DRUM LEAF BINDING

Our July workshop will be a demonstration by Judy Detrick on how to make a book with a Drum Leaf Binding. According to AI, "Drum Leaf Binding is a bookbinding technique where single sheets of paper, folded in half to create folios, are glued together along the spine and fore-edge to create a flat opening book. This method, popularized by Timothy Ely, allows for uninterrupted full page spreads, making it ideal for artists' books, photo albums, and visual narratives according to CCAD Packard Library." For the cover, Judy will be teaching the Break-Away Spine as recommended by Tim Ely. Judy says that we can either follow along as she demonstrates, take notes, or watch the recorded video. She says this is a fun project and a great way to ease into a text block and a hard cover. If you have questions before the workshop, please feel free to email her at jdetrick@mcn.org.

Break-Away Spine

Book open

Book closed

Tool & Materials List:

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Metal Ruler

• Emery board (yes, the kind you file your nails with)

• Bone or Teflon folder

• Cutting mat 22" x 17"

• Olfa silver cutter (snap blade) or box knife

• PVA or Yes! paste

• Kindergarten round brush

• Kindergarten flat brush

• Waste sheets (used printer paper is good)

• Waxed paper

• Two (2) waxed paper covered bricks

• One (1) manila file folder or similar

• Cover paper or cloth

• Piece of strong long-fiber Japanese paper or any sturdy paper grain long

• Any number of photos or other artwork printed on good paper *

• * Trim them all to the same size; they will be folded into folios

• Two (2) end papers trimmed to the same size as the folios, grain parallel to fold; (save the scraps)

• Two (2) thin boards (1 mm thick) trimmed to the same size as the folios, grain parallel to fold

• Two (2) thick glossy magazines or phone books or paperbacks larger than the folios

July Meeting: 

When:   Saturday, July 12, at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    Dolores Guffey by July 7 to receive the password

Workshop Questions:  Judy Detrick  jdetrick@mcn.org

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes
Contact Information is in the newsletter

PAPER DISTRESSING & PSBA MEMBERS' EXHIBITION

Many thanks to Carolyn Jones for a very interesting workshop on aging and distressing paper. It was soon clear that Carolyn had done a lot of research and experimentation on the subject and she had many examples to share with us. While we don't have any examples to show here, I'm sure our members will soon be using some of these techniques in their work and hopefully will share photos with us.

PSBA 2025 Members' Exhibition

Puget Sound Book Artists (PSBA) are celebrating their 14th Members' Exhibition at Collins Memorial Library on the campus of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. This will continue through August 3rd before moving to Daniel J. Evans Library at Evergreen State College in Olympia WA to run September 29-December 12. The theme this year is Field Work. According to the Exhibit Curatorial Statement, 

"Field Work could mean the conventional sense of work performed not in the office or studio--but it could also mean the artist's area of interest or expertise and how that interest is expressed in the work...You can even consider field work through an agricultural lens or a spiritual one. Your field of vision is wide open!"

Here is a sample of some of the books in the exhibition.

Under Our Feet by Judy Cook

Trabajar Los Campos (to work the fields)
by LeeAnne Campos

Boundaries by Dorothy McQuistion

Strange Birds by Gina Pisello

Family Roots by Bonnie Julien

Caps by Christie Houston

Nature's Grey-ccordion Book by Donna Letterese

Meet Me in the Meadow by Jan Ward

Field Notes by Fran McReynolds

Bird is a Verb by Abbie Birmingham & Judith Roan

Songs of Kaua'i by Laurel Moorhead

AGING & DISTRESSING TECHNIQUES

Our June workshop will be a paper play day. Carolyn Jones will show us a bunch of ways to add subtle color and texture to paper and card to give them an aged effect. She will show a bunch of examples of her experiments, demonstrate several quick techniques that we will be able to try right away, and suggest others that take a bit more time.

The biggest variable is the paper. The weight, fiber composition, color and texture all have an impact. Carolyn asks that we try to collect at least three different papers or cards that we like to use (light colors, different weights, different surfaces) and have multiple pieces of each so we can compare different techniques on the same paper. Small pieces are fine. We will be experimenting!!

Materials:

• Paper and/or card stock, a couple of kinds, about 10 pieces of each

• Texturing tools - sandpaper, steel wool, files, scoring tools, textured surfaces

• Natural colorants - used tea bags, coffee grounds in their filter, dry ground spices (turmeric and paprika work well, but grab a couple of others if you have them)

• Other colorants - ink pads (neutral colors), shoe polish

• Water - in a jar and in a spray bottle

• Applicators - brushes, sponges, toothbrushes

• Wax paper

• Flat working surface - such as a glass plate or cookie sheet

When:     Saturday, June 14 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:    On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:      Dolores Guffey by June 9

Workshop Questions:  Carolyn Jones cjweaver@fastmail.com

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

Member News

Nature, Paper, Fiber, Found is the title of a wonderful exhibit that just opened at the Newport, Oregon Visual Arts Center. Our NORBAG member, Cheri Aldrich, is the artist who created these amazing pieces of art. The show will be open through July 27 in the upstairs gallery. 

