Yesterday - by Elissa
Vermont’s 20th Open Studio Weekend is just around the corner (May 26 & 27)! If you’re planning on visiting my studio (and you totally should), you can visit other great artists within a 20-ish minute drive of here.
There are 7 studios participating in the Montpelier/Calais area. Artists are offering exhibits and demonstrations of pottery, jewelry, photography, mixed media, painting, and more.
I’ll be referring to studios by both name and number – the number refers to a listing in the 2012 Vermont Studio Tour Guide. There are several ways to get your hands on a map:
Here’s the rundown of who’s who (click on the links to learn more about specific artists):
- #209 - Annie Tiberio Cameron Photography/Annie Tiberio Cameron: Photography, botanicals, abstracts, nature, wilderness.
- #210 – Artisans Hand: Vermont State Craft Center. Contemporary Vermont crafts, jewelry, photography.
- #211 - Blue Roof Designs/Elissa Campbell: Handmade books (that’s me!)
- #213 – Thistle Hill Pottery/Jennifer Boyer: Functional stoneware pottery.
- #215 – Ray Brown: Memory-based landscapes painted in oils.
- #216 – Missy Storrow: Expressionist water media paintings, photography, oils.
- #217 – The Happiness Paradigm/Ginny Sassaman: Banners, mobiles, pins, cards, happiness.
Please note that (unfortunately) studios #212 and #214 have had to opt out of the tour. 
I created the map below to help you plan your travels. Because the studios are so close to each other, you can visit quite a few of them within a short period of time.
Have fun!
Make that map bigger!
May 14, 2012 (4 days ago) - by Elissa
In the afternoon I took Shanna Leino‘s toolmaking workshop. We met in the metals studio, which was wall-free – it’s a bit like a shelter you might find in a park. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day. Oh, if you’re wondering, Ox-Bow doesn’t have a bone studio.
We were introduced to the various tools that we’d be using on our bone folders – it’s primarily hand work. She said that she’s often asked why she doesn’t teach the workshop using power tools and she had a wonderful response:
There’s nothing like lavishing a lot of attention on something by hand.
This was soon followed by:
My day hasn’t started unless I’ve cut myself.
That was part of the safety lecture. As one would expect, don’t aim sharp or bladey things at your body parts.
Shanna did a demonstration of how to use a rasp (in a non-raspy voice). She gave us this great tip – put a tennis ball on the handle of the rasp and then you can rest that end of it on your leg (the ball adds cushion). Secure the other end of the rasp and then you can just move the bone over it to remove material.
If this doesn’t make sense, just check out the photo below, which will hopefully clarify it for you.
You start with the coarser rasp and work your way down to the finer ones. If you need to remove a lot of material, use a hatchet. I was afraid to use a hatchet (mostly because I was tired), so I started with a thinner piece of bone.
We’re working with elk bone and got to choose the size and shape we wanted to use.
Box o' bones
Here are the pieces I chose:
And here’s the piece I worked on today:
Now you get to watch it get smoother:
As you can see, I’m making my bone folder with two flat, spatula-esque edges – I like having tools I can get into tight spaces. I’m just now realizing that it kinda looks like an oar.
I have this strange urge to create a wavy midsection…or perhaps a spiral like this etching tool?
May 14, 2012 (4 days ago) - by Elissa
My morning session was Betsy Palmer Eldridge’s album workshop. We met in the ceramics studio.
Betsy told us about her history in the book arts, which is extensive. Seriously extensive.
She explained that there are three issues in dealing with collections:
- How do you attach material to the page?
- How do you compensate for the addition of materials to an album?
- How do you put the album together?
She then explained that there are three categories of binding albums:
- Stab bindings
- Sewn bindings (through a fold)
- Adhesive (ex. perfect binding)
Photo album samples
Something new I learned today – when gluing covers, the universal turn-in is 3/4″. I’m already doing that, so I’m psyched to know that it’s a standard.
More nuggets of knowledge from Betsy:
- Use a synthetic bristle brush with synthetic adhesives and a natural bristle brush with natural adhesives.
- PVA is for gluing exterior materials and paste is for gluing interior materials.
- Cloth shrinks when wet and expands when dry. Paper does the opposite – expands when wet, shrinks when dry.
When we glued the covers for what will become a book of samples of attachment methods, I was so stressed out. I couldn’t focus and made so many mistakes. I had to go back to the studio after dinner to redo one of the covers.
Not that I’ve ever made photo albums before. Ugh.
And now for some coolness, meet the Veritas Precision Square:
It’s a little peanut of a tool, but a bit pricey at $24.50 plus shipping. I’d have to think more about getting one.
Betsy recommended Conservation of Scrapbooks and Albums – Postprints of the Book and Paper Group/Photographic Materials Joint Session at the 27th AIC Annual Meeting as a source for more information on album structures. You can get it from the AIC website for $30.00 – so getting it.
And for the last bit of coolness, we were introduced to the Shoemaker’s knot. I had never heard of it before. It’s like a regular knot, but you bring the loop through the opening twice (this isn’t a double knot). It can be untied like a regular knot, but it doesn’t come undone by itself. Brilliant!
[...] R. Campbell Blue Roof Designs Website: http://www.blueroofdesigns.com Blog: http://www.blueroofdesigns.com/blog BAG Exhibit at Creative Space Gallery in [...]
Elissa, this is a great site, very thorough and thought out! I have gleaned the words I need to start the promotion of you as featured artist for Montpelier’s Art Walk.
Thanks
Maggie
Maggie -
Glad to have been of help – I’m really looking forward to the Art Walk!
Elissa