by Elissa | Sep 23, 2015 | bookbinding, Exhibitions, Vermont
“11 English & 11 Russian Palindromes” by Dmitry Sayenko
“11 English & 11 Russian Palindromes” by Dmitry Sayenko
“11 English & 11 Russian Palindromes” by Dmitry Sayenko
“11 English & 11 Russian Palindromes” by Dmitry Sayenko
“In the Event of a Moon Disaster” by Melissa Wagner-Lawler
“In the Event of a Moon Disaster” by Melissa Wagner-Lawler
“In the Event of a Moon Disaster” by Melissa Wagner-Lawler
“The Book of Darkness” by Michele Burgess and Chard deNiord
“The Book of Darkness” by Michele Burgess and Chard deNiord
“Hazel Hall” by Barbara Henry & Barbara Mauriello
“Hazel Hall” by Barbara Henry & Barbara Mauriello
“Hazel Hall” by Barbara Henry & Barbara Mauriello
“Interluceo” by Helen Hiebert & Béatrice Coron
“Interluceo” by Helen Hiebert & Béatrice Coron
“Interluceo” by Helen Hiebert & Béatrice Coron
“Interluceo” by Helen Hiebert & Béatrice Coron
“1 in 3” by Jaime Lynn Shafer
“1 in 3” by Jaime Lynn Shafer
“Unbound” by Jessica Peterson
“Unbound” by Jessica Peterson
“Adam’s Mark” by Julie Shipley, Mary Simpson, and Andrew Miller-Brown
“Adam’s Mark” by Julie Shipley, Mary Simpson, and Andrew Miller-Brown
“Anthro(A)pology” by Maureen Cummins
“Anthro(A)pology” by Maureen Cummins
“Anthro(A)pology” by Maureen Cummins
“Orientation Cube” by Islam Aly
“Orientation Cube” by Islam Aly
“Marginalia 1” by Islam Aly
“Marginalia 1” by Islam Aly
“Camp Fire Cookery” By Alicia Bailey
“Camp Fire Cookery” By Alicia Bailey
by Elissa | Nov 7, 2014 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 12, 2014, 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 Hands-On Workshops: Book Blitz and Card Tricks
Join us for our always-popular annual November tradition: Member-led mini hands-on workshops in the form of a card or mini-book exchange that we call Book Blitz and Card Tricks. Get prepared now and join in the fun!
Design a card or small/simple book structure that has a trick or two; maybe a pop-up, French doors or a window. Bring your completed card or mini-book, along with materials for six undecorated cards or mini-book structures to share. We will have an exchange and then engage in some decorating fun.
Please feel free to join in the fun even if you don’t have time to prepare cards or mini-books to bring. We do a similar program every November and there is more than enough to go around. As in years past, expect to go home with some great new ideas, several new tricks up your sleeve, and a few new cards for the season.
Things to bring:
- A decorated card/mini-book with a “trick” (optional)
- 6 card structures of your card/mini-book “trick” to exchange (optional)
- Glue
- Scissors
- X-Acto knife
- Cutting mat
- Ruler
- Decorative punches
- Stamps and ink
- Pens, pencils, markers
- Decorative papers
- Fun stuff!
October Meeting Reflections
October brought us together at the wonderful Special Collections at the Bailey/Howe Library, where we were treated to a double whammy of a meeting.
First, the tag team of Deborah Howe and Stephanie Wolff wowed us with their insights into the stunning exhibit of book work from the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers. Deborah and Stephanie discussed their love of the craft, and shared details of their own work as well as the other exhibitors in the show, Geographies: New England Book Work. Stephanie gave us an in depth look at the creation of her work Sweet New England, showing us her painstaking process resulting in a sweet tribute to familiar candies made in New England.
The second whammy was a table full of fantastic artists’ books chosen to reflect the theme of ‘place’, by Prudence Doherty, Special Collections Librarian. After Prudence gave us an overview of the works, we were let loose to handle and enjoy the books. We are very lucky to have the artists’ book collection available to us, and to have such a knowledgeable keeper of the craft to help us understand and appreciate it.
