Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 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: Developing Your Personal Writing Style, Part 2 and Sharing Books from Postcard Swap
Our meeting will have two parts this month!
Bring in your postcard challenge book to share. Get ready to be amazed!
AND
Meta Strick and Penne Tompkins will continue our development of hand-written text on the page with an exploration of Capitals. These large single letters have many centuries of history. We will have lots of examples, and we will provide a step-by-step process for making your own fancy, dramatic initials, sometimes called versals.
For our members who have examples of Decorated Capitals that they wish to share, please bring them.
If you have been practicing your individual lettering style and would like to bring it, Penne and Meta will be happy to look at it, provide feedback, and offer enthusiastic appreciation.
Please bring the following:
- A few sheets of unlined paper
- A pencil
- Some colored markers.
- Optional: small set of pan watercolors, a brush, and a small water cup
August Meeting Reflections
Hand lettering experts Meta Strick and Penne Tompkins gave us a crash course in personalizing our own handwriting at the August meeting.
With tips and tricks, they allowed participants to feel more comfortable with their own hand lettering skills and encouraged everyone to use this new skill in art projects. But of course, the key to all of this is practice, practice, practice!
Even in the short meeting session, we saw how repetition can lead to expertise (or at least improvement).
It was a record turnout in August! Thanks to everyone who attended and participated, and a big thanks to Meta and Penne! We are looking forward to the continuation of the letter arts program in September.
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is proud to be once again participating in this year’s Burlington Book Festival on Saturday, September 28th at the Fletcher Free Library. This annual event celebrates the written word by offering readings, book signings, panels, demos, workshops, family activities, and special events.
We’ll be manning a table from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and during that time, we’ll be offering two mini workshops at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. We’re looking for volunteers to man the table for two-hour time slots – 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
We also have display space available for member work.
Please contact Marcia to volunteer and/or if you have any work to show.
*** Carolyn Shattuck has a retrospective show, Into My Space, open now through September 7th at Compass Music and Arts Center. The exhibit covers the 30+ years of her career as an artist. Work on display ranges from paintings to prints, collages to handmade books, and small to large works.
Compass Music and Arts Center is located at 333 Jones Drive in Brandon, VT.
*** Elissa Campbell recently participated in a group bookbinding project sponsored by Janine Vangool, publisher, editor and designer for Uppercase Magazine.
Vangool gave unbound copies of Ephemera, a volume in her Encyclopedia of Inspiration series, to sixteen bookbinders who had to create covers based on the contents.
Each book is unique in approach, incorporating different covering materials, bookbinding structures and ornamentation techniques. You can check out the bindings online.
Book Arts Classes
*** The North Bennet Street School in Boston is offering Secret Belgian Binding – Three Ways with Erin Fletcher on September 14 & 15. The Secret Belgian binding can be constructed quickly with few tools and virtually no equipment. It opens flat and works best with thinner text blocks.
This workshop explores the Secret Belgian structure and ways to modify it. On day one, students put together two variations of this non-adhesive structure: one with exposed stitches and one with hidden stitches. On day two, students explore modified versions of the Secret Belgian binding developed by book artist, Anne Goy by playing with the length of stitching and incorporating Tyvek.
For more information, please visit the NBSS website.
*** Also at the North Bennet Street School is Traditional Ethiopian Bookbinding, taught by Bill Hanscom on September 28 & 29. This two-day workshop will begin with a presentation detailing the traditional methods and materials of the Ethiopian scribe and bookbinder. Students will then construct two historical models.
The first will be a basic binding with bare wooden boards demonstrating the fundamentals of the unsupported link stitch, board attachment and repair, and the construction of a ləbas (a protective cloth over-cover). The second will be a full leather binding with inlays of patterned cloth and traditional endbands of interwoven leather strips.
Basic tooling techniques as well as common designs and motifs will be discussed and demonstrated. Students will be given the opportunity to decorate their bindings as time allows.
For more information, please visit the NBSS website.
*** On Sunday, September 22nd, The Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts in Boston is offering Star Books with Cristina Hajosy.
A handmade star book can be presented as an artist’s book or as a hanging ornament. Excite viewers with the visual movement and performative qualities of this unusual book structure. Learn basic bookmaking techniques and experiment with hand-marbled papers, mixed media and collage scraps to customize your books.
For more information about the class, please visit the Eliot School’s website or click here to download the complete catalog.
