VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” October 2016

by | Oct 6, 2016 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops

Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 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: Mini Leather Journals with Elissa Campbell

handmade leather journalIn this hands-on presentation, Elissa will teach you Keith Smith‘s Broken Herringbone binding, using soft leather for the cover. This three signature binding creates a lovely decorative pattern on the spine. The book also has an integrated closure that coordinates with the sewing.

Leather, paper and thread will be provided. Please bring the following with you to the workshop:

  • Bone folder
  • Awl
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Bookbinding or tapestry needle

Optional (for punching small holes in leather):

September Meeting Reflections

Prudence Doherty, University of Vermont Public Services LibrarianOur annual visit to the Special Collections Department of the Bailey/Howe Library proved to be particularly fascinating this September. Prudence Doherty, Public Services Librarian, chose handmade paper and papermaking as her theme for the evening.

She presented books about paper and books made with handmade paper, and created a lively discussion about both. For a roomful of paper lovers, it was magic.

Thanks to everyone who participated in oohing and ahing, and special thanks to Prudence for a wonderful experience.

You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.

B.A.G. News

B.A.G. Book Swap logo*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is proud to introduce our first ever book swap!

In a nutshell, participants will be randomly assigned a person for whom they will anonymously create a book – it’s a bit like Secret Santa, but more like Confidential Codex.

The focus of each swap will vary. We want to encourage our members to step outside their comfort zones, have fun, and experiment with new materials, structures, etc. For the first swap, you’ll have to create a blank book that incorporates recycled materials.

If the swap generates enough interest and folks enjoy it, then we’d love to continue the project on an ongoing basis.

Here are the details:

  • Sign up deadline: 10/15/16
  • Assignment of names: 10/20/16
  • Book swap (and deadline for book completion): 12/14/16 (December B.A.G. meeting)

If you’d like to participate or have questions, please contact Elissa by October 15th. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the December meeting – you can always mail your book.

We can’t wait to see the final books!

*** B.A.G. member Nancy Stone wrote the following about her recent experience working with the Visiting Nurse Association’s Respite House:

The Joy of Donating Artwork
Last autumn I took a workshop on Your Art Legacy, a thought-provoking discussion about planning for dispersal of our artwork upon our death. That was a good wake-up call for someone in her 70’s! I realized that as my husband and I worked at ‘down-sizing’, I would have to figure out what to do with my remaining art sooner than later.

After letting our kids select paintings, I thought about the Visiting Nurse Association’s Respite House that was moving from my town of Williston to a larger place being built in Colchester. It was delightful to find that they wanted more than a couple of donated pieces; they accepted 11 works and asked if I could do a large one for the entrance!

That completed work, titled Sanctuary, is a 2′ X 6′ diptych of a woodland path with the destination brighter and more detailed than the soft dappled sunlight in the foreground. I felt very honored that an older piece titled Serenity is hanging in the Meditation Room and will hopefully soothe staff, patients and families. Since many of my paintings have a spiritual quality, they fit well into a place where people come to live until they die.

I came to realize that the holiday song Little Drummer Boy holds a good message…though artists may not be able to make significant donations of gold, myrrh or frankincense to a good cause, we can offer our gift of creativity.

*** Jill Abilock reports that Shelburne Pond Studios has an artist’s studio for rent. The size is 27′ x 13′ and it has good lighting. Rent is $275.00 per month with all utilities included. Shelburne Pond Studios is a community of 12 supportive artists located in a converted dairy barn in a quiet rural setting across from Shelburne Pond, in Shelburne, VT.

Please contact Kathy Stockman for more information.

Book Arts News

Peace Paper Project logo*** On October 11th at 5:30 p.m., UVM’s Special Collections Department of the Bailey/Howe Library presents Breaking the Deckle: Using the Paper Arts for Social Justice, a lecture with Drew Matott, Director of the Peace Paper Project.