Thanks to Deborah, Stephanie, and Prudence for a remarkable meeting!
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
Book Arts News
*** Announcing our Spring 2015 exhibit: Book Works sponsored by the Book Arts Guild of Vermont!
The exhibit will take place at SEABA on Pine Street in Burlington during the month of April. We encourage all members to participate in this broadly themed show, especially those who have not exhibited previously. Work can include new or time honored techniques, book-related pieces and sculpture, and generally any work that can be ‘read’. So start thinking before you get into the holiday frenzy!
More info will be available soon.
*** The Book Arts Guild of Vermont participated in the Champlain Mini Maker Faire at Shelburne Farms in September, where members demonstrated and taught simple (and not so simple) folded book structures including the one page book, accordions, and pop-ups.
Thanks to all who participated and attended. We hope we inspired a new generation of book workers and paper lovers.
*** Geographies: New England Book Work, the New England Chapter of The Guild of Book Workers exhibition, is now on view at The University of Vermont’s Bailey/Howe Library in Burlington, Vermont through December 12, 2014.
Geographies: New England Book Work includes bookbindings and artist’s books that relate to the theme of New England created by 26 of our members. Included are classic regional texts, books that make personal connections to the region, and New England history from a variety of perspectives, among other topics.
For more information on the exhibition and the complete schedule please go to the post on the chapter blog.
*** Merrick Grutchfield has a large flat file in excellent condition that she is selling for $100.00 or best offer. It was made to hold standard sheets of paper. For more information or to snatch it up, please contact Merrick at merrickgrutchfield@gmail.com.
*** Tisch Library on the Medford campus of Tufts University has several flat files to give away. You would have to transport them on their own during the week of December 1st. Case dimensions: 54″ w x 17″ h x 42″. Each case has 5 drawers.
For more information, please contact Laura Walters at laura.walters@tufts.edu.
*** There will be a bookbinding yard sale at The Bindery in Somerville, MA on Sunday November 9, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Available goodies include a Kwikprint with chase, sewing frames, task lights, finishing press with plow, books, leather, paper, small tools & other things you can’t live without!
The Bindery is located at 11 Miller Street in room 204. No early birds, please. Cash strongly preferred.
*** Now through December 13, 2014, InsideOUT Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books is on display in the Edison and Newman Room, Houghton Library at Harvard University.
Fifty-nine binders and nine private presses from North America, Canada and Britain have collaborated to form an exhibition which demonstrates the relationship of the binding design to the printed book. Because many of the binders have chosen the same title to work on, it also highlights the differing approaches to the same text.
Harvard University is located in Cambridge, MA.
*** The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers will have a booth at the upcoming Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. Volunteers are needed to sit at the booth during the following hours:
- Friday, November 14: 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
- Saturday, November 15: 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday, November 16: 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
They want to have two volunteers in the booth at all times. To volunteer please email Todd Pattison at bookandtile@att.net. All volunteers will get free entry into the Fair!
Book Arts Classes
*** On Saturdays from January 10 – February 7, 2015, the North Bennet Street School is offering Fundamentals of Bookbinding I with Amy Lapidow.
Students learn the foundations of bookbinding with hands-on experience and discussion. The course covers non-adhesive structures and case bindings, students learn about structural elements, sewing variations, covering and cutting techniques using various materials, and tools and equipment. Discussions throughout the course cover terminology, paper grain and folding, selecting proper materials and tools, and adhesives and their properties.
For more information or to register, please visit the NBSS website.
*** The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA is offering Altered Books with Daniel Embree on February 1 & 8, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Transform used books into art objects. Learn bookmaking, paper cutting, drawing, collage and decollage techniques to reinvent used books into something new. Bring some books and some small objects and images to include. We will distribute a list of good Boston book-buying places in advance.
For more information about the class, please visit the Eliot School’s website or click here to download the complete catalog.
by Elissa | Oct 17, 2014 | bookbinding, Exhibitions, Vermont
“Stones” by Susan Bonthron
“Life Along the Connecticut River” by Patty Bruce
“Little Women” by Elizabeth Curran
“My Maine” by Todd Pattinson
“Plant Corridors” by Nancy Leavitt
“Call Me Trimtab” by Graham Patten
“Fractured Terrain” by Karen Kunc
“Gooseberry Creek” by The Tideline Press
Artist book by Claire Van Vliet
by Elissa | Oct 3, 2014 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The October 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 October we will not be meeting as usual on the second Wednesday at the Unitarian Church in Burlington.
