by Elissa | Jun 14, 2012 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 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.
Photo by Christopher J. Campbell
Program: Open Bindery
Join us for Open Bindery in June!
Unfortunately, Margery Cantor is not able to present at our June meeting, but we look forward to having her share her letterpress expertise with us in the future. Instead, we have a program designed to get your summer bookbinding endeavors off to a roaring start.
This month, we invite you to bring a project to work on and join us for the Book Arts Guild’s first-ever Open Bindery! We hope to create a collaborative space where we can work on our own projects while at the same time sharing ideas, offering each other assistance, and inspiring each other. It also provides an opportunity to get to know each other better, to catch up with old friends, and to share what we’ve been working on.
Our mini-bindery will offer equipment such as book presses; a Kutrimmer™; a Xyron™ (a non-heat, non-spray alternative to wet adhesives), sewing frames, a Zutter Bind It All™ spiral binder, cutting mats, and various hand tools. There will also be a mini-library of books on bookbinding and book arts for instruction and inspiration, and materials available for purchase, such as bookboard and PVA glue.
We think it will be a very enjoyable and productive evening, and look forward to seeing you there!
Reflections on May’s Meeting
Our May meeting was such fun with Robin Cooper Collins leading us all on the makings of a very special movable mechanism that she discovered during a restoration project. Robin first provided us with an introduction of her work with the restoration and conservation of antiquarian children’s books. We were all fascinated by the detective skills, technology and wealth of art techniques Robin applies to her projects.
Robin, thank you for sharing your unique expertise with us on antique children’s books and for guiding us though the makings of challenging movable mechanism.
We have pictures from the meeting, but they’re not on the blog yet. As soon as they’re posted, we’ll let you know.
B.A.G. News
*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is pleased to announce that book artist Daniel Kelm will be coming to Vermont to offer The Book Restructured: Wire Edge Binding, a two-day workshop from 7/28/12 – 7/29/12.
Book artists produce a truly remarkable range of books – some diverging wildly from what we recognize as traditional book form. Wire edge binding, which employs a thin metal wire along the hinging edge of each page, was developed by master bookbinder, artist, and innovator Daniel Kelm to meet the challenge of creating a nontraditional book that opens exceptionally well and allows for unusual shapes.
During this two-day intensive workshop, which includes two projects, you will master basic wire edge skills for producing highly functional bindings of both traditional and unusual shapes. The first project – a simple codex of six identical page panels – teaches you the basics of integrating metal wire into a paperboard construction. The second project – an accordion with triangular pages that fold to form a tetrahedron – teaches you how to make books of various geometric shapes.
All experience levels welcome!
Dates: July 28 – 29, 2012 (Saturday – Sunday)
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (including lunch break)
Location: The Bindery Place, Shelburne Pond Studios, Shelburne, VT
Cost (all-inclusive!): $210.00 B.A.G. members, $225.00 non-members
Space is limited and B.A.G. members are getting a head start on registering, so sign up as soon as possible! Click here to download the registration form.
For further information about the workshop, please contact Jill Abilock at (802) 238-0883 or SixLoonsStudio@gmail.com.
*** The May/June exhibition at the Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes, VT includes work from our 2012 spring exhibit, Shaping Pages. Featured work includes handmade books by B.A.G. members Jill Abilock, Janet Ballantyne, Eloise Beil, Elissa Campbell, Elizabeth Rideout, Maryann Riker, Nancy Stone, Annie Watson, and Cynthia Weiss.
There will be a reception with the artists on Friday June 2nd from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. You can also visit during gallery hours on Thursday – Sunday, now through June 24th.
Book Arts News
*** The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is holding their annual meeting on Tuesday, June 26th, at 6:00 p.m. This meeting is open to all current chapter members. The primary item of business is the election of an entirely new chapter committee. The presumptive committee members will be happy to speak with members about ideas for upcoming chapter activities. Outgoing Chapter Chair, Jeffrey Altepeter, will give one last annual report.
The meeting will be held at The Independent at 75 Union Square in Somerville, MA. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jeffrey Altepeter.
*** The Museum of Printing in North Andover, MA will be having its Ninth Annual Printing Arts Fair on Sunday, June 17th, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Fair is free and open to the public.
The Printing Arts Fair brings together printers, artisans, booksellers, graphic designers, specialty paper vendors – anyone interested in the printing arts – in a family atmosphere. Live demonstrations of turning molten lead into type, letterpress printing, intaglio printing, paper making and more.
