Dear NBG Community,
Thousands of birds are winging their way north, descending on fields and forests, rivers and ponds around Fairbanks. Last week, I was thrilled to see a V of snow geese overhead, their black-tipped wings carrying them over Goldstream Valley. I visualized them turning an imaginary page in a gigantic book: a muted snowy landscape of bare-branched birches on one side of the paper, a brilliantly sunny green swirl of trees filled with the swoosh of songbirds’ wings on the next. As a book artist, images of books and book-related elements seem to suffuse my thinking. I know this is true for many of you who have been involved with NBG over the past ten years.
Another joy of this season has been getting to know some of our new members enrolled in the Book Arts Basics classes. I appreciate the time and devotion of eight different instructors who have created this series of nine classes. I admire the dedication and tenacity of the students as they experience the pleasures and challenges that bookmaking offers. I am grateful for the feedback we’ve received as we learn how to bring these classes to life on Zoom. With permission, here’s a message from a new NBG member, Sine Anahita, written after finishing her sixth BAB class last week:
I LOVED today's class! One thing that I have really appreciated about these series is how we make errors, encounter difficulties, have tech problems, and we just make do! We improvise, undo stitches, use our smart-phones for audio, start again, and in the process, learn the fundamentals of book arts. These workshops have been the most fun things that I have done in just FOREVER. The passion that all of the teachers and the members of the Guild have is really contagious. I am hooked on book arts, and I am so grateful to you all for introducing me to this wonderful way of doing art.
Thank you, Sine, for your kind words. You have articulated what many of us, over the past ten years, have felt as we got involved in this wonderfully diverse community of book artists.
May’s Program Meeting will be our next opportunity to gather. This will be our third meeting in 2021 and another opportunity to learn a new Fabulous Foldable. (See details about the meeting below.) The models we each make in these mini-workshops can be used as springboards to create artist books. As you learn these new structures, I encourage you all, seasoned and fledgling book artists, to to try something new and create a book for our Books As Art 3 show in November.
One of the benefits of NBG membership is access to the Paper Birches Supply Depot, every Wednesday, 12-4pm. You can also come to the studio on Wednesdays for support/help/suggestions for a project you’re working on. If you have specific questions, please let me know and I can direct your question to one of our board members with expertise that might help you.
As we turn the page into our second spring season with the corona virus, I think of that flock of snow geese and the energy they expend to reach their nesting grounds in the Arctic. I am grateful for the myriad ways NBG members are keeping our Guild aloft.
Warmest regards,
Susan Campbell
NBG President
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PROGRAM MEETING
SATURDAY, MAY 15 1-3:00pm
FABULOUS FOLDABLES #3
Pleated Paper Magic
with Margo Klass
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There are many ways to alter a piece of paper, but this one is magical! By simply folding, pleating, and cutting, the structure featured at this program meeting presents a folding technique that transforms your paper into something new and often surprising. Inspired by a demonstration at the recent Form & Function From Afar Conference on line, Margo Klass will guide you through this magical transformation.
In order to create a sheet of pleated paper magic you will need one piece of paper that can be printed on both sides. It is best if the front and back sides contrast. Although paper size is totally arbitrary, their corners should be square. For example: a page from a magazine or old book or a double-sided piece of decorative paper. You may also come to the NBG studio on Wednesday, May 12, 12-4pm, and select a piece of paper from a “stash” of paper we will have available. (We purchased some used art books from the Literacy Council and cut them apart for this project.) Other materials needed for the workshop are listed below. If you cannot print the diagrams at home, please drop by the NBG studio on Wednesday, 12-4pm, to pick up a printed copy.
The attached diagrams are not exactly instructions but they will provide references for recalling the technique after our meeting.
Join us for this third mini-workshop in our series of program meetings focused on creative foldable structures. Each meeting presents an intriguing foldable selected to inspire you to create a book for the upcoming Books As Art 3 exhibition.
Prepare for this mini-workshop
Please have the following tools and materials ready:
Paper(s) - any size (marbled or paste paper, a magazine or catalog page, etc.)
- it's best when one side of the paper contrasts with the other
Cutting mat
Bonefolder
Cutting knife or pointed scissors
Scotch tape (in case of errors!)
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#areyoubookenough Themes:
May: Fruit
June: Black and white
July: Velvet
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BOOK ARTS BASICS 3, an introduction to glued structures, continues through mid-June. This series focuses on covering book boards with paper and cloth while constructing a 5-panel screen, concertina album, and a cased-in binding. Classes are taught via Zoom in our well-equipped NBG teaching studio, pictured above, thanks to the generous support of the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
See below for availability of spaces in these workshops.
Registration is through The Folk School.