Program: Special Visit to UVM Special Collections
This year, our visit to Special Collections will provide the unique opportunity to view the spectacular work of the members of the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, as their traveling exhibit – Geographies: New England Book Work – is currently on display at UVM’s Bailey/Howe Library.
Even more exciting, exhibitors Deborah Howe and Stephanie Wolff will be on hand to offer a guided tour of the exhibit! They will discuss the creation of their own books in the show, methods of construction used by other exhibitors, and contemporary bookbinding and book arts. The exhibition contains a variety of artist books, bindings, and manuscript books on the theme “New England.”
Deborah Howe is the Collections Conservator and a Book Arts Instructor at Dartmouth College Library, and board member of the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Stephanie Wolff is an artist, hand bookbinder, and book conservator. She teaches book arts to students of all ages, including at Dartmouth College Library’s Book Arts Workshop.
The Guild of Book Workers, a national organization founded in 1906, brings together people interested in all the book arts, including bookbinding, book conservation, calligraphy, decorative paper, papermaking, and printing. For more information visit negbw.wordpress.com and www.guildofbookworkers.org.
* Please bring a pencil, not a pen, if you plan to take notes.
September Meeting Reflections
Our September meeting was one of learning and giving. Judy Sgantas provided the group with first hand knowledge of the altruistic work provided by Team Heart. Our hearts opened as she described the culture and conditions in Rwanda. The medical team will return to Rwanda again in February to provide heart surgery for young patients. This year Judy will accompany them and work with the children in the orphanage. She will teach bookmaking and provide art supplies donated by our Book Arts Guild.
At our meeting Judy taught us the book structure of wallet books. We made several for Team Heart to give to patients and care givers in Rwanda. Jill Abilock provided beautiful paste papers for the books so each one is unique special.
Thank you Judy and Jill for providing us with a few hours away from our lives to learn about the needs of others and to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution through bookmaking.
Judy will accept more wallet books and donations through December for the work of Team Heart.
Book Arts News
*** The Champlain Mini Maker Faire will be held at Shelburne Farms Coach Barn on Saturday, October 4th from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, October 5th from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Faire is a family-friendly event to MAKE, create, learn, invent, CRAFT, recycle, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology.
The Book Arts Guild of Vermont will have a booth at the Faire where we will demonstrate simple book structures, and allow participants to try their hand at book arts. Stop by if you are at the Faire!
*** 
On October 4 & 5, the statewide Open Studio Weekend is offering a wonderful selection of book artsy studios for you to visit.
If you’re up for a tour, you can find your comrades in the following locations:
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 2014 Fall Vermont Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file.
*** Fiber artist Marion Seasholtz generates a lot of cotton batting and fabric scraps in her work and is offering them to anyone interested in using them for papermaking. If you’re interested, please contact Marion at marion@windsedgestudio.com.
*** Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here is on exhibit at the Eliot D. Pratt Library Art Gallery at Goddard College now through October 10, 2014. The exhibit commemorates the 2007 bombing that resulted in the loss of a vibrant cultural and literary community in Baghdad.
The exhibit has been traveling the world since 2012 and includes artists’ books and broadsides by artists from 26 countries. Goddard College is in Plainfield, VT.
*** The McGrath Lecture in Contemporary Book Arts presents Twenty Years of the Double Elephant Press: Harnessing Influence & Ignorance on October 8, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in the Neilson Browsing Room at Smith College, in Northampton, MA. To accompany this lecture, there is an exhibition of selected works from the Double Elephant Press, on view through December 15 at the entrance to the Mortimer Rare Book Room (Neilson Library, level 3).