For more information, please visit please visit The Museum of Printing’s website.
*** The Photo-Bookworks Symposium, presented by the Visual Studies Workshop, will take place from June 28 – 30, 2012 in Rochester, NY.
For the 2012 Photo-Bookworks Symposium, Visual Studies Workshop has invited national and international artists, critics, curators, and publishers to discuss some of the most challenging and innovative photobooks being created in the world today. Learn about the history of the medium, about being published and self-publishing, how artists and bookbinders are expanding the form, and much more.
There will also be a special pop-up bookstore by ARTBOOK as part of the symposium. Titles by the presenters and numerous other photobooks and artists’ books, including recent titles from VSW Press, will be available for purchase at discounted prices. There will be book signings by all the presenters throughout the symposium weekend.
For further information or to register contact Kristen Merola at workshops@vsw.org.
Book Arts Classes
*** Art New England is offering Artists Books To Go with Aimee Lee from 7/29/12 – 8/4/12 at Bennington College. In this workshop, students learn key ways to build artists’ books with a minimum amount of equipment and environmental impact, and explore the book form as a repository for images, text, and ideas.
Students experiment with a variety of folded and sewn structures that can easily be made at home or on the road. They also learn how to manipulate paper into pop-ups and unconventional pages that draw from fiber techniques. Transfers and mark-making techniques will convey content and students will gather tips on how to maintain a portable tool kit. Participants will leave with an armful of books and the knowledge and confidence to make books anywhere and anytime. This class is suitable for all levels of experience.
Registration is available online. To learn more about Aimee Lee, please visit her website.
*** Book Arts at the Stone House will be offering workshops from July 23 – 29, 2012 in Freeport, Maine. Spend seven days beside the sea attending a series of book arts related workshops, filled with a wide range of topics including printmaking, cyanotypes, paper-making, marbling, sequential images, inventive fold books, book design, and box making.
During the course, each student will have the opportunity to work with 8 different instructors in half day and full day workshops. Every participant will be exposed to a variety of approaches and opinions from a stimulating group of professional artists.
Please visit the website for more details on the location and how to register.
*** From 8/3/12 – 8/5/12, Velma Bolyard will be teaching Pulp Clouds: Hand Papermaking at the Long Ridge Farm in Westmoreland, NH. In this workshop, you’ll gather plants, cook pulp, form and dry sheets of your own papers.
Expect to make strong, useable, and beautiful waterleaf (un-sized) sheets. You’ll make a book from your papers, binding sheets into sample books utilizing structures that allow you to explore bookbinding as well. Each participant may expect to make a portfolio of sheets of various sizes from at least five different plants.
The fee for the workshop is $500.00 with a limited materials list. For more information, please contact Long Ridge Farm.
*** From 8/27 – 8/31, Erin Sweeney of Lovely In The Home Press will be teaching Book School 2012 in Peterborough, NH.
From 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. each day, you’ll tackle a new structure, and discuss form and content appropriate for each. Simple writing exercises will be explored to create and organize ideas for future projects. Projects include the Piano Hinge structure, several album structures, a traditional long-stitch structure, boxes, and a Plunder Book to wrap it all up and utilize our newly learned techniques.
For more information or to register, please contact Erin at erin@erinsweeney.net.
by Elissa | May 12, 2012 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 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: Paper Engineering with Robin Cooper Collins
Please join us in May when Robin Cooper Collins shares her expertise in pop-up and movable books.
During the first part of the meeting, Robin will present From a Sows Ear to a Silk Purse, a talk she gave at the Movable Book Society conference in Portland, OR. The talk focuses on movable books that came across her work bench as complete train wrecks, and how they were brought back to life. She will also offer a glimpse at several unique and unusual books.
After the talk, everyone will have the opportunity to build a plate using one of the more unusual mechanisms she has encountered. The base papers will be provided but, but you will need to bring:
- Scissors
- Glue (White glue, PVA, and Elmers, etc. are fine, but not glue stick, because we will be gluing wood to paper.)
- Embellishments (decorative papers, paints, pencils, etc., as well as decorative cutting tools)
Robin Cooper Collins’ hand bookbinding practice is focused on the restoration and conservation of antiquarian children’s books. Her specialty is the restoration of pop-up and movables from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Reflections on April’s Meeting
Deborah Howe gave a fascinating presentation at our April meeting. She chronicled her investigation and work on the conservation of Dartmouth’s 15th century manuscript called the Brut Chronicle. This legendary and historical chronicle of England is valued as a working text and will be used for research.
