by Elissa | Feb 7, 2022 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 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
In continuing with our tradition of choosing a theme for our meetings every year, the B.A.G. Board has selected the theme of Woven for 2022.
Weaving is one of the oldest surviving crafts in history, and is an integral part of all of our lives. We wear woven clothing, we sit on woven seats, we use and admire woven baskets.
In the paper and book world, there are many examples of paper weaving, woven book covers, and woven structures. Here are a few resources to get your brain churning:
The possibilities are kind of endless!
During the meetings this year, guest presenters will guide you through techniques to get you started on your woven explorations. The simplest methods can produce exciting results and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Program: Visit to UVM’s Silver Special Collections
At this month’s B.A.G. meeting, University of Vermont librarian Prudence Doherty of the Silver Special Collections Library, has graciously offered to present to us once again as we kick off our series of meetings focusing on Woven.
She has selected examples from the collection that illustrate the many creative and different ways artists have integrated weaving into their book arts work. We look forward to seeing her choices
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
January Meeting Reflections
Woven!
Weaving is so much fun, so easy to learn, and the results are so satisfying! Penne Tompkins and Becky Boardman started off our exploration of Woven with simple and sophisticated ways to make a woven heart. The techniques are easily transferable to many projects. I’ll bet there will be some amazing Valentines sent out this February!
Thanks to everyone for showing up, being present, and sharing the evening. Special thanks to Penne and Becky for their skill and patience.
If you were unable to attend the meeting, but want to make some woven hearts of your own, you can access the templates here.
B.A.G. Library Corner
Our “woven” theme continues this month with Jeannine Stein’s Woven Mini Book. This project makes weaving the focal point by using a woven piece as the cover. Stein provides a quick and dirty lesson on the basics of weaving and demonstrates how to transform that resulting piece into a showstopper soft cover for your book.
She shows two other examples of the project – a shortcut with a store-bought woven placemat and a master version that showcases the piece of a fiber artist.
If you have ideas for books to feature or if you have a B.A.G. 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
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.
*** New this year – you can now pay your dues using Venmo!
Our account is BAGofVT, listed under businesses.
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.
*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont is considering holding a daylong summer retreat/workshop for members and friends, depending on the interest.
We’d love to get your feedback about the idea, so please complete this brief survey and let us know what you think!
*** B.A.G. member, illustrator, and cartoonist Amy Burns will have her work on display from February 16 – March 31 at Espresso Bueno in Barre, VT. Alongside Amy’s framed works, originals, prints, cards and comics will be work by mixed media painter Keilani Lime.
Work is available for viewing and purchase during the following hours:
- Monday – Friday: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- Saturday – Sunday: 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Espresso Bueno is located at 248 N Main Street.
*** B.A.G. member, bookmaker, and printer Jane Ploughman will be co-teaching Decorative Paper & Book Structures with artist Susan Smereka.
In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn the process for paste paper, Gelli plate printing, and Japanese marbling, called Suminagashi. The decorative paper you make will be incorporated into book structures such as single sheet, a single flag, and accordion with a hard cover.
For your final book project, you will be working on content. If you have some bookbinding experience, this workshop will not only refresh your knowledge, but give you some new skills.
The workshop will take place at Susan Smereka’s studio space in Burlington, VT (Howard Street off of Pine) from March 1 – March 29, on Tuesdays from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact Susan at susansmereka@gmail.com.
*** Elissa Campbell is teaching Pop-Up Basics: The Movable Book at CraftStudies on February 26. The workshop will take place at A Lucky Girl Studio in Norwich, VT.
If you want to add more magic to your cards and artist books, then give pop-ups a try! Also known as paper engineering, pop-ups use cuts and folds to create motion and energy in paper structures.
Through the creation of a series of pop-up cards, students will learn the basics of three-dimensional construction, including box supports, props, and straddles, then bind these cards into a book, which will become a handy reference for future work.
No previous experience is required. You’ll feel more comfortable in the workshop if you have experience using an X-Acto knife.
For more information or to register, please visit the CraftStudies website.
Book Arts News
*** After two years of being canceled due to the pandemic, the Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts‘ Book Arts Bazaar will again be hosted in Wishcamper Center on the Portland Campus of the University of Southern Maine. The Bazaar will take place on Sunday April 3, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact Annie Lee-Zimerle at aemin.leezimerle@maine.edu.