Michael Kuch of Double Elephant Press began drawing in pen and ink at the age of eleven at home in northern Vermont; one year later he had a one-man show at a local museum. For the past twenty years Kuch has worked with book artisans in the Northampton area, notably the letterpress printer Art Larson, as well as numerous bookbinders. Lately, Kuch has delved into printing his own etched text and made forays into bookbinding.
For more information, please visit the Smith College Libraries website.
Book Arts Classes
*** On October 25, 2014, the North Bennet Street School, in collaboration with the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, is offering an Onion Skin Binding workshop with Benjamin Elbel.
Learn the complex sequence of scores, folds and gluings involved in the amazing Onion Skin binding, a structure that grows from the inside to the outside, gradually incorporating the single sheets into a continuous stub.
While you will learn in a traditional workshop setting, Benjamin’s instruction will be projected on a screen for students as he will be located at his studio in London.
For more information or to register, please visit the Guild of Book Workers website.
*** The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA is offering Fold & Stitch Books with Annie Silverman on Sunday, October 19 & 26, 2014 from 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Using simple techniques that build upon each other, learn a variety of essential book forms: sewn pamphlets, multiple-signature books, accordion and flag books, along with simple wrappers and envelopes.
For more information about the class, please visit the Eliot School’s website or click here to download the complete catalog.
by Elissa | May 2, 2013 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Exhibitions, Lecture, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops
Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
The May 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 May we will not be meeting as usual on the second 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. 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!
* Please bring a pencil, not a pen, if you plan to take notes.
Reflections on April’s Meeting
April’s B.A.G. meeting was full of rich chocolate treats and rich inspiration for committing to making art. April is edible book celebration time and we had delicious treats including Lord of the Ring Dings and the Invisible Man.
As good as the food was, Marcia Vogler‘s sharing of her postcard a day initiative was the real inspiration of the evening. Marcia has been making collaged postcards with messages and sending one a day to friends while they’re going through challenging times.
Her postcards were exquisite and the whole undertaking beautiful on so many different levels. Marcia shared her process and we all had time to create postcards of our own. It was a very enjoyable evening and one that will resonate within our hearts and our stomachs too.
You can view images from the meeting on the B.A.G. blog.
B.A.G. News
 *** B.A.G.’s 2013 spring exhibit, There’s No Place Like Home, will be hosted by Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT. The show will take place at the same time as an exhibit on children’s literature in the Main Floor Gallery.
Members are encouraged to submit work for this exciting show. This is a great opportunity to get your work out there, whether you are a first time exhibitor or a seasoned artist. The theme is very accessible, and brings up many references that are unique to each person.
Beyond the reference to the Wizard of Oz, the idea of ‘home’ can suggest family, rooms, objects, memories, and dreams, just to mention a few. Start now with some brainstorming and word association techniques presented by Stephanie Wolff at the September meeting, and generate content for your book.You can download the entry form here. If you would like to bring your work to the May 8th meeting instead of mailing it, please email the entry form and your accompanying artist statement to Marcia to indicate that you will be bringing it then.
The exhibit will be in SPA’s Third Floor Gallery from June 4 – July 6, 2013. The opening will be on Thursday June 6, 2013 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (please note that this is a date change). |
*** On May 25 & 26 (Memorial Day Weekend), the statewide Open Studio Weekend is offering a wonderful selection of book artsy studios for you to visit.
If you’re up for a tour, you can find your comrades in the following locations:
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 2013 Spring Vermont Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file.
*** B.A.G. member Nancy Stone will exhibit her handmade books in the exhibit Drawn to Music. Nancy’s work will include Line Notes, a window installation of seven translucent accordion books traced from her sketches of performing musicians; Vibrations, a suite of six triptych-books of watercolor paintings developed from Line Notes; and Ecclesiastes III, a suite of diverse pop-up, white-on-white books based on “A time for war; a time for peace”, etc.
The show runs from June 4, 2013 – August 29, 2013 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, VT. The opening is on Friday June 7, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with an artists’ talk at 6:30 p.m. Summer hours are Tuesday – Friday, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 pm. Jazz, folk and classical musical events will correlate with the exhibit.
*** B.A.G. Chair Elizabeth Rideout will be teaching Bookbinding Intensive: Simplified Binding With Leather Relief Cover on June 22 & 23, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at The Bindery Place, Shelburne Pond Studios in Shelburne.