Matott is a master papermaker with an expertise using traditional papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement, and community activism. In this presentation, he will discuss how he became involved with the paper arts and describe the genesis of the community papermaking programs he has co-founded, including Green Door Studio, Combat Paper Project, Peace Paper Project, Papermaking as Art Therapy, and Panty Pulping.

The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Special Collections Department at uvmsc@uvm.edu or (802) 656-2138.

*** On October 12 & 13 from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Peace Paper Project’s Artists-in-Residence at Champlain College will offer hands-on Panty Pulping workshops in the Rozendaal courtyard. Students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to contribute a piece of clothing and make paper out of clothing.

An opening reception will be held on October 13th at 5:00 p.m. in the Champlain College Gallery Lounge. The workshops are pesented in collaboration with the Champlain College Women’s and Gender Center.

For more information, please contact Chris Thompson.

*** The North Bennet Street School is hosting a free public lecture on October 25th with Luigi Castiglioni entitled Binding a Livre de Peintre. The lecture will take place from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Castiglioni will share the process of binding an important “livre de peintre” in the French tradition. Using images from his recent project creating a binding for a copy of Jaime Sabartès’s Dans l’Atelier de Picasso, with 6 original lithographies of Pablo Picasso and 30 reproductions, the presentation will cover the full process from the design stage through the final finishing techniques. It is only by knowing every aspect of the work that one can fully take pleasure in a binding from the great French tradition.

For more information or to register, please visit the NBSS website. The NBSS is located in Boston, MA.

*** From October 29 – December 4, 2016 the Pucker Gallery in Boston will present Of Light and Shadow: New Work by Andrea Dezsö.

Andrea Dezsö is a visual artist who works across a broad range of media including drawing, painting, artist’s books, embroidery, cut paper, animation, sculpture, site-specific installation and public art. She has been creating one-of-a-kind tunnel books since 2004.

The opening reception will be on October 29th from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The Pucker Gallery is located at 240 Newbury Street on the 3rd floor.

For more information, please contact the Pucker Gallery.

Woven and Interlocking Structures book cover*** Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner announce that their book Woven and Interlocking Book Structures is now available free at the Internet Archive. Published in 2002 and no longer in print, this book is a self-teaching manual with directions for making basic models of 16 book structures designed for Janus, Steiner, and Gefn Press publications.

Claire suggests printing the pages of the digital version 2-sided and binding them in a 3-ring binder to function as a bench top manual. Here are the directions:

  1. Click here to access the files.
  2. Under Download Options (lower right), choose PDF and download the file.
  3. Save this file to your computer.
  4. Open the file in Acrobat.
  5. Open the Print menu and print all 152 pages 2-sided on 8.5″ x 11” paper.

*** Beyond Words, a collaborative exhibition taking place at three different venues, highlights Medieval and Renaissance illumination manuscripts in Boston collections. The exhibits may be seen at the Boston College’s McMullen Museum, Harvard University’s Houghton Library, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Outstanding manuscripts and printed books dating from the ninth to seventeenth centuries have been selected from eighteen Boston-area repositories. The three exhibits combined are offering the largest display of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts ever shown in the United States.

Please visit the individual venue websites for details on the days and hours they’re open.

Book Arts Classes

Handmade leather journals*** B.A.G. member Elissa Campbell is teaching Leather Pocket Journals at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT on October 13 & 20, 2016 from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

You’ll learn how to create 5 bindings that use only leather, paper, and thread – no glue needed! For each binding, you will sew 3 sections of folded papers into covers cut from one piece of leather. These bindings are very flexible and allow the books to open completely flat, making them perfect for use as sketchbooks or journals.

Each sewing technique creates a different decorative sewing pattern on the spine and we will try out different closure methods. No previous experience required – this is a great class for a beginner.

To register, contact SPA via phone (802) 479-7069 or email.