Deborah led us thorough her investigation with slides and a working model that she created to bind the text. The final decision for conserving this manuscript came as a bit of a surprise to our group as a simple cover was chosen over the historical binding that Deborah reproduced and we greatly admired. We all gained new insight and appreciation for the work of a conservator and the choices made for academic conservation.
Thank you Deborah for traveling up to Burlington and sharing your presentation with us.
B.A.G. News
*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is pleased to announce that book artist Daniel Kelm will be coming to Vermont to offer The Book Restructured: Wire Edge Binding, a two-day workshop from 7/28/12 – 7/29/12.
Book artists produce a truly remarkable range of books – some diverging wildly from what we recognize as traditional book form. Wire edge binding, which employs a thin metal wire along the hinging edge of each page, was developed by master bookbinder, artist, and innovator Daniel Kelm to meet the challenge of creating a nontraditional book that opens exceptionally well and allows for unusual shapes.
During this two-day intensive workshop, which includes two projects, you will master basic wire edge skills for producing highly functional bindings of both traditional and unusual shapes. The first project – a simple codex of six identical page panels – teaches you the basics of integrating metal wire into a paperboard construction. The second project – an accordion with triangular pages that fold to form a tetrahedron – teaches you how to make books of various geometric shapes.
All experience levels welcome!
Dates: July 28 – 29, 2012 (Saturday – Sunday)
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (including lunch break)
Location: The Bindery Place, Shelburne Pond Studios, Shelburne, VT
Cost (all-inclusive!):
– Paid by 5/16/12: $195.00 (members), $210.00 (non-members)
– Paid after 5/16/12: $210.00 (members), $225.00 (non-members)
Space is limited and B.A.G. members are getting a head start on registering, so sign up as soon as possible! Click here to download the registration form.
For further information about the workshop, please contact Jill Abilock at (802) 238-0883 or SixLoonsStudio@gmail.com.
*** The May/June exhibition at the Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes, VT includes work from our 2012 spring exhibit, Shaping Pages. Featured work includes handmade books by B.A.G. members Jill Abilock, Janet Ballantyne, Eloise Beil, Elissa Campbell, Elizabeth Rideout, Maryann Riker, Nancy Stone, Annie Watson, and Cynthia Weiss.
There will be a reception with the artists on Friday June 2nd from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. You can also visit during gallery hours on Thursday – Sunday, now through June 24th.
*** B.A.G. members Carolyn Shattuck, Meta Strick, Ken Leslie, Marianna Holzer, Elizabeth Rideout, Jill Abilock, and Elissa Campbell are opening their studios as part of the state-wide Open Studio Weekend sponsored by the Vermont Crafts Council. The Creative Space Gallery is hosting books from our Shaping Pages exhibit during the event, so if you missed it in Burlington, you now have another chance to see it.
If you want to visit fellow book artists on May 26 – 27 (Memorial Day weekend), you can find them in the following locations:
- Carolyn: Rutland, studio #88
- Creative Space Gallery: Vergennes, studio #125
- Jill: Shelburne, studio #130
- Elizabeth: Shelburne, studio #130
- Marianna: Hinesburg, studio #135
- Meta: Fairfield, studio #172
- Ken: Hardwick, studio #186
- Elissa: Montpelier, studio #211
Elissa created a Google Map with all of the locations to help you with your tour. You can find maps and directions to studios on the VT Crafts Council website. You can also download a pdf of the 2012 Spring Vermont Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file – 13.5 M
Book Arts News
*** Chemically Altered: Historic Paper Marbling, a lecture by Gretchen and Garrett Dixon from The Marbler’s Apprentice, will take place on May 14, 2012 at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA. The lecture, sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is free and open to the public.
There will be discussion of the history, patterns, and fabrication techniques for chemically-altered patterns of marbled paper – Stormont, Shell, Broken, Romantic, Schroetel, and Tiger Eye. These patterns all involve the use of chemical additives to the watercolor paint in order to achieve their effect. These patterns were popular from the end of the 18th century through the 19th century.
For directions, please visit the North Bennet Street School’s website.
*** ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Festival, are looking for submissions for their upcoming exhibit, Unbound Vol II: Art using the book as a material/format. The show will be 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 2nd annual juried show looks to explore these ideas of “the book” and all the ways artists use its format as a stepping off point or as a material to explore new ideas.
The exhibit is open to all 2D and 3D, installation, and assemblage artists working in New England and New York. Submissions must be postmarked by mail or Emailed by June 9, 2012. For more information, please visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.
Book Arts Classes
*** From 8/3/12 – 8/5/12, Velma Bolyard will be teaching Pulp Clouds: Hand Papermaking at the Long Ridge Farm in Westmoreland, NH. In this workshop, you’ll gather plants, cook pulp, form and dry sheets of your own papers.
Expect to make strong, useable, and beautiful waterleaf (un-sized) sheets. You’ll make a book from your papers, binding sheets into sample books utilizing structures that allow you to explore bookbinding as well. Each participant may expect to make a portfolio of sheets of various sizes from at least five different plants.
The fee for the workshop is $500.00 with a limited materials list. For more information, please contact Long Ridge Farm.
*** The Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA is offering a Shockingly Good Book Arts Course with Sarah Smith from June 4 – June 8, 2012. This course is designed to teach you the basics of two traditional techniques that are enjoying a modern resurgence: bookbinding and letterpress.
Along with mastering the art of setting metal and wood type, students will also have the opportunity to convert their own imagery into a printable format by creating polymer plates. Additionally, learn to sew, fold and glue some simple binding structures to bring images, text and three-dimensional ideas together. By the end of the course, you will have produced bound and printed models as well as a simple artist book of your own.
The fee for the workshop is $795.00 and you can register online. For more information, please contact either Kathleen Burke or Chelsea Sams.
*** The North Bennet Street School is offering a Bookbinding Intensive with Stacie Dolin from June 25 – July 27, 2012. The five-week program meets Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
This class is designed for individuals interested in an intensive, hands-on bookbinding experience and is suitable for book artists and novice binders wishing to learn or enhance fundamental bookbinding skills. Explore a variety of book structures and binding techniques and the process for determining what materials and structures to use for a given project.
Field trips and other specific topics are part of the curriculum and will be based on student interests. The tuition includes a materials fee for paper, board, and other basic supplies; students are expected to provide some materials and all hand tools.
For more information or to register, please visit the NBBS’s website.
by Elissa | Apr 16, 2012 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 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: Book Conservation and Repair with Deborah Howe
Please join us at our April meeting when Deborah Howe, the collections conservator at Dartmouth College Library, provides us with a rare in-depth look at the repair and handling of precious, ancient manuscripts. Through a slide presentation, Deborah will talk about a conservation treatment done on a 15th century manuscript called the Brut Chronicle, which was purchased by Dartmouth.
As it was received, the manuscript came in a tacket binding which was deteriorating and therefore was no longer protecting the manuscript. The treatment involved investigation and decision making on many levels, and Deborah’s talk will explore the actual treatment, what transpires to make choices about the treatment, and how those choices fit within the context of an academic institution.
This presentation will offer an exciting an opportunity to learn quite a bit about a very important subject!
Deborah Howe is the Collections Conservator at Dartmouth College Library. Previously she headed the conservation lab at Northwestern University Library for over 10 years. She has taught classes at Columbia Center for Paper and Book, the Newberry Library and currently teaches bookbinding classes at the Book Arts Workshop at Dartmouth. She is a long standing member of the Guild of Book Workers and on the board of directors of the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio.
Reflections on March’s Meeting
Our March Book Arts Guild meeting was attended by a group of fun loving creative book arts enthusiasts. Jill Abilock orchestrated our Build-a-Book Round Robin workshop. First Jill introduced us to a multitude of book designs. When we were beginning to get overwhelmed with the infinite possibilities of book structures, Jill let us loose. We worked in a rotating manner with materials and “in process” book designs that were passed to us.
At the end of the evening our original materials were passed back to us as a “book”! The books were all unique in their design and materials. We delighted over the how the collaborative process made books beyond our own individual imaginations. What a great way to get our creative juices flowing. Thanks Jill!
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
"There Will Be" by Ann Joppe-Mercure
*** Our 2012 spring exhibit, Shaping Pages: An Exhibit of Artist Books & Fine Bindings is on display now through April 28th at the S.P.A.C.E Gallery in Burlington.
You can view images from the exhibit on the B.A.G. website. Be sure to check out our review in Seven Days.
