techniques for book covers and/or content in your books will be taught. All materials will be provided, along with a notebook containing the instructional information covered in the workshops and additional resources.
For more information, please visit the Artist Book Intensive website.
*** Maine Media Workshops + College is offering Pop-Ups for Miniature Books with Shawn Sheehy from August 12 to 18, 2018.
By definition, a miniature book cannot be more than three inches in length, width, or depth. Working within this small format, students will learn how to bring drama and excitement to their pop-up book by inserting impossibly large images into a small package. Students will use cardstock and simple hand tools to build and bind, using a pop-up specific technique, a variety of structures that move above, beyond, and behind the page. Students will have time to experiment with their own ideas and recieve engineering advice from the instructor.
No experience is necessary, but previous experience in fiber arts and/or paper craft will speed your progress. This content readily accommodates beginners and advanced makers alike. You will leave the class with a completed popup book and a good understanding of the basics of popup engineering. Once you’ve tackled the skills in small format, you’ll be able to scale up for future projects!
For more information or to register, please visit the Maine Media website.
*** The Women’s Studio Workshop is currently running its Summer Art Institute with workshops focusing on printmaking, papermaking, and book arts. They offer you time to focus on your work, become energized and inspired, learn new skills, and meet a new community of like-minded artists.
Here’s a sampling of what’s coming up:
The Moving Book: Drawing & Basic Pop-Up Design with Claire Joyce will take place from July 30 – August 3.
You will delve into the many possibilities of building up your drawings into the pop-up form, from exploding abstract forms to small animated narratives. The condensing and expanding motion of pop-up mechanisms can enhance the drawn image and create a magical handheld experience for the viewer.
Beginning with sketching, basic folds, and structures, participants will create several small single fold projects with a focus on hand-drawn elements. You will build toward combining these techniques into a bound three-page (or more!) pop-up book. Claire will bring some of the pop-up books from her own collection for inspiration and discussion.
Unfolding Practice with Arzu Mistry will take place from August 6 – August 10. This workshop is based on the artist book Unfolding Practice: Reflections on Learning and Teaching, created by Arzu Mistry and Todd Elkin.
This workshop is for artists from a variety of disciplines, who are interested in sharing and developing processes of reflective practice, and to take a deep dive together into methods of using accordion books as sites for multi-disciplinary reflection, inquiry and art practice. Using a range of book forms and screen-printing techniques, you will document, reflect, plan, and think expansively about your practice as artists.
Parallel Universes: Handmade Paper and Photography with Tatana Kellner will take place from July 9 – July 13.
Person holding cameraArtists will rediscover the excitement of working in the photographic darkroom and the pleasures of making paper by hand. You’ll combine these two tactile processes to create painterly photographic prints on handmade paper.
The first two days will be spent making paper from various fibers, suitable for photographic purposes. You’ll explore making standard and shaped paper, embedding, and pulp painting all in preparation for the darkroom.
Working with traditional photographic negatives (up to 4” x 5”) or making new digital negatives, you’ll spend the rest of the week learning to size and coat the paper before proceeding to print in the darkroom. No previous experience is necessary.
For more information about the workshops or to register, please visit the Women’s Studio Workshop website.
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