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

by | Sep 14, 2012 | B.A.G. Meetings, bookbinding, Call to artists, Exhibitions, MailB.A.G., Member News, Vermont, Workshops

Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 19, 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: Artist Books – Exploring Content with Stephanie Wolff

Whether you have been out enjoying the warm days of summer or busy at work on projects, the Book Arts Guild of Vermont would like to welcome you back to our monthly meetings with an exciting, interactive program on creating content for artists’ books featuring Stephanie Wolff.

Jump start your creativity and get ideas flowing as Stephanie shares her approach to content creation for her artists’ books. During her presentation, Stephanie will  lead content generation exercises and encourage a group discussion on ways to overcome fear of the blank page. All you need to bring is a pen you like to write with, some scrap paper or a journal, and the desire to be inspired!

Stephanie Wolff is an artist, hand bookbinder, and book conservation technician, whose books have been exhibited widely. In 2011 she received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College, focusing her studies on the history, culture, and arts of the book. In addition to working in conservation and on her own creative projects, she teaches book arts to students of all ages.

Reflections on August’s Meeting

Book Arts Guild members were treated to a delightful evening of exploration and inspiration at the University of Vermont Special Collections library. Prudence Doherty, UVM librarian and BAG member, selected books for our viewing pleasure. Her selections fell into three categories; books new to the collection, books on paste paper and marbling, and books by our recent guest teacher Daniel Kelm.

After a brief, yet intriguing introduction, Prudence let us go off on our own to examine and manipulate the books. The size, structure, materials, content, message and illustration varied from book yet every book held the special magic of Book Arts.

Thank you UVM and Prudence for hosting our Book Arts Guild’s annual August meeting.

B.A.G. News

*** B.A.G. member Lorraine Reynolds teaching 3 workshops at Art is…You, a mixed-media art retreat in Stamford, CT. The retreat will take place during October 4 – 8, 2012.

Lorraine’s workshops include:

  • What Hides Within: This workshop will help you as the artist/creator tap into the things your hold deep within yourself. The 16” paper mache body that you work on will be transformed into an interactive collection vessel.
  • Rural Roots: This workshop marries the creative force of Assemblage with the simplicity of Primitives. Using salvaged materials, such as barn board and feed bags and old rusted tools, we will get back to our RURAL ROOTS. You will learn basic skills of assemblage as well as explore the historical context of primitive folk art.
  • Reclaim Your Childhood: In this full day class you will learn the basic skills you need to create a box assemblage and use visual storytelling skills to bring your creation to life.

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

*** Lorraine Reynolds also currently has work in the exhibit, American Gothic now on display through September 30th at the Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace in Burlington, VT. The exhibit bridges the distance between past and present, north and south. Mixed media work has been assembled using alternative printmaking and painting processes that speak to the viewer thorough nostalgia and memory, melding a collective past and visions of haunted tales.

For more information, please visit the Marketplace website.

Vermont Open Studio Weekend logo*** B.A.G. members Lyna Lou Nordstrom and Elissa Campbell are opening their studios as part of the statewide Fall Open Studio Weekend sponsored by the Vermont Crafts Council.

If you want to visit fellow book artists October 6 & 7, you can find them in the following locations:

  • Elissa: Montpelier, studio #17
  • Lyna Lou: Shelburne, studio #100

You can find maps and directions to studios on the VT Crafts Council website. You can also download a pdf of the Vermont Foliage Open Studio Tour Guide. Please note that this is a really big file – 23.7 MB.

Book Arts News

Darmouth Book Arts Workshop sign

***  Dartmouth College Library in Hanover, NH is looking for an energetic, organized, and experienced printer and book artist to manage the Book Arts Workshop, a letterpress and bookbinding studio that serves the students, faculty, and staff of Dartmouth College as well as the local community.

This is a term position at either three quarters time year round or full-time for 10-months, ending June 30, 2015. This person will report to the head of Preservation Services and will oversee the Book Arts Workshop, and managing all workshop activities including curricular support, instruction, planning and programming, supervision, equipment maintenance, and budgeting.

The successful candidate will develop Workshop programs to increase the effectiveness of the studios as a College-wide and community resource. The Special Instructor serves as a liaison to the faculty and will provide curricular support for classes involving a book arts component.

To view the complete job description (position # 1011369) and/or apply online, please visit the Dartmouth website.

*** From September 4 – January 16, 2013, the Burns Library at Boston College is hosting the exhibition Fine Specimens of the Bibliopegistic Art: Bookbindings from the Burns Library Collections. The show includes books in a variety of styles from a wide span of years and represents many different topics in the library’s collections.

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

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

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

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

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

Book Arts Classes

*** Donna Marie Stepien is teaching a Book Crafting Class at the Artistree Community Arts Center and Gallery in Woodstock, VT on Mondays, September 17 – October 8 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Learn how to make a hard cover book with stitching using one of the three practiced bindings: Japanese stab, concertina or saddle stitch. We will also talk about bookmaking history and view handcrafted books. No experience necessary.

Materials are provided by the instructor. You may bring anything flat and lightweight: magazine/newspaper clippings, drawings, photographs, stickers, buttons, beads, ribbons to personalize your book.
   
For more information, please visit the Artistree website.

*** The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA is offering the following book arts classes now through December 2012:

  • Case-Bound Accordion Books: Make a hard-backed book with a covered spine and fold-out accordion pages. It’s great for photographs, collages and scrap-booking.
  • Exposed-Spine Books: Make a variety of elegant, exposed-spine books. Learn a variety of bindings including Coptic, buttonhole, long stitch and link stitch.

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

*** Erin Fletcher is teaching Fundamentals of Bookbinding I at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA on Tuesdays, October 2 – December 4 from 6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Students will learn the foundations of bookbinding with hands-on experience and discussion. The course will cover non-adhesive structures and case bindings, which will teach structural elements, sewing variations, covering and cutting techniques using various materials, tools and equipment. Throughout the course discussions will 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 Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, MA is offering Intermediate Book Repair with Donia Conn on October 25, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Building upon the skills learned in a basic book repair workshop, participants will learn to reattach a sound text block to its original case and replace damaged or missing spines. This hands-on workshop is designed for library staff members with some experience in book repair and/or supervisors of book repair units for general collections. This workshop will NOT cover techniques for the repair of research collections or materials that are rare, special, or archival.

Previous attendance at a basic book repair workshop is highly recommended because the techniques explored in this workshop build on basic skills. Tools will be provided for use in the workshop.

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

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

by | 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

Wire Edge binding by Daniel Kelm*** 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.

"He Chirps Before Fire" handmade book by Maryann Riker*** 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.

Vermont Open Studio Weekend logo*** 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.

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