*** Save the date! We are pleased to announce that book artist Daniel Kelm will be coming to Vermont to offer a Wire-Edge Binding workshop, a two-day workshop from 7/28/12 – 7/29/12. We know that this workshop will be amazing, so start saving up now!
Cost, location and other information about the workshop will be coming soon. For more information, please contact Jill Abilock.
*** B.A.G.’s Chair, Elizabeth Rideout, recently wrote an article for Dartmouth’s Preservation Services blog – Toning Book Cloth and Basic Color Mixing. A common use for this type of technique is to use a color-matched piece of muslin to replace a broken spine or hinge. Check out the blog post for tips and great visuals!
*** B.A.G. members Carolyn Shattuck, Meta Strick, Ken Leslie, Marianna Holzer, Elizabeth Rideout, Jill Abilock, and Elissa Campbell are opening their studios as part of the state-wide Open Studio Weekend sponsored by the Vermont Crafts Council. If you want to visit fellow book artists on May 26 – 27 (Memorial Day weekend), you can find them in the following locations:
- Carolyn: Rutland, studio #88
- Jill: Shelburne, studio #130
- Elizabeth: Shelburne, studio #130
- Marianna: Hinesburg, studio #135
- Meta: Fairfield, studio #172
- Ken: Hardwick, studio #186
- Elissa: Montpelier, studio #211
You can find maps and directions to studios on the VT Crafts Council website. You can also download a pdf of the 2012 Spring Vermont Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file – 13.5 MB.
Book Arts News
*** The exhibition Paste Papers of the Pioneer Valley is running now through the end of May at the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College. A reception will be held on Thursday, April 26 from 4:00 p.m. – 6: 00 p.m. Carol Blinn will be giving a paste paper-making demo at which you’ll be able to make your own paste papers.
For more information, please visit the Rare Book Room’s website.
*** Unbound: Speculations on the Future of the Book, a symposium exploring the future potential of the book, will take place on May 3 – 4, 2012 at the Bartos Theater at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.
The symposium showcases practices by writers and artists in and outside of MIT, putting them in conversation with scholars and thinkers from across the disciplines who are framing discourse about this technology’s possible futures, promises, and challenges.
Keynote speakers include James Reid-Cunningham (Associate Director for Digital Programs and Preservation of the Boston Athenaeum, also a bookbinder and book artist) and Bob Stein (founder and president of the Institute for the Future of the Book.
The event is free and you can register online. For more information, please contact Amaranth Borsuk or Gretchen Henderson.
*** ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Festival, are looking for submissions for their upcoming exhibit, Unbound Vol II: Art using the book as a material/format. The show will be 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 2nd annual juried show looks to explore these ideas of “the book” and all the ways artists use its format as a stepping off point or as a material to explore new ideas.
The exhibit is open to all 2D and 3D, installation, and assemblage artists working in New England and New York. Submissions must be postmarked by mail or Emailed by June 9, 2012. For more information, please visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.
Book Arts Classes
*** Susan Bonthron is teaching a Tunnel Book class on May 19th from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. All materials are included except those you may want to incorporate in your tunnel book, such as photographs, postcards, etc. The tunnel is a book with content, so I do urge you to think about what you want to commemorate/play with/include in it.
The fee for the class is $90.00 and includes lunch. For more information, please contact Susan via Email.
*** The North Bennet Street School is offering a Bookbinding Intensive with Stacie Dolin from June 25 – July 27, 2012. The five-week program meets Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
This class is designed for individuals interested in an intensive, hands-on bookbinding experience and is suitable for book artists and novice binders wishing to learn or enhance fundamental bookbinding skills. Explore a variety of book structures and binding techniques and the process for determining what materials and structures to use for a given project.
Field trips and other specific topics are part of the curriculum and will be based on student interests. The tuition includes a materials fee for paper, board, and other basic supplies; students are expected to provide some materials and all hand tools.
For more information or to register, please visit the NBBS’s website.
*** The North Bennet Street School is also offering a Springback Bookbinding workshop with Amy Lapidow from June 8 – 10, 2012. The workshop meets from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The spring-back binding is a structure originally developed in Britain for ledger books or anything that needed writing across the gutter. This flat spine is achieved using a rigid spine and lever system to snap the book open. In this class we will make a more portable version of this historic structure. This is an advanced beginner class.
For more information or to register, please visit the NBBS’s website.