Discover the joy of working with leather as you create a relief pattern in leather for the front cover of this book! Using professional sewing, cutting and pasting techniques, you will create a text block and encase it an elegant binding. In addition to showcasing your leather relief cover, this binding style offers the opportunity to create well-crafted books with a variety of cover possibilities.
For more information please contact Jill Abilock via Email at SixLoonsStudio@gmail.com or call (802) 238-0883. There are only 10 places in the workshop and it is filling up fast, so download the registration form and send it in soon!
*** B.A.G. member Elissa Campbell is teaching Leather Pocket Journals – The Sequel, at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT on June 4 & 11, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Some say that a sequel is never as good as the original – but not in this case!
In Leather Pocket Journals Part II, you’ll learn 5 bindings that use only leather, paper, and thread – no glue needed! For each binding, you’ll sew 3 sections of folded pages 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’ll try out different closure methods. No previous experience required – this is a great class for a beginner. You can even bring in your own leather to customize your book.
To register, contact SPA via phone (802) 479-7069 or Email.
Book Arts News
*** ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Literary Festival, are looking for submissions for their upcoming exhibit, Unbound Vol III: Art Using the Book as a Material/Format. The show will be juried by book artist Erin Sweeney, owner of Lovely In The Home Press in Peterborough, NH
The broad theme of UNBOUND: VOL III 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 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.
This call for submission is open to all New England and New York residents of the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older. All artwork must be original in concept, design and execution. Submissions must be postmarked by mail or Emailed by June 15, 2013. For more information, please visit the ArtisTree Gallery’s website.
*** On May 9, 2013 at 6:00 p.m., The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers will be sponsoring a talk by Amy Lapidow and Stacie Dolin on their experience publishing their new book, the Book Arts Studio Handbook.
The longtime North Bennet Street School bookbinding workshop instructors have put together projects; techniques; and tools from information gleaned from their teaching experiences.
The talk will take place in the Radcliffe Room of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.
Book Arts Classes
*** Bill Hanscom will be offering a Books in Motion workshop on May 18, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston.
Create books that burst open, tumble, spin, sway and dance! During this workshop we will explore the possibilities of movable parts within books. These elegant mechanical devices can stand on their own, in combination, or be used to enhance a variety of other book structures. We will explore the Flag Book, Blossom Book, Woven Flexagon, Exploding Map Fold Book, Jacob’s Ladder, Volvelles, and basic Pop-up construction.
Required tools: bone folder, utility knife, 12″ steel ruler, 12 x 18″ self-healing cutting mat, small brush for glue and pencil.
For more information or to register, please send an Email to gslisce@simmons.edu or call (617) 521-2803. The workshop will be held at 300 The Fenway.
*** Carol Barton will be teaching Book Arts: Paper Engineering and Sculptural Binding at the North Country Studio Workshops from January 28, 2014 – February 2, 2014. This is an ideal session for book artists, teachers, graphic designers, and anyone who likes to play with paper.
Discover the magic of the sculptural book through exploration of three-dimensional and pop-up forms. Learn how to use book structures to help convey your message. Participants will construct a series of pop-ups from simple to more complex glued structures, along with an accordion book, a carousel book, and a tunnel book.
Registration for 2014 opens June 15, 2013, so be sure to mark the date on your calendar!
*** The New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is also hosting two workshops in June with Paul Johnson in Maine (one workshop will be repeated):
- Spirit House – A Three Dimensional Pop-Up Model: In this workshop, you will make a 3D pop-up spirit house from paper. There are no folds – the whole structure (comprising over thirty separate parts) is made from hinges and dovetails joints and will fold down flat.
- Book as Architecture: In this workshop, you will make a pop-up gazebo in which there are no folds and therefore no paper ‘fatigue’. All sections are fastened together using a range of paper hinges, locks, and dovetail joints. Sections can be modified and redesigned as the model develops – you simply take out one section and replace it with another.
For more information, please download the registration form(s) below or contact Todd Pattison via Email: bookandtile@att.net.