*** The Eliot School is offering the series Wild Journals with Susan Porter in October and November. Sessions will be held on Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Transform plain, store-bought, hardbound sketchbooks into gorgeously rich, densely colored, printed, cut and folded journals. These dramatic works of art can incorporate text, collage, found objects, windows, flaps and surface design.

The skills you learn can also be used in any form of handmade book. Expect to get messy. Bring an apron or work shirt to protect your clothing.

You can sign up for individual sessions or the whole series.

  • Getting Started – Color & Paint: October 6, 2016
  • Cut-outs, Pop-ups & Extensions: Thursday October 13, 2016
  • Stamps, Stencils & Simple Printmaking: October 20, 2016
  • Layers, Pockets, Windows & Tags: October 27, 2016
  • Collaged Covers & Pages: November 3, 2016
  • Story, Text & Narrative: November 10, 2016

For more information about the class, please visit the Eliot School’s website or click here to download the complete catalog.

VT Book Arts Guild “MailB.A.G.” August 2012

by | Aug 15, 2012 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

The August meeting will be held at UVM’s Special Collections in the basement of Bailey Howe Library. Click here to download a pdf of the directions to Special Collections.

Please note that in August we will not be meeting as usual on the third Wednesday at the Unitarian Church in Burlington.

Program: Visit to UVM Special Collections

Librarian Prudence Doherty will guide us through some of the amazing artists’ books held in the Special Collections Department at UVM, including Vermont artists’ books and books from the 18th – 19th centuries. Not everyone knows that we have one of the finest collections of artists’ books in the nation, right here in Burlington. Join us in a hands-on exploration that will stimulate your imagination and spark your creativity!

Note: Please try to arrive on time – Bailey/Howe Library will actually be closed when we visit, but Prudence will have someone greeting people at the door from about 6:20 p.m. – 6:40 p.m. If you arrive late, you can call Special Collections at (802) 656-2138 and someone will open the door for you. In an effort to minimize disruptions, please arrive on time!

* Please bring a pencil, not a pen, if you plan to take notes.

BookpressReflections on June’s Meeting

Our first Open Bindery brought a cozy group of B.A.G. members to the Unitarian Church. A variety of bookbinding tools and equipment were provided for use – among them a book press, sewing frame, Kutrimmer, and hand tools. While attendees brought projects to work on, the meeting evolved into a Show and Tell.

Marcia Vogler shared her wonderful Word of the Day, a single sheet, Coptic-bound book of artwork created as part of a daily practice. Jill Abilock demontrated Elizabeth Rideout’s bedazzled Xyron machine for everyone, which brought oohs and ahs. Overall, it was a fun evening and thanks to everyone who attended!

You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.

B.A.G. News

*** B.A.G. members Lorraine Reynolds and Carolyn Shattuck currently have work in the juried exhibit, Unbound Vol II: Art using the book as a material/format. Congrats to Lorraine for earning Juror’s 2nd place for her entry.

The exhibition is sponsored by ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Festival in Woodstock, VT. The exhibit was juried by Daniel E. Kelm, founder of the Garage Annex School for Book Arts in Easthampton, MA.

The broad theme of Unbound Vol II 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.

For more information, please visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.

*** Carolyn Shattuck also has her work on display in the WalkOver Gallery exhibit, Key West Inside/Outside. The exhibit runs now through August 25, 2012 and includes mixed media collage and artists’ books inspired by her experience living in the Keys. Carolyn will give an artist’s talk at the gallery on August 16th at 6:00 p.m.

The WalkOver Gallery is located at 15 Main Street in Bristol, VT.

*** B.A.G. member Judy Sgantas recently collaborated with Claire Van Vliet on the ABC of Bugs and Plants in Northern Gardens. The content is about garden pests – what attracts or repels them – and a plant’s defenses.

There is a tri-fold page for each letter of the alphabet and these open to 19″ x 6.5″. The classical Roman letter forms are entwined with plant life and insects. There are two different images for each letter of the alphabet – one in black & white and one in color. Text fills the middle panel. The form is a woven strip binding, in a new pattern designed by Van Vliet for this book.

