Vermont Open Studio Weekend – Montpelier/Calais Artists

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:

• Pick up a copy at Artisans Hand Craft Gallery at the intersection of State and Main Streets in Montpelier (they’re an official Regional Information Center)
• Print out a full copy (warning – this is a big file)
• View a detailed map of Washington County on the Vermont Crafts Council website

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!

Art and Artisans Holiday Market

This week has been crazy. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before.

Tomorrow marks the official beginning of craft show season! For the next two days, I will be selling my work at the Art & Artisans Holiday Market.

You’ll find a wonderful collection of artists at this show. My friends Mags Bonham and Shannon Greenleese will be selling their work at the show as well. Mags has mad skills when it comes to polymer clay and Shannon does fabulous things with precious metal clay.

Today was super-happy-set-up-day, so it began with the packing of the crap. I mean booth and inventory. No, I really mean crap.

It all starts the same way – with a chaotic studio.

Ask me how many times I tripped on stuff today.

Then the van-cramming begins. My packing system is pretty methodical (a.k.a. anal).

I immediately fell in love with my space in the Mt. Mansfield Union High School library. There really couldn’t be a better space. Except for the fact that I’m not selling zines. Anyway, many thanks to Shannon for snagging me this rocking spot!

Next there is the moving of the crap from the van to the booth. Hooray for plastic tubs!

And then at some point, it stops looking like crap and turns into an actual booth. I know I was there and I did it, but I really don’t remember much of it.

I still have some tweaking to do tomorrow, but thankfully not much. The show is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and admission is free. Get more details about the show here.

Come by, say hi, and support handmade craft!

Artisans Hand annual sale

It’s that time of year again!

Starting on Friday, November 4th and lasting through November 6th is Artisans Hand Craft Gallery‘s 33rd annual birthday sale.

Everything in the gallery will be 20% off during the sale.

This is a great time to get a jump on your holiday shopping – the prices on my work at the gallery will be lower than at any of my shows this season. If you’ve seen something on my website and they don’t have it at the gallery, let them know and they can put in a special order for you.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, once upon a time, Artisans Hand took a chance on a curly-haired bookbinder and became the very first gallery to sell her handmade books. The gallery is nestled in a very warm place in my heart. I love that the gallery is located in Montpelier, VT, where I live and work. The staff has always been very good to me and I feel like I’m at home whenever I visit there.

In addition, the State of Vermont has designated the gallery as a Vermont State Craft Center. This honor is given by the state to craft galleries and education centers that meet a strict set of standards for quality and diversity of crafts.When you buy work at Artisans Hand, you are selecting from work that’s among the best the state has to offer.

Be sure to stop by the gallery and pick up something made lovingly by hand.

Support Vermont artists!

Claire Van Vliet: A Celebration of Paper exhibit at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center to take in the Claire Van Vliet: Celebration of Paper exhibit.

The exhibit included both Van Vliet’s handmade books and pulp paintings. The books were presented on open pedestals without a glass/plexiglass cover. It was wonderful to be able to get really close to the pieces.

I swear – there was no touching. I’m a good girl.

I took lots of pictures of the show, but this is by no means is an excuse to skip the show if you can make it. The exhibit is small, yet cozy, and is easily doable in an hour. Go, go, go – it’s worth it!

Circulus Sapientiae/Circle of Wisdom (2001), pulp painting and letterpress:

Dido and Aeneas (1989), pulp painting and letterpress:

Snowfield (1993), pulp painting:

Clouds (1992), pulp painting:

Lilac Wind (1983), pulp painting and letterpress:

I picked up an exhibit catalog for the show, which I’ll show you in a future post.

If you’re closer to Montpelier, VT (hey, I live there!), you can visit Paper Works, another Van Vliet exhibit running now through the end of September. The exhibit is at the Governor’s Gallery in the Pavilion Office Building at 109 State Street. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and photo identification is required for admittance.

If you’d like to learn more about Van Vliet, Nigel Beale did an interview with her for Literary Tourist in 2009 – you can listen to it on their website.

Paperwork in 3D exhibit at the Shelburne Museum

A few weeks ago, I saw the Paperwork in 3D exhibit at the Shelburne Museum. It was amazing!

I have to admit that I don’t visit the Shelburne Museum often enough. I think I’ve taken it for granted because it’s right in my backyard. It really is a beautiful place and they have great skill in how they curate their exhibits.

Paperwork in 3D features the work of 23 artists who use paper as their medium, using a wide variety of techniques. The paper used varied as well – from discarded books to tax forms.

Something I thought was brilliant was how the Museum put out samples of the different materials used – it offered a wonderful way for people to better understand the work. It also gave me the opportunity to paw at paper, one of my favorite pastimes.

There were so many fabulous pieces in the exhibit. I had to limit the number 0f photos I took because I realized that it kept me from really experiencing the work.

Here are some of the pieces I liked:

I tend to have magical thinking about artwork, like it just comes out of thin air and doesn’t start anywhere. It was awesome to see the working model of one of Matt Reinhart’s books – it brings me back down to earth.

It’s not too late to see the exhibit for yourself – it runs now through October 30, 2011. And if the thought of seeing all the awesome work doesn’t get you to the Shelburne Museum, maybe the vintage carousel will (yes, you can ride it).

If you’d like to learn more about the artists featured above, here are their websites:

• Doug Beube
• Lauren Clay
• Matt Hawkins
• Nava Lubelski
• Matthew Reinhart
• Jared Andrew Schorr
• Matt Shlian

Vermont Open Studio Weekend – Central VT Artists

Vermont’s Open Studio Weekend is 1 1/2 weeks away. Time to start cleaning the studio.

Ugh. Any volunteers?

If you’re planning on visiting my studio (and you totally should!), you can visit other great artists within a 20ish minute drive of here. This year, Vermont Hand Crafters has a hub location at Vermont College and is hosting seven artists.

This adds up to a total of 24 artists participating in the central Vermont area (we represent!). Artists are offering exhibits and demonstrations of pottery, jewelry, sculpting, weaving, painting, rug hooking, and more.

I’ll be referring to studios by both name and number – the number refers to a listing in the Vermont Studio Tour Guide 2011. There are several ways to get your hands on a map:

• Pick up a copy at Artisans Hand Craft Gallery at the intersection of State and Main Streets in Montpelier (they’re an official Regional Information Center)
• Print out a full copy (warning – this is a big file)
• View a detailed map of Washington County on the Vermont Crafts Council website

Here’s the rundown of who’s who (click on the links to learn more about specific artists):

• #205 - Sans Souci Studios/Carrie Rouillard: Original wearable paper mache masks
  
• #206 - L. Koehler Pottery/Leslie Koehler: Majolica glazed terracotta earthenware
• #207 – Blackthorne Forge/Steven Bronstein: Functional, sculptural, contemporary ironwork
• #208 – Fred Varney: Stained glass panels, lamps
• #209- Vermont Floorcloths and Fiber Arts/Sandy Ducharme: Handpainted canvas rugs, hooked wool rugs
• #209 – Adirondack Furniture/Richard Ducharme: Outdoor furniture, chairs and gliders
• #210 – Stephanie Krauss/Green Mountain Hooked Rugs: Traditional hand hooked rugs
  
• #211 - Thistle Hill Pottery/Jennifer Boyer: Functional stoneware pottery
• #212 - Art Tiles – Janice Walrafen: Handmade tiles, murals, sculptures
• #213 - Blue Roof Designs/Elissa Campbell: Handmade books (that’s me!)
  
• #214 – Frank Woods: Landscape, figurative painting, mixed media
• #214 – Pete Talbot: Illustration, cartoons, comics, cute monsters
• #215 – Vermont Hand Crafters: Hub site
  • Annie’s Dolls – Ann Moody: Handmade dolls
  • Bob & Deb’s Sugarhouse – Robert Weaver & Deb Salzarulo: Handcrafted wood musical instruments, mosaic ornaments, and larger wall pieces
  • Jeri Canfield: Traditional patchwork and machine applique bed quilts, wall art, and kitchen accessories
  • Oodles and Cadoodles – Virginia Kerrigan: Pillows, blankets, and home accessories made out of recycled fabrics
  • Stacie Mincher Designs: Brooches, barrettes, pendants and earrings, covered with recycled zipper designs
  • Khaos Designs – David Kaczynski: Contemporary jewelry and accessories inspired from nature and contemporary art forms
  • Simply Rustic – JoAnn Flanagan: Sculptured bowls, baskets, and boxes
• #216 – Hunger Mountain Arts/Ira Sollace & Cindy Griffith: Pastel, painting, fiber sculpture
• #217 – Jayne Shoup: Pastel paintings, landscapes, florals
• #218 – Ann’s Weavery – Ann Lovald: Looms, rugs, yarns, weaving instruction
• #219 – Montpelier Mud – Michael Sullivan: Functional pottery

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 – I like my studios large!

Artisans Hand annual sale

It’s that time of year again!

Starting tomorrow, November 5th and lasting through November 7th is Artisans Hand Craft Gallery‘s 32nd annual birthday sale.

Everything in the gallery will be 20% off during the sale.

This is a great time to get a jump on your holiday shopping – the prices on my work at the gallery will be lower than at any of my shows this season. If you’ve seen something on my website and they don’t have it at the gallery, let them know and they can put in a special order for you.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, once upon a time, Artisans Hand took a chance on a curly-haired bookbinder and became the very first gallery to sell her handmade books. The gallery is nestled in a very warm place in my heart. I love the fact that the gallery is located in Montpelier, VT, where I live and work. The staff has always been very good to me and I feel like I’m at home whenever I visit there.

