Worktable Wednesday

Today was all about accordion books.

I love making accordion books because they give me the opportunity to use whatever fun papers catch my fancy.

This week has been crazy.

I’m trying to make as many books as possible so I can bring them to my first show of the holiday season – the Art and Artisans Holiday Market. This is my first year attending the show as a visiting artist – I’m so excited!

My studio looks like a bomb went off in it. Seriously.

There are piles of everything everywhere. At least the piles of accordion books are pretty.

This evening I’m off to the monthly meeting of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont. I’m looking forward to a gilding demonstration with Maryanne Grebenstein!

Worktable Wednesday

Today’s worktable was off-site as I attended the monthly meeting of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont (B.A.G.). On the menu – making my first piano hinge book.

I know what you’re thinking – you never made a piano hinge book before? At least 5 people at the meeting asked me that.

Nope, never made one before. I can’t do everything, try as I may.

I was loving the fluorescent colored paper – it reminded me of the 80′s. The little triangles we cut from the pages looked like teeny paper birds. Brightly colored birds on a Fiskar sky.

 Here’s the spine of my completed book:

And here’s the obligatory wingspan shot:

 Many thanks to B.A.G. member Jill Abilock for teaching such a fun workshop!

Book Arts Guild of Vermont visit to UVM Special Collections

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a meeting of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont. This month’s meeting was our annual trip to UVM Special Collections at the Bailey/Howe Library. As I’ve mentioned before, Special Collections at UVM has a spectacular artist book collection and is well-regarded by the College Art Association.

I always get a lot out of our visits – Prudence Doherty does a wonderful job of selecting books for us to view. If I remember correctly, the book themes chosen for us included home, food, and animals.

I loved the letterpressed Meatball Math, by Alice Austin. The structure was cool – kind of like a caterpillar. I’m also big fan of math and orange things.

 

I loved this colophon for Out West by Carol Blinn of Warwick Press. It included swatches of two materials used in both the book and its accompanying box – Japanese Sugi Veneer and De Wint handmade paper. I’d love to include swatches in my colophons going forward.

I adored Common Threads by Candace Hicks. This book is one of a series of hand-embroidered canvas books created in the style of a composition notebook. Everything is hand-stitched – every single word.

The book is insane. In a good way.

The precision of Laura Davidson‘s Mapping My World was really impressive:

I liked the cover technique on The Mexican Dog-Tosser by Lois Morrison. She cut out the letters from a light piece of paper and then layered it over a darker material to make the letters appear.

I usually leave Special Collections feeling both inspired and overwhelmed – I get such a flood of ideas. Thankfully, I take detailed notes and can refer to them in the future when I’m ready.

The Awesomeness of Peter and Donna Thomas

Peter and Donna Thomas are awesome.

There, I said it.

I first met them when I attended the Focus on Book Arts conference in 2009. I was fortunate enough to attend one of their miniature book workshops.

Loved it.

Then they came to Vermont to lecture at UVM Special Collections and to teach a workshop for the Book Arts Guild of Vermont. It was then that I fell in love with one of their editioned books, but stupidly didn’t buy it.

I thought about that book for a year. It conveyed a message that was so perfect for the time in my life when I saw it. I missed it.

So I did something about it. Now mine.

The book measures 1 5/16″ x 1″ x 1/4″. It’s bound in leather and all of the pages are letterpressed. The copyright date makes me laugh – the book’s sentiment was probably appropriate back then too.

I love it.

There was a post on the Book Arts listserv today that mentioned that Peter and Donna had taped an interview with Park City Television. You can watch it below.

Did I mention how awesome they are?

Big Ideas, Small Books exhibit at Emile Gruppe Gallery

Last week I attended the opening reception for Big Ideas, Small Books, the spring member exhibition of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont.

The exhibit was so precious – it features artist books smaller than five inches in any dimension.

I wanted take some of the books and pop them in my mouth.

Don’t worry – I didn’t do it.

For the exhibit, I submitted all four books that I created during the Book Arts Improv in January. I was delighted to find that my books had been given their own wall! It was a small wall, in between a bathroom and a thermostat, but still awesome.

As I mentioned earlier, the exhibit was really fabulous. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

A tunnel book by Marcia Vogler – Sneek:

A super-teeny book by Monica Feeney – Button Book:

A tunnel-ish book by Jill Abilock – Love Illuminated Series – Eye of the Beholder:

 

Every time the Book Arts Guild of Vermont has an exhibit, I am always impressed with the variety of work – it is such delight! I am so honored to be part of an organization that has such talented members.

If find yourself near Jericho, Vermont, you have to see the show. Here are the details:

Big Ideas, Small Books
April 17, 2011 – May 22, 2011

Emile A. Gruppe Gallery
22 Barber Farm Road
Jericho, VT 05465
(802) 899-3211
Gallery Hours: Thursday – Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. or by appointment

If you can’t make it in person, you can have a virtual visit by watching a slideshow of the exhibit on the Guild’s blog.

Worktable Wednesday whoops!

It seems that I completely spaced on my Worktable Wednesday post last week. Ugh.

It turned out that I wasn’t in the studio at all that day as I had a number of appointments to contend with. Ugh.

The best part of that day was attending the monthly meeting of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont. Members were treated to a visit with Ken Leslie and his son, Woody Leslie.

Woody is the mastermind behind One Page Productions, an artist’s book press specializing in books created from only one 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. He believes strongly in the dissemination of ideas and does so using cheap mass production.

He talked about his work and showed us his collection of miniature books, warning us that some of them were for “mature audiences”. I’m not sure if I fall into that category, but I was immediately drawn to his book entitled Banana Porn. It’s not what it sounds like, so get your mind out of the gutter.

If you come by my studio during Open Studio Weekend, ask me to show the book to you. Or, if you can’t wait and are interested in acquiring one of his books for yourself, you can contact Woody at OnePageProductions@gmail.com.

Ken started out his artistic career as a painter. He earned his MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania, which is where I went as an undergraduate student (hurrah for the red and the blue!).

Ken entered the realm of artist’s books as he explored non-rectangular painting shapes. He was drawn to the circular form because he enjoys thinking about how we experience time.

He’s created a number of books that focus on a particular time cycle – a 24-hour day, the same time of day over the course of a year, the ritual of painting first thing every morning.

He primarily works in watercolors. Many of the circular books he shared with us were big enough for him to sit inside – and they were only made of one piece of paper.

It didn’t take long for someone to ask him what paper was large enough to meet his needs – 50″ rolls of Arches watercolor paper.

Something Ken said really struck a nerve:

When you do a project, do it so you can be a real human.

I think that’s the problem I’ve run into lately – I commit to things without leaving myself any breathing room. I do not respond well to speed bumps – when something goes wrong, my whole system goes kablooey.

I need to do a better job about allowing myself breathing room – be a real human.

I hope it’s okay for real humans to like banana porn.

Peter and Donna Thomas lecture at UVM Special Collections

 

I first met Peter Thomas in June 2009 at the Focus on Book Arts conference where I attended his workshop The Doweled Flap Book & the Dowel Spine Non-Adhesive Portfolio.

There’s really nothing quite like making books while listening to live ukulele music.

Peter and his wife Donna have been making books together since 1976. Their miniature books are just jaw-droppingly fabulous.

Seriously. When I saw them for the first time, I just wanted to hug them.

When I read about Peter and Donna’s cross-country, book arts pilgrimage in a Gypsy Wagon, I contacted them about teaching a workshop for the Book Arts Guild of Vermont.

As part of their visit to Vermont in late August, Peter and Donna came to UVM Special Collections to present their lecture The Literary Book as a Work of Art.

Peter said a few things that stuck with me (a.k.a. The Gospel According to Peter):

Book arts is the most complex art form that is.

We need a larger vocabulary for artist books.

The book is four-dimensional art.

Peter said that in general, the public doesn’t understand the value of artist books. As a result, now is a great time to invest in artist books – they’re a bargain compared to other art forms.

Once the book arts reach the status of painting or sculpture, prices will increase. He added that when a famous book artist dies, it will be a great day for the book arts.

Note: He included a specific book artist’s name in the previous statement, but I prefer not to mention it here because it’s kinda morbid.

I totally get it and it bums me out. It should not take the loss of an artist to legitimize an art form.

I think that’s why I feel so strongly that teaching classes is my responsibility as an artist – educate the public about the value of the book arts, one person at a time.

Maybe I should get a gypsy wagon…

Book Arts Guild of Vermont visit to UVM Special Collections

Last Wednesday I attended the monthly meeting of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont.

Instead of meeting in our usual location, the Firehouse Gallery, we took what has become our annual field trip to UVM Special Collections at the Bailey/Howe Library.

As I’ve mentioned before, Special Collections at UVM has a spectacular artist book collection and is well-regarded by the College Art Association. I love that I have such an amazing resource within a short drive of my studio.

I was really excited about going to Special Collections. Dozens of books had been laid out for us – talk about being a kid in a candy shop!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out where to begin. I was completely overwhelmed.

I decided to keep it simple and look at the book structures instead of forcing myself to read. Thankfully, that approach worked. I was especially drawn to the structures used in the miniature books. I made lots of sketches to show how the different formats were constructed.

My favorite books were created by Canadian book artist Margaret Challenger:

The hedgehog book was by far my favorite, and not just because of the structure. More than 10 years ago, I had a pet hedgehog. She was such a peanut.

Aside from finding out that Margaret has a strong interest in calligraphy, I didn’t have much luck finding more information about her or her work. Bad Google!

If anyone knows anything more, I’d love to hear it.

Oh yeah, I’ve been on cable tv

This past Wednesday I was part of an interview on a local cable channel – “Positively Vermont: Vermont Crafts Council“.

My friend Nancy Stone (and fellow bookbinder) & I talked about the Vermont Crafts Council, Open Studio Weekend, the Book Arts Guild of Vermont, and the State of Craft project. Oh yeah, and we got to talk about our own work too.

If you’ve got 45 minutes to spare and have a fondness for curly hair and/or odd facial expressions, enjoy the video below.

Note: That’s me on the right.

Celebration of Handmade Books exhibit

Yesterday I attended the opening reception for Celebration of the Handmade Book, an exhibit by the Book Arts Guild of Vermont at the Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes, VT.

The show is really wonderful, with over 50 handmade books by Guild members. It was great to see work by folks who don’t usually make it to our monthly meetings and even better to get to meet them. I’m showing my Dowel Flap Book, which has been titled Knock, Knock. You can read the story behind (and view) this book in this post.

Many members in the Book Arts Guild of Vermont work as teachers, so it’s no surprise that a bookbinding workshop is being held in conjunction with the show. Ann Joppe-Mercure will be teaching Pop-up Books on Saturday, May 8, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The cost is $15 per person and the workshop is open to participants ages 6 and older.

This exhibit, running now through May 30th, is the first showcase event selected for participation in the State of Craft, a year-long celebration of the studio crafts movement in Vermont over the last 50 years.

Only 24 Vermont craft galleries, schools, organizations and businesses, museums and historical societies were selected by the Vermont Crafts Council as official hosts of showcase events.

I’m pretty happy about the fact that a book arts event is the showcase opener. Yay books!

If you’re interested in checking out the show (and why wouldn’t you be), here are the details:

Creative Space Gallery
235 Main Street
Vergennes, VT 05491
(802) 877-3850

Gallery Hours:
Thursday: 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday: 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.