You can order one of the 120 copies signed by Judy from The Veatchs.

Book Arts News

*** There is an effort being put forth to create a Book Arts Academy of New England. In early May, a group of about 25 people gathered in the Boston area to discuss the importance of the art of the book. The one common thread among the group is an appreciation of the book as an object.

There are courses and workshops available throughout New England for various facets of the book arts (i.e. bookbinding, letterpress printing, calligraphy, etc.) but there is currently not a facility with a comprehensive curriculum that encompasses all aspects of the book arts; courses such as: the history of the alphabet, calligraphy, typography and font design, the history of the book, page layout, bookbinding, manuscript gilding, paper making, paper marbling, paper conservation, preparing a manuscript for commercial printing, creative writing, and others.

Small groups will meet over the next few months to discuss formulation of a business plan and feasibility study; faculty and curriculum; location and facility requirements; marketing and fund raising. An early fall gathering will be scheduled to update the full group and plan out how to proceed from that point.

If you would like to receive Emails about the progress of the school, please send an Email to bookarts@theabbeystudio.com and include “‘add to list serve” in the subject line.

*** From September 4 – October 31, 2012, the Burns Library at Boston College is hosting the exhibition Fine Specimens of the Bibliopegistic Art: Bookbindings from the Burns Library Collections. The show includes books in a variety of styles from a wide span of years and represents many different topics in the library’s collections.

The exhibition will be on display in the O’Brien Fine Print Room and the Irish Room on the Chestnut Hill, MA campus.

*** 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, OR is soliciting entries for Infinite Possibilities: Science, Math, Book Arts, a juried exhibition of book art inspired by the world of math and science, real or imagined. The exhibit will run from November 30 – December 29, 2012.

By those in the know, meaning those left-brained, analytical types, math and science are often described in artistic terms: the eloquence of an equation, the beauty of a concept. Infinite Possibilities looks at the opposite: how math and science can be used artistically to inspire book artists to think creatively about such topics. The Gallery is looking for book art works that incorporate mechanical and theoretical concepts, from serious to humorous exploring subjects ranging from math, science to medicine, space, architecture, engineering, physics, genetics and more.

The exhibit is open to book and paper arts related works created as either edition or one-of-a-kind. Artist books, sculptural books, book objects, altered books, zines, broadsides and sculptural pieces are all encouraged. Any medium, any style, any size. A maximum of three works may be submitted per artist. Entries must be received online no later than midnight on SEPTEMBER 28, 2012.

For more information, please visit the 23 Sandy Gallery website.

Book Arts Classes

*** B.A.G. member Ann Joppe-Mercure is teaching The Art of Bookmaking for Educators this fall at Saint Michael’s College, on Thursdays from 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Educators from all disciplines and grade levels are invited to explore traditional and nontraditional book structures and their application to curriculum. Participants will create unique book projects that demonstrate learning in their chosen content area, produce a working portfolio of handmade papers and book models, and develop lessons that integrate bookmaking as a teaching resource.

Class discussion and readings will connect bookmaking to the Vermont Content Standards and the 21st Century innovation skills of creativity, critical thinking and communication. No previous bookmaking experience required. A materials fee of $30.00 is due at registration.

Registration forms are available on the Saint Michael’s College website.

*** The Massachusetts College of Art and Design is offering The Art of the Book with Peter Madden on Tuesdays from September 25 – November 13, 2012. Learn the basics of bookbinding beginning with simple structures and building daily on your skills.

Through demonstrations and hands on guided studio time, you’ll progress quickly from easy, magical books made from a single sheet of paper to more elaborate, hardcover, multi-signature books. No unusual or expensive equipment is required and everything covered in class can be easily continued at home. Participants in this workshop typically leave with at least 10 book structures and the inspiration and knowledge to create dozens more.

For more information or to register, please visit the MassArt website.

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