*** The Rochester Public Library is currently accepting entries for their 11th juried international exhibit, Art of the Book & Paper: Artists Books, Altered Books & Paper Sculpture. The deadline for entries is February 28.
In 2011, the first Art of the Book exhibit was held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Rochester Public Library. At the time, they wanted to celebrate what has been at the core of libraries for centuries – the book. They marveled over the intricate interpretations of this humble format, and were thrilled with the response to the exhibit from the community.
Books continue to ensnare the imagination, both for their form and content. Artists manipulate those two components to create breathtaking, mind-bending works of art that tease and cajole people to consider the intricacies of paper, ink, words, and meaning.
For more information or to view the prospectus, please visit the Rochester Public Library’s website.
*** After a 2-year hiatus, the UNBOUND exhibit will make its return to the Artistree Gallery in South Pomfret in June and July.
The show features art using books as a material or a format. Visitors will have an opportunity to examine curious folios, recent grimoires, tomes turned to sculpture and some works having a relation to “books” in concept only.
Submission details have not yet been published on the Artistree website. Stay tuned to the B.A.G. newsletter and we’ll give you the most up-to-date information when it’s made available.
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is currently holding a zine maker contest, Navigating 2020 – 2021. It’s been a crazy past two years, many of us dealing with illness, isolation, confusion, and turmoil on so many different levels. So, we want to know: How did you Navigate 2020/2021?
Were there changes in your life, your relationships, your health, or habits during the past couple of years? Have your philosophies, feelings, or views of the world changed?
Produce and submit (via email or in person) a zine by March 31, 2022. Your submission and all the others we receive will become part of a boxed set that will become part of the permanent collection at FAU Libraries’ Jaffe Center for Book Arts.
For more information on how to submit your work, please visit the JCBA website.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering Non-Linear Artist’s Books with Yuka Petz on February 17 & 24, and March 3, 10, 17, & 24.
Explore artist’s books that defy conventional front-to-back reading. In this virtual workshop, make six non-linear artist’s books, including one-sheet books, flexagons, dos-à-dos, French door, flag books, and volvelles. Each week, learn a new book structure and techniques for adding content that work in tandem with the non-traditional book form to create meaning.
Examples of artists’ books that use these structures will be discussed. The group will also engage in brief idea generation exercises and friendly critique. Participants will have the option to exchange books with one another to begin or grow a personal collection of artists’ books.
For more information or to register, please visit the MCBA website.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering Artist Books: Concept & Making with Maria Veronica San Martín on February 22–24.
This online course will show you how to conceptualize and make your own artist book. The course begins with a contextual lesson on the book as an artistic medium – helping provide students with inspiration for their own work.
Then the class transitions to art-making – including learning the dos and don’ts of the accordion book structure, the technique of monoprints on plexiglass, and the creation and construction of a flag book.
By the end of the course, each student will have created their own artist book and the class will engage in a final critique and discussion of all the work produced!
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** The San Francisco Center for the Book is offering Circle Accordion with Pockets with Stephanie Jucker on February 23.
This decorative and functional book can be made with materials you probably have lying around at home. With a little paper-folding, cutting, and tape this simple structure can be created in a short amount of time, no special tools required.
Lightweight, with useful pockets, it makes a great travel journal, place to store mementos, index card holder or personalized gift. Using two-sided paper (a different color or pattern on each side) adds a lot of interest to the book; the instructor will also show ways to add surface design to your paper at the beginning of class, or you can bring your own patterned/decorated paper.
For more information or to register, please visit the SFCB website.
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering Design in the Details: Adaptations & Variations with Stephanie Wolff on February 26 & 27.
Over the course of this full weekend workshop, you will learn a collection of inventive page structures suitable for a variety of bindings, while creating a reference model for inspiration. Making a book by hand allows opportunities for the design and material choices of the book. And it’s those details that can elevate your work from the commonplace and set it apart.
Binder-artists often have ideas that challenge the successful execution of traditional binding forms, whether from the use of unconventional materials or alterations of the structure. This workshop offers some approaches to designing pages that go beyond the regular printed page, but are easily bound into traditional forms.
We’ll cover a range of techniques, with many based on historic structures, including how to incorporate photos or prints, oversized pages, loose material, as well as pockets, foldouts, envelopes, mounting options, and other display possibilities. We’ll discuss ways to incorporate content using these page possibilities.