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BOOK ARTS BASICS 3: Glued Structures
5-PANEL SCREEN STRUCTURE
with Connie Stricks
Sunday, May 16, 2021 - 10-noon and 1-3pm
Instructional fee: $50 (includes materials)
This workshop introduces the 5-panel screen structure, a double-sided board book which displays well, can be easily scaled to different sizes, and folds flat for storage. In class we will make an 8 x 6” screen, covering its panels with paper, and creating paper hinges that allow the screen to open and close. This structure is a good way to hone your measuring and gluing skills. Although there may not be time to embellish your screen in class, techniques and considerations for adding imagery will be discussed and examples shown, and you will leave with a screen ready for your finishing touches. Some experience in bookmaking recommended. Materials will be available for pick up at the NBG Studio, Wednesday, May 12, noon-2pm.
WAIT LIST ONLY
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BOOK ARTS BASICS 3: Glued Structures
CONCERTINA ALBUM
with Margo Klass
Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 10-noon and 1-3pm
Instructional fee: $50 (includes materials)
The concertina album binding elegantly holds a collection of photos or other images. It looks like a traditional book, but opens out for display. In this workshop we’ll learn how to fold and hinge lengths of paper to make accordion-folded panels, cover boards with book cloth, inset a cover plate, and join text block to cover structure. Finally, we will discuss methods of adding images to the album. Some experience in bookmaking recommended. Materials and instructional guidelines will be available for pick up at the NBG Studio, Wednesday, May 19, noon-2pm.
1 SPACE AVAILABLE
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BOOK ARTS BASICS 3: Glued Structures
CASED-IN BINDING
with Ashley Thayer
Sunday, June 13, 2021 - 10-noon and 1-3pm
Instructional fee: $50 (includes materials)
Make a cased in binding, similar to the familiar books you have on your shelves at home. We will start by learning proper terminology, then basic construction of a book including a sewn text block, endpapers, and faux endbands. This is a great precursor to other traditional binding styles. Some bookmaking experience recommended. Materials and instructional guidelines will be available for pick up at the NBG Studio, Wednesday, June 9, noon-2pm.
1 SPACE AVAILABLE
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BOOKS AS ART 3
November 5-27, 2021
Fairbanks Arts Association
Bear Gallery
NBG members are invited to be a part of the BOOKS AS ART 3 exhibition in the Bear Gallery!
Artists are invited to submit up to 4 general entries representing a wide range of hand crafted book forms: unique or editioned, sculptural or traditionally bound, interactive or passive.
Artists may submit up to 4 additional entries in the following special focus areas:
Set Books
Letterpress/Chap Books
Foldables
#areyoubookenough
Please note....
NBG has been designated the
Bear Gallery Gift Shop featured artist of the month
so artists may offer additional handcrafted books for sale in the Gift Shop.
More information to come!
EXTENDED NBG STUDIO HOURS!!!
We have extended our regular studio hours:
Wednesdays, noon - 4pm
Bring your Books As Art 3 works in progress for consultation, inspiration,
and community work time.
(Masks required, please!)
Download the Guidelines for much more information!
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UAF Summer Sessions 2021
Bookmaking: Collage as Content
June 4 -6
Margo Klass, Instructor
This workshop focuses on using collage to tell a story. Form, color, and space become a visual language to impart content. The completed concertina will be cased in board covers to create the finished book. The workshop format includes virtual sessions followed by opportunities to work on line or, in limited numbers, in the NBG studio.
1 SPACE AVAILABLE
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BOOK PAPER THREAD
New Workshops
Check out the link below to read about the new series of virtual workshops offered by Linda Marshall, Karen Hardy, and Andrew Huot at Book Paper Thread. Workshops begin in June and run throughout the summer months.
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FOCUS ON BOOK ARTS 2021
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE:
Where We Live
July 12-17, 2021
This three-day series of online events centered around the these “Where We Live” will include featured speakers, a juried exhibition, artist reception, a challenge book, and vendor marketplace.
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Newport Paper Book Arts Festival 2021
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
September 17-18-19, 2021
Save the dates for this virtual conference,
to include on-line classes, lectures, exhibition, and more.
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NORTHWOODS BOOK ARTS GUILD
CALENDAR
Letterpress Chapbook Project
ongoing
NBG Program Meeting
Saturday, May 15, 1-3pm
#areyoubookenough theme: Fruit
BOOK ARTS BASICS
Series 3: 5-Panel Screen Structure
Sunday, May 16, 10-noon and 1-3pm
BOOK ARTS BASICS
Series 3: Concertina Album
Sunday, May 23, 10-noon and 1-3pm
BOOK ARTS BASICS
Series 3: Cased-in Bindings
Sunday, June 13, 10-noon and 1-3pm
NBG Exhibition
BOOKS AS ART 3
Bear Gallery
November 5-27, 2021
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Learn about and support Northwoods Book Arts Guild!
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