VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” July 2017
Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 11, 2017, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The July meeting will be held at the SEABA Center Gallery at 404 Pine Street in Burlington, VT. Click here to get directions using Google Maps.
* Please note that this meeting is different than our usual meeting in three ways:
- Location: We are meeting at SEABA, not at the Unitarian Church in Burlington.
- Date: We are meeting on a Tuesday, and not on the second Wednesday of the month.
- Time: The meeting starts at 6:00 p.m., not at 6:30 p.m.
Program: Artists’s Talk and Reception
Correspondence: Bookworks from the Book Arts Guild of Vermont
Correspondence: Bookworks, our 2017 exhibit, will be held at SEABA on Pine Street in Burlington from July 11 to August 25, 2017.
The opening reception and artists’ talk will be on Tuesday, July 11 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. This will be in place of our usual July meeting at the Unitarian Church.
We encourage each artist to talk about his or her work, highlighting any special processes, challenges, or inspiration. Since there are a lot of entries in the show, please be prepared to make brief remarks so that everyone can get a chance to talk, socialize, and enjoy the mutual admiration club.
We hope to see you there!
June Meeting Reflections
Amy Burns delighted the group with her unique and handy packaging ideas and tips. Although not everyone sells their work in such a professional manner, there was a lot of interest in how Amy has developed her own identity and successfully markets her brand. The take-away is that details count! Thanks to Amy for sharing her process and tricks.
Amy also provided a fantastic comic illustration of the double needle coptic bindng process, and led the group through the step by step instructions. Her instructions helped to make clear the complicated binding technique.
Again, many thanks to Amy for preparing the materials and giving everyone a chance to bind their own beer coasters!
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
*** B.A.G. Co-Founder Nancy Stone has lots of news to share with our members. First off, one of Nancy’s paintings has been selected for inclusion in a juried show at the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington, open now through October 31st.
And now through July 22nd, yet another of her paintings can be seen in the Vermont Watercolor Society‘s annual juried members’ show AQUA at the Valley Arts Festival Gallery in the Village Square Shopping Center, Route 100 in Waitsfield.
Lastly, she’s got a solo show at Saint Michael’s College‘s McCarthy Art Gallery in Colchester from August 2 – 12, 2017. The exhibit coincides with the Playhouse‘s production of You Can’t Take it with You. Her Handmade-Books-on-the-Wall exhibit includes two large installations – her Vermont 251 Club postcards with original watercolors displayed as accordion books and her 13 books of Ecclesiastes III with white-on-white pop-ups.
Congratulations Nancy on all of your accomplishments!
*** Looking for college credit? Ann Joppe-Mercure will be teaching The Art of the Book (GED 673A) at Saint Michael’s College from July 10 – 28, 2017.
Educators and students are invited to explore and create in this studio course addressing the art of the book. Participants will experiment with forms, structures, materials, and concepts as we investigate the limitless possibilities of the book. By surveying the historical need to record and contain knowledge and by examining the work of contemporary book artist students will gain a foundation for their own creative expression of ideas and meaning. Students will make a working portfolio of paper treatments, book models and altered structures then create their own individual art books.
The class will be a working model of a 21st century collaborative community supporting the creative process through practice, constructive criticism, reflecting, and refining technique. The Common Core anchor standards of Craft and Structure and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas will be addressed.
No previous bookmaking or art experience required. Students who have previously taken The Art of Bookmaking (GED 671) and/or Science, Art and Bookmaking: Making Connections (GED 673), are welcome in this class. A $50.00 materials fee is required and due at registration.
For more information, please visit St. Mike’s website.
Book Arts News
*** Now through July 19, 2017, the North Bennet Street School is hosting Open • Set, a traveling, triennial bookbinding exhibition organized by the American Academy of Bookbinding. The exhibit showcases the art of fine design bookbinding and hopes to inspire both new binders and professionals.
The exhibition is intended to be a recognition of the beauty of the craft and a commitment to the public toward a better understanding of this art form. The international exhibition features fifty books and recognizes excellence in craftsmanship and design concept interpretation.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the North Bennet Street School’s website.
*** ArtisTree Gallery‘s 7th annual juried exhibit, UNBOUND: VOL VII, will open on July 28th and run through August 26, 2017. This exhibit is opening in conjunction with the kick off of the 9th annual Bookstock Literary Festival in Woodstock, VT.