For more information or to register, please email John Cutrone at jcutrone@fau.edu.
by Elissa | Jan 9, 2022 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 12, 2022, 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
In continuing with our tradition of choosing a theme for our meetings every year, the B.A.G. Board has selected the theme of Woven for 2022.
Weaving is one of the oldest surviving crafts in history, and is an integral part of all of our lives. We wear woven clothing, we sit on woven seats, we use and admire woven baskets.
In the paper and book world, there are many examples of paper weaving, woven book covers, and woven structures. Here are a few resources to get your brain churning:
The possibilities are kind of endless!
During the meetings this year, guest presenters will guide you through techniques to get you started on your woven explorations. The simplest methods can produce exciting results and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Program: Woven Paper Hearts
At our January Zoom meeting we will start the theme for the year of Woven by making variations of woven paper hearts with Penne Tompkins and Becky Boardman. We will also look at some remarkable examples of where you can take these basic structures.
Here’s a list of what you’ll need to complete the project:
- Text weight papers in contrasting colors and/or patterns. Origami paper works well too.
- Scissors or X-acto knife
- Cutting mat
- Some form of adhesive – glue stick, adhesive dots, etc.
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Templates (print these out in advance of the meeting)
- Hole punch and string if you want to make a hanging ornament (optional)
We hope to see you there!
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
December Meeting Reflections
Who wants to do that again?
Not only was it super fun to make a zine, it was even more fun to see and hear how others approached it. The end results were totally amazing and informative. We learned about QR codes, huipil, cricuts, alternative folds, and French doors – all just fabulous.
Best of all, we learned a lot about each other, which is the whole point of getting together!
Thanks to all who participated and attended. Each month seems to be a record for attendance, and as we enter the new year seemingly farther away from in-person meetings, the time we spend together seems more important.
B.A.G. Library Corner
Let’s kick off the new year with a tutorial from the Book Arts Guild’s own Amy Lapidow! Featured in her book Book Art Studio Handbook with co-author Stacie Dolan, the pretty Woven Album would be a great book to capture memories from throughout your year.
The structure is a modified Jacob’s Ladder construction, can be adjusted to fit as many leaves as you like, and is flexible enough to add inclusions and stay flat. The possibilities are endless with this project
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.
*** New this year – you can now pay your dues using Venmo!
Our account is BAGofVT, listed under businesses.
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.
*** B.A.G. member, illustrator, and cartoonist Amy Burns will have her work on display from February 16 – March 31 at Espresso Bueno in Barre, VT. Alongside Amy’s framed works, originals, prints, cards and comics will be work by mixed media painter Keilani Lime.
Work is available for viewing and purchase during the following hours:
- Monday – Friday: 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- Saturday – Sunday: 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Espresso Bueno is located at 248 N Main Street.
*** B.A.G. member, bookmaker, and printer Jane Ploughman will be co-teaching Decorative Paper & Book Structures with artist Susan Smereka.
In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn the process for paste paper, Gelli plate printing, and Japanese marbling, called Suminagashi. The decorative paper you make will be incorporated into book structures such as single sheet, a single flag, and accordion with a hard cover.
For your final book project, you will be working on content. If you have some bookbinding experience, this workshop will not only refresh your knowledge, but give you some new skills.
The workshop will take place at Susan Smereka’s studio space in Burlington, VT (Howard Street off of Pine), with your choice of dates:
- January 21 – February 18, Fridays 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- March 1 – March 29, Tuesdays 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact Susan at susansmereka@gmail.com.
*** Elissa Campbell is teaching Pop-Up Basics: The Movable Book at CraftStudies on January 29. The workshop will take place at A Lucky Girl Studio in Norwich, VT.
If you want to add more magic to your cards and artist books, then give pop-ups a try! Also known as paper engineering, pop-ups use cuts and folds to create motion and energy in paper structures.
Through the creation of a series of pop-up cards, students will learn the basics of three-dimensional construction, including box supports, props, and straddles, then bind these cards into a book, which will become a handy reference for future work.
No previous experience is required. You’ll feel more comfortable in the workshop if you have experience using an X-Acto knife.
For more information or to register, please visit the CraftStudies website.