  

MANDALA MAGIC

 Barbara Clark introduced us to the wonderful world of Mandalas at our May workshop. Instead of making books, we learned some of the techniques involved with creating these magical pieces. It can be a kind of Zen activity to create and color these lovely designs. Thank you Barbara for sharing your techniques with us. Here is a sample of some of the Mandalas that were created.

Bobbie Hayes

Annette Hansen

Stephanie Weigel

Stephanie Weigel

Michele Kamprath

Michael Ebel
Michael used only premade or handmade rubber stamps
 and colored markers to create his design.

Sherrill Story

Sherrill Story
These two pieces are examples from the May Project Page

MANDALAS

Our May workshop will feature Barbara Clark teaching us how to make a mandala. Just what is a mandala? "According to a Google search, "a mandala is a geometric design or pattern that represents the cosmos or deities in various heavenly worlds." "In their most basic form, mandalas are circles contained within a square and arranged into sections that are all organized around a single, central point. They're typically produced on paper or cloth, drawn on a surface with threads, fashioned in bronze, or built in stone."

Here are two beautiful mandala examples from Barbara.

Tools Needed:

• Ruler
• Pencil
• Waterproof black pen with a fine point like Micron or Sharpie
• Drawing compass
• Protractor
• Colors of any kind: watercolors, colored pencils, or markers
• 6-8 inch square piece of watercolor paper, mixed media paper or cardstock

Barbara explained that "you can ink a mandala with anything you'd like. One of the ones I enjoyed the most was inking it with a dip pen in some acrylic ink. You can also color in sections with any kind of colors. And, you can embellish and continue adding marks and colors on top of whatever you choose by using a Jelly Roll pen, especially the Moonlight series, or Stickies or any other mixed media."

Basic Structure:

• Find the center of your square piece by measuring corner to corner and making a light mark across.
• Lightly mark your north, south, east and west lines.
• Use your compass to draw concentric circles, and use the protractor to find specific degrees along the circles to draw different lines across your circles.

Barbara made a video of making a mandala on her YouTube site at:

www.youtube.com/@barbclark69

When:    Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:   On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    To  Dolores Guffey by May 5 to receive the password

Workshop Questions:  Barbara Clark barbclark63@gmail.com

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

Sherrill Story's circular flag birthday card
from the April workshop.

CIRCULAR FLAG BOOKS & OPEN STUDIO

Many thanks to Mary Conley for sharing her original circular flag book design at our April workshop. It looked much more complicated to make than it turned out to be. As usual, participants found new and creative ways to personalize the structure. I think we'll be seeing more variations of this structure in the months to come. Here are a few examples of the books that were made during the workshop.

Emmy Nelson

Annette Hansen

Stephanie Weigel

Sherrill Story

Donna LaVallee

Here is a photo of a beautiful birthday card made by Michele Kamprath. The design was from the March Project Page.

Check out Michele's beautiful eco-dyed paper in the background.

Open Studios

The past two weekends an Open Studio event was held that many of us wish we could have attended. Sadly for us it was in York, England and our local (to York) member, Margaret Beech, was a first-time participant. Apparently it was a huge success and Margaret had many very happy visitors who were new to the world of Artist Books and loved her work. Here are a few photos from her displays.

Thank you Mary, Margaret, and everyone else who sent

 photos to share their work with us.

CIRCULAR FLAG BOOK

Our April workshop will feature a circular book invented by Mary Conley. She said it is easy to make and the decorating will be at our own discretion. Mary will send us the patterns she used in making the birthday card just in case we want to duplicate it. After registration in the workshop the participants will be supplied with printouts of the circles, the lettering (Happy Birthday), and stars to cut out ahead of time. (The two circles should be cut out of light weight cardstock or similar material that is easy to fold.)

Supplies:

• Bone folder
• Scoring tool
• Ruler
• Glue stick
• X-Acto knife
• Scissors
• Cutting mat
• One (1) Velcro dot
• Three (3) different colored cardstock

Suggested Decoration: 

Circular paper punches: 3/4" and 1/2" diameter

NORBAG member projects:

Sherrill Story's versions of the
Telescoping mechanism from the March workshop. 

Cards laying flat.

Sherrill's card was inspired by Michele Kamprath's card
from the March Project Page.

 April Meeting Details:

What:    Circular Flag Book

When:   Saturday April 12 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:   Dolores Guffey by April 7 to receive the password etc.

Workshop Questions:  Mary Conley - sculptsster@gmail.com

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter.