VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” August 2021
Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 14, 2021, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
This month’s meeting will be the opening reception for our members exhibit at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild. The gallery is located at 430 Railroad Street, #2 in St. Johnsbury, VT.
Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the exhibit – all of the work will be photographed and put on our website.
We hope to see you at the gallery!
The B.A.G. Board
Program: B.A.G Exhibit Opening Reception at Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild
The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is proud to present our group show for 2021, THE ART OF THE BOOK: IS IT A BOOK?
Here are the juicy details:
The members’ show will run from August 6 through September 18, 2021, in the Back Room Gallery at Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The opening reception will be on August 14 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and will take the place of our regular meeting.
At the reception, artists will have the opportunity to speak about their work, so if you would like to share, please be prepared.
July Meeting Reflections
For the wrap up of our Text Me! theme, we asked members and friends to share work they have done based on techniques and ideas we have learned from previous meetings.
It was exciting to see the variety and quality of work produced! We can’t wait to see some of these pieces in person at the show in August.
Thanks to all who shared and listened.
B.A.G. Library Corner
It’s time to wrap up our text theme and what better way than with the Lively Art of Lettering feature from Somerset Studio magazine.
The January/February 2010 issue features the work of three artists: Jane Harrison-Williams turns the English alphabet into a whimsical animal menagerie; Linda Schneider paints figures from words in what she calls “penned personas;” and Joyce Bank pairs art with a love of tea, creating “book ghosts” from tea bag pages. All three have creative ways of utilizing text in their work that showcases their unique expression.
If you have ideas for books to feature or if you have a library book in your possession you’d like to share something from, email Sally at salblanch@gmail.com.
You can check out and download the selection here.
B.A.G. News
*** The exhibit Mixed States, recent work from sisters Nina and Sari Gaby, runs September 2 – 29 with a reception and artist talk Sunday September 26, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at The Little Theater Café Gallery. The gallery is located at 240 East Avenue in Rochester, New York.
Nina’s collage is based on book imagery, referencing mood, terrain, geography, and the always changing landscape of visual narrative.
For more information, please visit The Little Theater website.
*** Elissa Campbell is teaching the Travel Companion Journal on August 26 at the Swanson Inn in Waitsfield.
In this workshop, participants will create a journal with a double-needle coptic binding, an intricate stitch that will be visible on the spine of the book. Not only is the coptic binding beautiful, but it also allows books to remain flat when opened.
The journal will include pockets both inside the covers and in the text block, allowing you the opportunity to save lots of stuff from your travels – tickets, photos, pressed flowers – you name it!
All materials and tools will be provided. Lunch and snacks are also included in the fee – all you have to do is show up!
For more information, please visit the Swanson Inn website.
To register, please contact the Inn at stay@swansoninn.com.
Book Arts News
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is hosting The Art of Korean Paper, an online artist talk and demonstration with Aimee Lee on Wednesday August 18th. Lee is an artist, papermaker, writer, and the leading hanji (Korean handmade paper) researcher and practitioner in North America.
While studying papermaking in the US, Aimee noticed a gap in paper history and decided to research, learn, and teach Korean papermaking to fill that gap. She will show examples of her artwork featuring hanji in her presentation and demonstrate the ancient papercraft of noyeokgae, known colloquially as jiseung, the process of cording and twining hanji.
For more information or to register, visit the MCBA website.
*** The Newport Paper and Book Arts Festival is being held online this year and registration for the festival itself is free! You will have full access to the NPBAF community, including mini lectures, artist talks, a live Art and Happy Hour Zoom gathering plus a space to chat and share with other festival goers. In addition to the free content, there are lecture and studio workshops available for purchase.
Lecture workshops will be live streamed with students watching the instructor work through a process, technique or structure. The instructor will take you through all the steps, pass along some great tips and tricks, and provide you with a materials and tools list. The lecture will be recorded and you will have access to watch it as many times as you like until February 1, 2022.
Studio workshops will be live streamed and designed for you to work along with the instructor. Your materials fee has two parts: the materials themselves plus the cost to ship them in a USPS flat rate box. There is also a student supply list of materials and tools you will need to gather before the workshop. The lecture will be recorded and you will have access to watch it as many times as you like until February 1, 2022.
To register for the festival, please visit the NPBAF website. To view the festival brochure, please click here.
*** If you missed the virtual Focus on Book Arts conference that was recently held online, you’re in luck – much of the content is now available online through the end of August:
- Watch the featured speaker, Tia Blassingame, present Book Arts Futures: Musings on the Future of the Field.rors, Laura Russell and Erin Mickelson, reviewed entries from around the world to select 30 entries for the exhibition and the 4 overall winners.
- Watch the challenge book roundtable focusing on the theme of Where We Live: Where Does Your Heart Reside? You can view the challenge book gallery here.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering Magic Box of Mysteries with Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder on August 19 & 26, and September 2.
Mystify and mesmerize with this magic box of mysterious toys and tricks! In this workshop you will learn the secrets of this hidden compartment, magic wallet box. Open the magic box to reveal hypnotizing optical paper toys. Then close the box and open again to unveil an entirely different set of paper toys, including a volvelle, flexagon, and thaumatrope. How does it work, you ask? Through the magic of book arts, all will be revealed.
For more information or to register, please email John Cutrone at jcutrone@fau.edu.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering How to Conceptualize and Create an Artist Book with Maria Veronica San Martin on August 23 – 25.
During this intensive project-based remote course, students will learn “how to think and create an artist book” by examining their concept, aesthetic, and techniques. The course will be taught from the artist’s studio and will start with a brief exploration of what an artist book is, followed by demonstrations of an accordion book structure (dos-a-dos); the technique of monoprints on plexiglass, zinc or copper (a form of printmaking that produces a unique print) for images and/or text, and the final creation and construction of a flag book.
Students will be able to create their own artist book in four sessions with a final critique. No prerequisites needed, but ideally participants should have some book arts knowledge or experience.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering Single-Page Books: The Next Level with Rosae Reeder on August 25th.
Single-page books, also called flutter-fold books, are extremely versatile folded structures that can be used to make books, zines, and unique formats for written greetings. These books are created by folding and cutting paper, incorporating simple elements of origami with principles of bookbinding.
These small wonders can be used as one-of-a-kind works or in multiples to create structures that twist, turn, and further expand this already-interesting construction. In this one-day virtual workshop, learn how to fold a series of ten single-page books, as well as other folded structures as time allows. Some experience folding paper or binding books is helpful but not required.
For more information or to register, please visit the MCBA website.
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