Book Arts News
*** Bech Evans is selling two hand-crafted book presses that were inspired by antique cast iron nipping presses.
The interior dimensions of the yellow press are 10″ high by 11 3/8″ wide. Bed and three platens are 3/4″ baltic birch and measure 11″ x 13″. A durable clear finish was applied over the paint and on the bed and platens.
The frame of the pink press is shaped from laminated baltic birch. A durable clear finish is applied over the paint. The screw is a Jorgensen 12″ press screw.
Both presses are available for purchase on Craigslist (click on the links above). Prices are negotiable.
For more information or to buy a press, please contact Bech at (601) 985-8482.
*** 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.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** Kit Davey has a number of online classes available during the month of January. Here are two of them:
On January 10, Kit is teaching How to Make a Pop Up and Out Book. When you open the pages of this book a card is pushed up and out, just like a toaster.
On January 15, Kit is teaching How to Make an Interlocking Folds Book. This sculptural book is made with two strips of folded paper which “lock” into each other.
In both classes, she will show you the easy steps to make the book and finish it in class.
For more information or to register, please visit Kit’s website.
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering Exposed Sewing with Decorative Guards & Self-Locking Wrapper with Karen Hanmer on January 22.
For centuries paper has served as a quick, elegant, and economical covering material for books. This versatile material can create structures ranging from pocket notebooks to conservation friendly bindings to a case durable enough for a heavily-used manual.
Exposed Sewing with Decorative Guards features colorful link stitch sewing and slivers of decorative paper visible on the spine. The covers are hooked around the first and last signatures before sewing, then sewn normally along with rest of the text block. A quick-to-construct self-locking flap keeps the text block clean and secure.
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 Paper-cutting on Stage: Kamishibai and Paper Theaters with Béatrice Coron on January 27.
A paper-cut stage can take many forms including a tunnel book, multi-layered card, or an artist book. The class will draw inspiration from examples of paper stages from Japan, Victorian England, and more.
Students will consider how the kind of stories they want to tell can inform the structure they choose for their paper stage. Then Coron will share paper-cutting techniques that will allow students to create their own unique paper stages.
The class will also discuss various methods of activating a paper-cut stage like stop animation, video, and live performance. Finally, Coron will share tips, tricks, and resources to help students continue paper-stage-making in the future.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering the Paired Station Binding with Rosae Reeder on January 27.
Similar to a Coptic binding, the paired station binding has an exposed spine featuring a decorative sewing. With multiple sewing stations along the spine, the paired station binding can be used to sew sections or gatherings of pages, as well as single sheets.
In this virtual workshop, learn how to make a paired station binding using a combination of sections and single sheets with a soft paper cover. Traditional Coptic bindings, thread variations, and methods for adding boards to make a hardcover binding will be discussed.
While all skill levels are welcome, this multiple-section binding is technical and basic bookbinding experience may be helpful.
For more information or to register, please visit the MCBA website.
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 | May 5, 2021 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 12, 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
Text Me!
Text is an important consideration when creating a piece, just as imagery, structure, and materials are. Our members often tell us that they struggle with incorporating text in their work.
We’ve heard you!
Our 2021 series of themed meetings – Text Me! – will focus on how to approach text in the book arts.
We’ll look at how to choose text, methods for adding text to the page, and determining where to put it. This month, B.A.G. member Deborah Stuart will lead exercises prompting us to both generate text and create simple book structures
We hope you’ll join us as we journey into the world of text!
Program: Text Me, Part 4 – Putting Our Writing into Our Books with Deborah Stuart
Sometimes a piece of writing needs a book and sometimes a book needs some content. Putting those two thing together can present challenges!
For some of us writing is the easy part – finding the right books to put them in is harder. For some of us bookmaking is the natural skill – finding or creating the words and ideas which will fill the pages is the challenge. Even for those who comfortably do both, having new approaches and ideas can open up different possibilities.
We’ll do some quick writing exercises to give us short written material to use, and then we’ll do several simple folded book structures in which to capture what we’ve written. There will be examples of steps to take to make the text-to-page process easier and less daunting. We’ll take a bit of time to share ideas back and forth about what works well for us so we can learn from one another.
