by Elissa | Dec 2, 2021 | B.A.G. Book Swap, B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, MailB.A.G., Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
This month’s meeting will once again be held via Zoom, an online conference program. If you’ve never attended a Zoom meeting before, check out this video – it will go over the basics of how to join a meeting.
Stay safe!
The B.A.G. Board
Program: Zine Swap Sharing
Our December meeting will be a sharing of your amazing ZINES.
Come prepared to guide us through your zine creation and share your process. The variety of zines made by our 20+ participants is so creative and full of surprises. Get ready for an evening of inspiration and fellowship.
Zine you there!
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
November Meeting Reflections
Traditionally, the November meeting (formerly Book Blitz and Card Tricks) has been one of my favorites. Participation is always at a high and ideas flow freely. The new program, simply called Paper Tricks, did not disappoint. Volunteers showed their simple, complicated, or just plain fun ideas using their awesome paper skills.
We also caught up with Gail Martin and her collection of miniature books that was in the show at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild. Wonderful all around.
Thanks, everyone, for presenting, participating, and just plain showing up. We continue to buoy each other up, and look forward to a future when we can meet in person.
You can download Elissa’s card template here.
B.A.G. Library Corner
We all know that food is the most important part of the holiday season. What about creating a journal to house your holiday recipes?
Jeannine Stein’s Adventures in Bookbinding gives us a step-by-step guide to creating a quirky coptic-bound, decoupage journal – that even incorporates real spoons! Whether you use this tutorial to create a junk journal of gathered recipes or to create a blank book to copy your recipes by hand, Stein’s method is fun to follow or easy to customize to your own vision.
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 project here.
B.A.G. News
*** Support the Book Arts Guild of Vermont by becoming a member!
The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is supported by its members and you have kept us going for more than fifteen years. Our organization is solely run by volunteers and we do what we do because we love the book arts and we love B.A.G.. We continue to be inspired by our community, and the enthusiasm and talents that you bring to our meetings.
Membership dues are our main source of income and we hope that you will show that you value what we have to offer – quality programming, future exhibits, and more – by becoming a member. You get so much value out of your $35.00 and attending just one meeting can give you your full money’s worth.
Just to give you an idea of where membership dues go, here’s a breakdown of B.A.G.’s annual expenses:
- Zoom subscription: $149.90 per year
- Vimeo subscription: $84.00 per year
- Rent: $50.00 per month when we can return to in-person attendance
- Presenter honorarium: $35.00 per meeting
- Website and email newsletter: $100.00 per year
- Presenter reimbursement for supplies: Varies
We hope that you will renew your membership to help us with our annual expenses. You can download our membership form and send it in with your payment by check of $35.00 made out to the Book Arts Guild of Vermont:
Book Arts Guild of Vermont
c/o Ann Joppe-Mercure
10 Brookwood Dr
South Burlington, VT 05403
Thank you so much for your continued support of the guild. We wouldn’t be here without you.
*** Mary Ellen Manock is offering up her stash papermaking supplies to anyone interested. She’s got a blender, instructions, straw, and cellulose materials to wet down and make paper. She also has some color aid paper (glossy brilliant color).
The catch is that she needs to get everything out of her garage by this weekend as she is closing on her house. If she can’t get any takers, then she will bring everything to the ReStore.
If you’re interested, please contact Mary Ellen at memanock@mac.com.
Book Arts News
*** Join the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center for their 14th annual Illustrated Accordion exhibition.
Each year the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) sponsors a non-juried exhibition The Illustrated Accordion, showing in the KBAC Gallery in spring. Open to all emerging and established artists, this exhibition focuses on books created in the accordion form.
The Illustrated Accordion exhibition focuses on books created in the accordion form. The structure of an accordion book is simple: a long piece of paper is folded into pages that can be read like a book or spread open and displayed like a banner. Featuring works of book artists from all over the world, the books in this exhibit take this book form to a new level.
Entries are being accepted online, now through January 24, 2022.
For more information about the exhibition, please contact Katie Platte at katie@kalbookarts.org or (269) 373-4938.
*** Now through December 6, Abecedarian Artists’ Books is accepting submissions for its upcoming show, Lettered & Bound. The exhibit will be on view at Dayton Memorial Library, Regis University, in Denver, CO in February 2022 and Tallyn’s Reach Public Library in Aurora, CO in March 2022.
Eligible are book works that include calligraphy (the art of beautiful writing) as a primary element. Book works can be unique, editioned, traditionally bound, created using experimental forms (e.g. folded forms), wall mounted (e.g. scrolls) or loose sheets presented in a portfolio or box. Calligraphy is here defined as human mark making that draws upon traditional forms of calligraphy or modern, gestural, or abstract forms.
For more information or to submit work for consideration, please visit the Abecedarian Artists’ Books website.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The Austin Book Arts Center is offering the Watercolor Sketchbook with Beatrice Baldwin on December 10.
Learn some basic bookbinding skills in this 3-hour workshop. Students will create a hard-cover book with pages of watercolor paper (140 lb Arches cold press). It is an accordion fold construction, so the book opens wide and the pages lay flat, perfect for sketching or watercolor.