The broad theme of UNBOUND VOL. VII 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 this idea of “the book” and all the ways artists use that format as a stepping-off point or as material to explore new ideas.
An opening reception will be held on Friday July 28th, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
For more information, please send an email to gallery@artistreevt.org or visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.
Book Arts Classes
*** In July, the Wells College Book Arts Center is offering its Summer Institute, two week-long intensive courses in letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, artist’s books, lettering arts and font design. Week 1 runs from July 9 – 15 and Week 2 runs from July 16 – 22.
This year’s instructors include Samuel Feinstein, Barb Tetenbaum, and April Sheridan. Wells College is located in Aurora, NY.
Please send inquiries to bookartscenter@wells.edu. You can also download the course catalog (pdf) from the Wells College website.
*** The Guild of Book Workers is offering Covered and Visible: Protected Multi-Section Pamphlet Stitch Structure with Gabrielle Fox from July 14 – 15, 2017. The workshop will be held at Dartmouth College Preservation Services in Hanover, NH.
In this two-day class, you will complete at least one full leather binding using the simplest version of this structure. This variation provides the strength and flexibility of a tight backed book with the action of a hollow tube. You may also have time to explore several onlay techniques using pre-thinned leather and decorative papers.
The delight of this structure is the ease with which it opens, closes and the possible variations that can be used for both design and conservation binding. The entire case or cover of the binding is completed before sewing in the text, which is the final procedure or step in the binding. This structure can be kept very simple or adapted to something as complex as a full leather traditional binding with a difference.
Questions regarding registration should be directed to Martha Kearsley at negbwprograms@gmail.com.
Please note that you will need to prepare some of the required materials in advance. For more information, visit the Guild of Book Workers website.
*** From July 16 – 22, 2017, Art New England is offering Artists Books: Structure and Story with Julie Leonard. ANE workshops take place in Vermont at Bennington College.
The hand-held, tactile, and serial qualities inherent to the book make it a compelling media for artistic expression. Artist books can be visual, textual, sculptural, traditional or experimental in form. A book’s structure in concert with text and/or image can serve as an essential contextual element.
This course will consider the connections between structure and other content with a goal of creating books in which the physical form plays an integral role in both function and meaning. Participants will learn several book structures for presenting material in alternative formats. Through exercises, ideas will be translated into ‘sketches’ made in book form. Contextual possibilities particular to book work will be examined, including visual and/or textual narrative, serialization, and unifying multiple pages into a cohesive whole.
The class will also address the importance of understanding book structure and basic binding skills in order to produce work with both depth and material integrity.
For more information or to register, please visit the Art New England website.
*** Art New England is also offering Pop-Up Books with Colette Fu from July 30 – August 5, 2017.
Pop-up books aren’t just for children! Pop-up structures can be used to make engaging works of art for any age, from greeting cards to animations to kinetic sculptures. Complex and engaging pop-up works are created from a combination of basic mechanisms enhanced by your art, playfulness and imagination.
In this workshop, participants learn the basic elements of pop-up paper engineering, including multi-level platforms and pulltabs, as well as how to combine them to create more complex structures. Participants learn how to incorporate their own art into their structures effectively to create unique pop-up books, cards, and works of art. All levels of experience are welcome.
For more information or to register, please visit the Art New England website.
*** Maine Media Workshops + College is offering Alternative Book Structures with Valerie Carrigan from July 23 – 29, 2017.
This workshop focuses on book structures that lend themselves to the presentation of two-dimensional imagery such as photographs, prints, and paintings. You will make a series of book models including the pivoting panel book and flag book, originated by Hedi Kyle, and variations on the accordion book. All book structures introduced may be opened in the traditional way – page-by-page, or extended for a more sculptural view.
After completing your models, you will spend the remainder of the week creating and sequencing imagery and/or text for the content of your books. Simple letterpress techniques will be discussed and utilized. Participants will be encouraged to pursue the medium of their choice in these book forms.
This workshop is ideal for photographers, painters, printmakers, collage artists – anyone who wants to present imagery in the form of an artist book. No experience is necessary and those with prior experience will have the chance to add to their repertoire of creative book forms.
For more information or to register, please visit the Maine Media Workshops + College website.
***