Materials list:
- Paper on which to write (lined or unlined)
- Favorite writing pen or pencil
- Colored marker or crayon
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Glue stick or tape
- 6-8 pages text paper (white or solid color)
- Favorite line of poetry and/or a favorite quote (preferably printed out, but handwritten would also work)
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
April Meeting Reflections
As I went back through the notes I took from the meeting with Erin Sweeney, I was surprised to see how much we learned, not only in technique but also in materials and tools! It was enlightening!
I am pochoiring all the time now, and can’t wait to make some gelli prints using Yupo as my stencils. It was an evening that set off some sparks for me in terms of ideas and fun stuff. I hope it was the same for you.
Thanks, Erin Sweeney, for your enthusiasm and your gift for sharing that with us. Thanks to the B.A.G. board for sending out the ‘text kits’ so we could all follow along, and thanks to everyone who attended.
You can download a copy of Erin’s resource list here.
B.A.G. Library Corner
Calligraphy artists Jane Ewing, Marijo Carney, Kimberly Dixon, Tina Lee-Cronkhite, Christine Orsolini, and Karen Vosburg showed the “power of words” in their two-year art collaboration for ArtPrize, the world’s largest juried art exhibition.
Their painstaking process is detailed in Bound and Lettered (vol. 10, no. 3) from the preparation of the vellum, through the selection and application of text, to the final exhibition of the piece.
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 article here.
You can also purchase a copy of the issue here.
B.A.G. News
*** We are pleased to announce that B.A.G. will be having an exhibit at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in St. Johnsbury from August 6th to September 18th! This is a great time of year for this exhibit as a lot of tourists are in the area at that time and it’s good to spread our book arts further afield to new parts of the state!
More information will be forthcoming, so please begin thinking of work you would like to exhibit. Work to be displayed on surfaces as well as on walls will be greatly appreciated.
Book Arts News
*** On May 22, the American Bookbinders Museum is presenting a lecture with Samuel Feinstein, Going for the Gold.
Feinstein is a bookbinder and finisher working in Chicago. While the basic tenets of gold finishing have not changed much over the years, approach in terms of design, precision of placement of individual tools, and utilization of different gilding sizes has. In his work Sam aspires to work seamlessly in all styles, historical and modern, to bring to the surface some of the essence of what is inside the covers.
In his presentation, Feinstein will talk about how his traumatic brain injury left him unable to do other work, but introduced him to the world of hand bookbinding, the aspects of bookbinding history that truly inspired him to want to follow this path, and the one binding that set him on his course to want to do fine leather bookbinding and specialize in gold finishing.
In his slides he will demonstrate one of the many approaches to gold finishing that he employs in his work and teaching, as well as the philosophy behind his tooling method.
He will then take a tour through a few of his favorite and most engaging bindings that he has had the opportunity to work on and talk about what went into each one, not all of which have gold as the center of attention.
For more information, visit the American Bookbinders Museum website.
*** The virtual 2021 Focus on Book Arts conference has announced their featured speaker. Tia Blassingame will present Book Arts Futures: Musings on the Future of the Field on Friday, July 16.
A book artist and printmaker exploring the intersection of race, history, and perception, Blassingame often incorporates archival research and her own poetry in her artist’s book projects for nuanced discussions of racism in the United States.
In 2019, Blassingame founded the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color collective to bring Book History and Print Culture scholars into conversation and collaboration with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) book artists, papermakers, curators, letterpress printers, printmakers for building community and support systems.
Blassingame is an Assistant Professor of Book Arts at Scripps College and serves as the Director of Scripps College Press.
Virtual conference registration is free, but space is limited. For more information, visit the FOBA website.
*** The upcoming 2021 Ladies of Letterpress Conference will be held online September 24 – 26 and everyone is welcome.
They’re currently developing new workshops, talks, and demos covering a wide range of letterpress topics. They’ll continue a few themes that have percolated from last year’s conference but they’d really love to hear from you. What are you curious about? Send them an email or message on Instagram.
Workshops, talks, and demos from around the letterpress world will be announced in the coming weeks. For the latest information, visit the Ladies of Letterpress website.
*** Each year the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) sponsors a non-juried exhibition The Illustrated Accordion, showing in the KBAC Gallery in late spring. Open to all emerging and established artists, this exhibition focuses on books created in the accordion form.
The books in their 13th anniversary exhibit can be viewed online, now through June 18.
For more information, visit the KBAC website.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is offering Small Paper, Long Accordions with Stephanie Wolff on May 13.