I’ll be at the sale at some point this weekend. I’m hoping to finally buy a zipper barrette made by my friend Stacie Mincher. I’ve wanted one for a while.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

Jill Timm’s work in artist books

During her Amazing Dremel workshop, Jill Timm treated students to a talk about her work in artist books. Many of her books are miniatures and include her photographic work. Jill’s work tends to focus on natural themes, which seems to have evolved, in part, from her love of National Parks. Her work is so beautiful!

One piece that I found particularly amazing was Magical NatureScapes. The book contains six scenes that are presented in 3-D, which one views through the included 3-D glasses. Jill told us that she created the 3-D effect herself by moving images pixel by pixel.

That’s what I call artistic commitment.

When I attend an artist talk, I try to remember to bring my studio journal. I’m often amused by the rather obvious (yet still valuable) things I write down. On occasion, I’ll write down something totally random that I found funny at the time and then later I’ll have no idea what it means.

Here are the quotes I captured from Jill’s talk (and what I learned from them):

“The page needs to grow to fit the photo.”

Translation: Don’t crop your photo to fit the page – preserve your content! I love the idea of pages that expand and fold out, so I need to remember this one.

“Pages do not always have to be square or rectangle.”

Translation: Hellloooo…shapes! I think I shy away from shapes because cutting the pages can be really time-consuming. It certainly would be easier to make shaped books if my books were smaller. And this doesn’t even mean that the covers have to be shaped – you can just focus on the pages. See Jill’s Talking Rocks for a great example of this.

“A book should not be naked on the back.”

Translation: Put content on the backs of your pages. I am so guilty of this one, especially if I’m working on something accordion-like. I’ll conceptualize the book one side at a time. I hereby commit to no more naked backsides.

I’m still working on my two remaining Dremel posts – the sample books and the printable guide for everything learned in both Dremel classes.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone for their support during these past weeks. Your kindness has been very heartwarming.

Peek-a-Boo Journal class at SPA

Last week I taught the second day of my Peek-a-Boo Journal class at Studio Place Arts (SPA). In the first session, students cut out spaces in the covers to create windows to frame content they selected.

As a teacher, I think that the window-cutting seems to be the hardest part of the process – it takes a lot of passes with an X-Acto to get through the bookboard. As an artist, I would argue that the hardest part of the process is choosing the cover paper and the thread color.

Oh, and what goes in the window.

The second session focused on the binding – the double-needle coptic stitch.

I love love love the double-needle coptic. Once you get into the rhythm of the sewing, it’s so relaxing. And when you finish, you have this lovely waxy feeling on your hands from the linen thread. It’s like a paraffin spa treatment.

Learning the binding is a challenge, because there are so many steps – it’s not exactly the most intuitive process. However, you can see that moment when the binding clicks for someone and then the sewing becomes more fluid.

I love being witness to that “aha” moment.

Right after everyone had left after class, I realized that I didn’t get any pictures of their stitching (argh). Everyone did a fabulous job for their first time – I was really impressed.

I tentatively have two classes scheduled for the fall at SPA. I’ll talk about them more once the details are finalized. If you’d like to get updates about upcoming classes via Email, you can sign up for my newsletter. You can also check out the Events page on my website.

Open Studio Weekend – recap

I have survived yet another Open Studio Weekend. Woohoo!

I now have 6 years under my belt. [pats self on back] I had such a great time.

I love showing off the paper in my flat files and when I see people appreciating the patterns and textures of the paper in my collection, it makes me so happy.

It’s fascinating to see how people react to an invitation to touch sheets of paper. Some people dive right in and others just can’t bring themselves to do it. I can see how some might find the paper too precious. I feel that way sometimes – especially when I have to cut a piece of paper I really like.

I can hear it now – nnnnnooooooo!!!!!!!

As was the case in 2008 (I didn’t participate in OSW last year), not many kids came. I asked someone why they thought that was the case and I was given a possible explanation. Parents are used to going places and being told that their kids can’t touch anything – perhaps that’s what keeps people from bringing their kids. Parents are so worried that something might get broken in an artist’s studio, they decide not to include their kids in a studio tour.

If that’s true, then let me say it now – I love love love to have kids in my studio! I make things out of paper. There’s not much that can get broken. Come over for a visit. A couple of my visitors were former students of mine. I was happy to see that I had properly infected them with the bookbinding bug.

Something that was different about this year was that I had many more visitors who were interested in learning how to make books themselves. I told folks about the Book Arts Guild of Vermont and invited them to come to our meetings. We love having new people. I think that most of the success of the Guild lies in the great talent of our members.

I’ve found that when people come to learn about bookbinding, they often ask for recommendations on books they can read to learn more. I created a handout for folks to take with them – one side lists my favorite bookbinding texts and the other side includes places to buy bookbinding supplies. It makes me happy to know that I can help facilitate someone’s creative pursuits.

I really wish that I had more local resources to refer people to – sadly, Vermont isn’t a bookbinding supply hub. If you weren’t able to come by for a visit during Open Studio Weekend, no worries – you can schedule an appointment for another time. With enough advance notice, I can fit a visit in on most days.

Just give me enough time to clean and I’m happy.