For more information or to register, please visit the ABAC website.
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering A Wardrobe of Paper Cases with Karen Hanmer on December 11,
In this one session online workshop you will quickly construct a text block using a very speedy sewing technique. This will free up the remainder of our time together to concentrate on folding a variety of paper cases to dress this text block ”mannequin.” As each case is presented, suggestions will be given on appropriate sewing techniques and endsheet constructions for that particular structure.
All structures are low or no adhesive. All can be constructed in a sparsely-equipped home studio with minimal specialized equipment.
This workshop is appropriate for intermediate binders, beginners who are ready for a fast-paced workout, and anyone who wants to add more paper cases to their repertoire.
For more information or to register, please email John Cutrone at jcutrone@fau.edu.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering Zines, Zines, Zines! with Beth Sheehan on December 16.
In this two-hour virtual workshop for beginners, the instructor will give an overview of the multifaceted history of zines and teach participants to make their own!
Participants will learn simple image-making techniques like pochoir and easy-to-do zine structures including variations on the accordion book.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
by Elissa | Nov 4, 2021 | B.A.G. Book Swap, B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
This month’s meeting will once again be held via Zoom, an online conference program. If you’ve never attended a Zoom meeting before, check out this video – it will go over the basics of how to join a meeting.
Stay safe!
The B.A.G. Board
Program: Paper Tricks – Books, Cards, and Garlands
We have rebranded our annual November tradition from Book Blitz and Card Tricks to Paper Tricks! Member-led mini demonstrations can include any paper-centric item, including mini books, holiday cards, ornaments, garlands, or any other form you come up with.
While we are unable to be together IRL, we can still celebrate each others’ creativity. Your task – design an item that has a trick or two; maybe a pop-up, French doors, a window, or unusual material or structure.
Here’s where we need YOU.
We are seeking volunteers to share their paper manipulation during our Zoom meeting. You will simply hold up your creation for us to see and demonstrate how you made your paper item. We can post follow up references on Chat if desired.
Contact Marcia to secure a spot in the spotlight. The more members who participate, the richer our meeting will be.
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
October Meeting Reflections
We are all missing IRL meetings and the socializing that we enjoyed during those times. But I really felt the camaraderie in our group at our meeting in October where artists shared work from the NEKAG show.
There was a lot of giving going on in the form of positive feedback, helpful ideas, and general admiration. And what’s not to admire? We had very positive feedback from the gallery, and succeeded in one of our main missions, to further the public knowledge of book arts.
So thank you to all the artists who participated in the show, and special thanks to those who shared their work more intimately at the meeting. It’s always inspiring to me to know where ideas come from, and how they make it into book form. How does that happen for you? What makes you create a book? Ah, these questions deserve discussion.
B.A.G. Library Corner
We’re entering the holiday season once again and beginning to put our gift lists together. And what could make a gift giving prettier than Naomi Shiek’s leafy gift set?
In her book, Fold It and Cut It, Shiek provides templates and instructions for creating intricate hand-cut leaf designs for gift tags, gift wrap, and ribbon. Together, these designs make any gift something special.
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 project here.
B.A.G. News
*** We have over 20 participants in the B.A.G. Zine Swap Challenge!
Remember to mail your 10 zines by November 20th to:
Ann Joppe-Mercure
10 Brookwood Drive
South Burlington, VT 05403
Here’s a recap of the details:
- Create your zine using an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper – it should be an 8 page origami structure (one-sheet book).
- The final zine size should be 4.25″ x 2.75″.
- Make 10 copies of your zine and fold them.
- Optional fun – create a box or wrap to contain your zines.
We will mail packets of 10 assorted zines to you in late November, just in time to share them at our December B.A.G. meeting
*** B.A.G. Co-Founder Nancy Stone will selling her book 251 Vermont Vistas from a booth at the Made in Vermont Marketplace put on by Vermont Business Magazine. The book is a collection of original watercolor ‘postcards’ that she painted over several years as she and her husband visited each of Vermont’s 251 towns and cities. To preview the book or to order on-line, visit Nancy’s website.
The Marketplace will take place on Saturday, November 20th from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and on Sunday, November 21 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Double Tree by Hilton Burlington on Williston Road. It will welcome exhibitors who make unique Vermont products, from food to spirits to woodworking to Vermont clothing and more.
The timing of the event, a week before Thanksgiving, enables people to start shopping for holiday gifts early. With all the talk of supply chain shortages, now is the time to buy local for Christmas.
For more information please visit the Made in Vermont Marketplace website.
*** Emma Percy is teaching Zines & Book Arts at River Arts in Morrisville on December 5.
Zines have a recent but rich history as an underground mode of sharing information, art, and new ideas with other like-minded creative folks. This workshop will explore what zines and artist’s books are and what they can be, introductory layout, printing, and bookbinding techniques to get you started, as well as things to consider when beginning a do-it-yourself publishing or bookmaking project.
A zine can be anything from a folded sheet of paper to a beautifully crafted booklet, and with help and inspiration from Emma’s extensive zine library and scrap paper collection, we will all make a few small zines as well as the foundation for a larger artist’s book where you can let your creativity shine!