Accordion books are great structures for exhibitions, as content can be revealed all at once without having a viewer handle the work. But large paper can be a challenge to find or to print on. This workshop covers the basic accordion form, methods of using small paper to create long accordions (and the benefits of doing so), along with a handful of ways to join strips of any length together.
We’ll discuss some of the challenges when working with the accordion form, and some work-arounds and opportunities these limitations present. Participants will complete a set of models to serve as inspiration and reference for future projects.
For more information or to register, please email John Cutrone at jcutrone@fau.edu.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering The Drum Leaf Binding and Its Precedents with Scott McCarney on May 17, 24 & 31.
In this three-session workshop, we will be making three books that are related in their ease and ingenuity of assembly: a Japanese Album, a Japanese Butterfly book, and a Drum-Leaf binding.
All three books join single folded folios in distinct ways, the Drum-Leaf being a hybrid combination of the Album and Butterfly. All three use a minimum of glue, limiting the amount of moisture introduced to the book block which speeds the binding process considerably. The Drum-Leaf book is cased into an easily assembled quarter-cloth cover with a throw-back spine. Since each page spread is a single folded folio, it allows images to be printed across the gutter with no interruption, making it very popular with printmakers and photographers. Once completed, the book lies flat when opened, making it very popular with viewers.
In session one, we will make a Japanese album and a Japanese butterfly book. We’ll also make covers for these books using the “drumming” technique. In session two, we will “drum” a stack of folded folios to create the book block for the Drum-Leaf binding. in session three, we will make the cover and case-in the Drum-Leaf book block.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** BookArtsLA is offering the Paper Case with Locking Spine with Karen Hanmer on May 19.
The Paper Case with Locking Spine is a good solution when a temporary binding is needed now for a book that will be rebound using a more robust method when time permits. Double folio endsheets are reinforced at the fold, sewn on, and later slit at the head and tail about an inch down through the reinforced fold. The head and tail turn-ins of the case are folded into the slits, locking the text block into the case without adhesive.
The text block can be removed from the case quickly and easily by snipping the threads in the center of each signature. This case is also notable for its interesting fold pattern resulting in envelope-like flaps on the inside at front and rear.
For more information or to register, visit the BookArtsLA website.
*** The San Francisco Center for the Book is offering The Magic of Sewing Cards with Rosae Reeder on May 20 & 27.
The sewing card is a wonderful aid in learning how to master a simple to difficult sewing. Practicing the mechanics of any sewing on a piece of two-dimensional card is tantamount to working on an actual book.
Learn how to prepare and make sewing cards for a few different types of book structures in the first session. Take what you have learned and apply it to making the actual book in the second session. Students will choose which book to make once we have completed several types of sewing cards.
For more information or to register, visit the SFCB website.
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering Box Building for Beginners with Erin Maurelli on June 1, 8, 15, & 22.
This workshop is perfect for anyone new to book arts who would like to learn something a little different. Building boxes, with high-density board often called “book board,” is a time-honored tradition within book arts. Hand-built boxes serve many functions, from holding tools to preserving fragile books. Participants will learn the basics of box building while creating two unique boxes with lids.
For more information or to register, visit the MCBA website.
by Elissa | Apr 9, 2021 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 14, 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
Text Me!
Text is an important consideration when creating a piece, just as imagery, structure, and materials are. Our members often tell us that they struggle with incorporating text in their work.
We’ve heard you!
Our 2021 series of themed meetings – Text Me! – will focus on how to approach text in the book arts.
We’ll look at how to choose text, methods for adding text to the page, and determining where to put it. This month we’ll have special guest star Erin Sweeney as our guide through various text-creating methods.
We hope you’ll join us as we journey into the world of text!
Program: Text Me, Part 3 – Adding Text with visiting artist Erin Sweeney
In our April meeting, Erin Sweeney, artist extraordinaire, will lead us through an exploration of methods for printing text. Erin lives and works in southern New Hampshire and received her MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
From Erin:
In this demo, we will utilize pochoir, stamps, transfers, and hand-lettering techniques to include text in your books and other projects. I’ll also show you a cool stamp that has tiny hand-set rubber type, and maybe my new (old) IBM typewriter that I just received! The focus will be on easy techniques to do at home, without fancy equipment.
Tools/Materials:
- Card stock
- X-Acto knife/scissors
- Stamp pads
- Stiff craft brush – round kids brushes work great, the chunky ones
- Fresh photocopies of text – and if you have InDesign and can reverse the text, that would be great, but not necessary
- ChartPak colorless blender pen – again, if you have one, not necessary
If you plan to attend the meeting, please contact Elissa so she can send you the Zoom meeting details.
March Meeting Reflections
At our March meeting, Morgan Swan from Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College treated us to a sampling of text-related random cool stuff from their artists’ book collection!
Highlights included embroidered letters and pages, cut-out letters, hidden or obscured text, and manipulated text to form images. So much inspiration! I, personally, cannot wait to use some of these techniques. Now, if only I knew what to say…
Thanks to Morgan for a delightful evening, and thanks to everyone for Zooming in.
B.A.G. Library Corner
Continuing with our text theme, Dorothy Simpson Krause provides some ideas for incorporating words in her book, Book + Art: Handcrafting Artists’ Books.
She discusses a bit about how either text or image can be the primary vehicle for conveying meaning and goes on to show how she integrates the two. Exploring writing, type, and found text she provides ideas for including words, shows evocative examples, and lays out her step-by-step processes for positioning text in a work and the physical transferral of text.
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 article here.
You can also purchase a copy of the book here (Krause recommends Amazon, but you can certainly get it elsewhere).
B.A.G. News
*** We are pleased to announce that B.A.G. will be having an exhibit at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in St. Johnsbury from August 6th to September 18th! This is a great time of year for this exhibit as a lot of tourists are in the area at that time and it’s good to spread our book arts further afield to new parts of the state!
More information will be forthcoming, so please begin thinking of work you would like to exhibit. Work to be displayed on surfaces as well as on walls will be greatly appreciated.
*** Elissa Campbell is teaching the Phabulous Photo Album online for the Morgan Conservatory on June 7 & 8.
Learn how to create an elegant stab-bound, hard cover photo album using book cloth and handmade paper. This is a wonderful keepsake that can hold 4” x 6” photos from your recent vacation, family gatherings, or quarantine photo challenges.
Each participant will leave this virtual workshop with a completed photo album and a basic knowledge of a stab binding technique. You will receive a detailed handout and resource list for all materials used, as well as a materials kit.
Get your pictures off your phone and into your hands!
For more information or to register, visit the Morgan Conservatory website.
Book Arts News
*** On April 13th, Emory Libraries is presenting the History of Pop-up Books. Shawn Sheehy and Kevin Steele will talk about the history of pop-up books and discuss their creative work.
At this free, virtual event, a short slide show of relevant items from the Rose Library’s collection will be shown. After the talks, Shawn Sheehy will provide a fun and brief instruction session in which the audience can learn how to make a simple pop-up.
For more information or to register, visit the Emory Libraries website.
*** The University of Vermont‘s Silver Special Collections is presenting a series of online presentations in April, Gathering Leaves: Conversations about Book Arts.
On April 15th, Luis Vivanco (Anthropology) will introduce his latest bicycle history comic. As a creator of research-based comics on bicycle history, Professor Vivanco has reimagined and reinterpreted the Vermont Road Book as a mini-comic, integrating techniques and inspiration from the book arts world.
In this talk, he will publicly unveil The 1895 Vermont Road Book: A Comical Reinterpretation, explore the relationship between comics and book arts, and discuss some of the primary research, creative, and technical challenges involved in this project.
On April 29th, Elizabeth Fenton (English) invites us to tour her printing studio and learn how letterpress printing has influenced her work as a literary critic.
She will tell the stories behind the presses she has purchased over the years and offer brief demonstrations of their particular operations. She also will show some examples of pieces she has made using letterpress and explain how working to create texts and images using old techniques has changed the way she approaches literature.
The talk will conclude with a short discussion of her current project, a study of documents produced and preserved by members of the early Mormon Church, which has been deeply shaped by her work in Book Arts.
For more information, visit the UVM website.
*** The American Bookbinders Museum is currently hosting an online exhibit focusing on the decorating and finishing of books, Making Their Mark: Decorating and Finishing.
For bookbinders, finishing includes lettering, decorating and other processes that complete the binding process to identify, beautify and finish a book. Those who focus solely on this aspect of bookbinding are called finishers. When impressions are made by hand it is called tooling, and by machine, blocking.