For more information or to register, visit the River Arts website.
*** This one comes to us from Nancy Stone:
Gwendolyn Evans is seeking someone to help her with technology for creating pages of her own writing that can be put into a handmade book. Due to vision loss, she is unable to do this herself. She has “always wanted” to make a book using her original content that would be bound within covers created from her work with polymer clay.
She can be reached at (802) 879-2706 or at gwendolynvt@gmail.com.
Book Arts News
*** Now through November 16th, the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH is hosting The New England Guild of Book Workers 40th Anniversary Exhibition.
This exhibition highlights the creative range and skills of the current members. The work bridges traditional fine binding to innovative design binding where book forms are re-imagined using unconventional materials in new experimental ways.
If you can’t make it to the exhibit, you can view a catalog of the work online.
For more information, please visit the Baker-Berry website.
*** Now through November 20, 23 Sandy Gallery is presenting UNSEEN, and exhibition of book arts featuring 76 works juried by Fulbright recipient and book arts educator Barb Tetenbaum, Jordan Eddy (director of form & concept), and Erin Mickelson (owner of 23 Sandy).
Artists were asked to consider the invisible forces that can shape our lives and surface in unexpected ways – physically, psychologically and philosophically. Work ranges from traditional codexes and interactive and exquisite corpse-style works to reactive sound art books and sculptures.
You can view all of the included work on the 23 Sandy Gallery website.
*** Now through December 6, Abecedarian Artists’ Books is accepting submissions for its upcoming show, Lettered & Bound. The exhibit will be on view at Dayton Memorial Library, Regis University, in Denver, CO in February 2022 and Tallyn’s Reach Public Library in Aurora, CO in March 2022.
Eligible are book works that include calligraphy (the art of beautiful writing) as a primary element. Book works can be unique, editioned, traditionally bound, created using experimental forms (e.g. folded forms), wall mounted (e.g. scrolls) or loose sheets presented in a portfolio or box. Calligraphy is here defined as human mark making that draws upon traditional forms of calligraphy or modern, gestural, or abstract forms.
For more information or to submit work for consideration, please visit the Abecedarian Artists’ Books website.
*** Now through December 11, the Center for Book Arts is hosting CBA 2021 Faculty Fellow Colette Fu‘s exhibition, What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me, Dimensional Stories in Paper.
The exhibition showcases Fu’s mastery of complex three-dimensional compositions engineered from paper and her own photographs – a practice she has honed over almost two decades.
CBA recorded an artist talk with Fu, where she both discussed the individual stories of each work and spoke to the overall series they are part of – We Are Tiger Dragon People.
You can watch Fu’s talk on YouTube.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering the Sewn Boards Binding with Karen Hanmer on November 13.
This variation on the Sewn Boards Binding is based on Gary Frost’s first prototype. It is held in University of Iowa Library Historical Bookbinding Model Collection. A quick and utilitarian notebook, the outer card folios are glued shut, the spine lined, and a breakaway spine wrapper is added while covering the book in sturdy bookcloth.
Expect a fast-paced workshop; some binding experience and familiarity with basic concepts like folding and paper grain direction will be helpful.
For more information or to register, please email John Cutrone at jcutrone@fau.edu.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering Intro to Tunnel Books with Maria G. Pisano on November 17 & 18.
In this workshop, students of all experience levels will learn how to make tunnel books. A tunnel book is a wonderful book structure that creates the optical illusion of perspective through accumulated layers.
Traditionally a tunnel book is accompanied by supporting concertinas sides, which make the work collapsible, portable, and easily viewable. The reader is able to hold a tunnel at eye level and marvel at it!
Students will work with their own images to create the book. The images should all be related in theme and subject matter to facilitate a successful outcome.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** The Austin Book Arts Center is offering the Secret Belgian Binding with Kevin Auer on three Mondays, November 29, December 6, and December 13.
Developed by the Belgian artist Anne Goy in 1986 this binding has a similar appearance to a Japanese stab binding. The structure uses a primary and secondary sewing. The sewing creates a distinct thread pattern on the cover and it is a very sturdy binding that allows the book to open completely flat.
In this class we will create a three-piece cover using book board. This board will be covered in paper. The cover pieces will then be sewn together to create the case and the unique sewing pattern. Once the case is completed the textblock will be sewn directly onto the cover using the existing sewing to anchor it in place. We will explore two different sewing methods for connecting the textblock to the case.
For more information or to register, please visit the ABAC website.
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering Fuzzy Books with Joanna Manning on two Tuesdays, November 30 and December 7.
Chase away the cold pricklies with some warm, fuzzy, hand-felted artist’s books! In this interactive workshop, get acquainted with needle felting materials and turn wool into a miniature artist’s book of your design.
Craft your own miniature book creation with simple techniques and minimal materials. Learn basic wool felting techniques including how to create and use stencils, fill in shapes, blend colors, and master fine details like thin lines, sharp edges, and dots.
This beginner-friendly workshop doesn’t require any previous knowledge or skills. A materials list will be provided and you’ll walk away with your own unique finished project, plus techniques to continue making more after the workshop.
For more information or to register, please visit the MCBA website.