For more than five hundred years, hand tooling of leather bindings has utilized heated brass or metal stamps, pressed into the leather to make an impression. If the impressions are left unadorned it is called blind tooling. A common embellishment is to make the impression through gold leaf for gold tooling.
The American Bookbinders Museum is proud to share its collection of finishing tools with you and to provide an overview of finishing, including hand stamping tools and machine blocking plates.
To view the exhibit, visit the American Bookbinders Museum website.
*** The virtual exhibition, Boundless Possibilities 2: USM Book Arts, hosted by the Portland Public Library presents an array of artist’s books from current students in the Visual Book classes, along with an eclectic display of topics and book formats from artists in the Critique Group at the Kate Cheney Chappell 83 Center for Book Arts.
Of particular note is their collaborative book, Remarkable Maine Women, inspired by the 2020 Bicentennial of Maine’s Statehood and the Centennial of the passage of the 19th amendment.
For more information or to view the exhibit, visit the Portland Public Library website.
*** This year the Movable Book Society conference will be presented in a hybrid format with both virtual and in-person events. The conference takes place from September 30 – October 3.
Virtual attendees will have access to:
- Viewing all conference presentations in real time (including pre-conference “tours”)
- Live interaction with presenters
- Participation in the hands-on project
- An online portion of the silent auction
- Voting for the Meggendorfer Prize for Trade Books
For more information, visit the Movable Book Society website.
Stay-at-Home Fun
*** The San Francisco Center for the Book is offering the Tunnel Book with Bettina Pauly on April 20 & 27.
Developed in the Renaissance for studying perspective, the Tunnel Book is sometimes called a peephole book. It is an accordion with multiple panels, to be viewed from the front for a 3-D effect.
In this two-session class you will learn the concertina-fold that will hold the pages and decorate the four interior “tunnel” pages with collage/rubber-stamping/painting/sketching. Once the tunnel is finished it will be glued into a simple cover to give it a more finished look.
For more information or to register, visit the SFCB website.
*** The Minnesota Center for Book Arts is offering the Seven-Pocket Chinese Thread Book with Kathleen Sheridan on April 21.
Originating in Northern China, the Chinese Thread Book or Zhen Xian Boa, was traditionally used to store thread, needles, and other embroidery materials. Constructed with printed cotton, the original thread book was designed to contain numerous interlocking compartments (or pockets) that open to remove or store items and collapse flat when not in use for efficient storage.
Today, there are many origami paper versions of this clever, satisfying, and playful model. In this virtual workshop, learn to create a square, seven-pocket origami thread book. Build skills to make the model again on your own with any number of pockets! Finished pieces may be used to store embroidery materials as originally intended, or to hold photos, notes, or other flat materials.
For more information or to register, visit the MCBA website.
*** The Center for Book Arts is offering Writing a Colophon and a Prospectus with Roni Gross on Apr 21 & 28.
Students will learn the difference between a colophon and a prospectus, what purposes they serve and how to utilize them in marketing their work. The instructor will present colophons and prospectuses written by various artists, for use of language and the accompanying artwork.
Students will have an opportunity to begin writing a colophon and prospectus in class and get feedback on their writing. We will also talk about how to market artist books.
For more information or to register, please visit the CBA website.
*** BookArtsLA is offering Packed Tacket Binding with Anne Covell on April 24.
The packed tacket binding, dating to the 2nd century AD, is one of oldest known multi-quire sewing styles. Composed of an exposed spine that combines coils of thread that snake up and down the spine, this structure combines speed and simplicity with flexibility and durability of form. Few tools and little to no adhesives are required to make this binding. Emphasis in this class will be on signature punching and sewing methods.
Students in this class will be provided with a descriptive handout and materials list in advance of the class to allow students to bind along with the instructor during the demonstration.
For more information or to register, visit the BookArtsLA website.
*** The Printing Museum is offering Cyanotypes with Fall 2020 Artist-In-Residence Caroline Roberts on April 30.
Learn to make photographs without a camera, using the water-based cyanotype process and sunshine! We will learn about using objects, transparencies, and digital negatives to create images.
A materials list (with suggested sources) will be provided before the workshop for those who want to work alongside (sunshine permitting!)
For more information or to register, visit the Printing Museum website.
