Mendocino Art Exhibit

Last month we received an invitation from Janet Self, a member of FLOCKworks, to share some of our books at one of their shows--Art of Letter, Word & Book, taking place in Mendocino, CA. Our guild sent 34 books, both exchange books and books that had been in our own exhibits over the years. This exhibit is part of Art @ Odd Fellows, which began in 2007 with the loan of a building to allow special short term exhibits by groups of artists. FLOCKworks facilitates this on-going series. Art of Letter, Word & Book runs from May 1-May 25 so there is still a short amount of time to explore this hands-on exhibit about art, language, and books by local and regional artists. This includes handmade artists' books, calligraphy, letterpress, text into other art, altered books, art made up from up-cycled books, plus related work in wood, ceramics and more. The location is: Art @ Odd Fellows at the corner of Kasten and Ukiah Streets in Mendocino Village. Recently NORBAG members Edge Gerring and Sandy Vrem visited the exhibit and provided us with the following photographs. The first three and last photos include the books from NORBAG members.

Thank you Edge and Sandy for sharing your photographs.

Exhibition Opening at Eureka Books

Our 4th annual exhibition at Eureka Books is now on display through the end of the month. The opening was this Saturday, as part of the monthly Arts Alive event in Eureka. The reception was well attended, with crowds streaming in throughout the evening.

Arriving early in the evening. 

Books were made from every conceivable material, including a Monopoly game.
The folded sculptural book in the back is a display stand. 

The crowds kept coming as the evening passed.

There were books in display cases as well as on tables.

You also might want to check out this article about the exhibition, and book arts in general, that Simona Carini wrote for The Northcoast Journal. (She happens to be the artist behind the redwood forest accordion above). 

Highland Art Center Invitation

NORBAG members have been invited to participate in an exhibition, The Book as Art, at Highland Art Center in Weaverville. Please note that this is not a NORBAG project, but rather an opportunity for you, as an individual, to exhibit your book art in a gallery situation. If you have questions, please contact the gallery directly. 

When: January 8–January 30, 2011

Where: Highland Art Center, 691 Main St., Weaverville

Deadline: January 4 or earlier.

Books: Handmade or altered. For sale or not.

Details: No fee to exhibit. 

Contact: 

Highland Art Center 

PO Box 1270

Weaverville, CA 96093

info@highlandartcenter.org

www.highlandartcenter.org

530.623.5111

Arts Alive, 2010

Our third annual Book Arts exhibition with Eureka Books was wonderful in so many ways. The redesigned cabinetry and floor space made it very easy for the crowds to move around and view all of the books and the 1000 Books hanging from the mezzanine railings added to the festive atmosphere. The great variety of book structures and the fact that these art objects could be picked up and enjoyed resulted in the audience receiving quite an education in the book arts. People were fascinated with Dolores Guffey's demonstration of sewing an exposed spine binding called "Bow Tie" and people enjoyed refreshments provided by Scott, Jack, Amy, and Peggy of Eureka Books.

 One of the main tables in back of the store.

View from the mezzanine. 

View of the front of the store.

This great shot shows most of the display space with the 1000 Books.

Dolores demonstrating a sewing frame and book cradle.

Michele "wearing" her Differential Equations pocketBook.

Sandy rearranging what remained of 1000 Books.

Many thanks to NORBAG participating artists, the Exhibition Committee, volunteers who helped construct 1000 Books, our member photographers, and Scott Brown of Eureka Books for being such a great, supportive partner in this event.
You'll enjoy seeing all of the books on Flickr:
Eureka Books Exhibition 2010
*Mouse over photos to identify artists and you can click on Slideshow.

Publicity Poster

The first publicity posters have been printed for NORBAG'S exhibition at Eureka Books, September 4, 2010. The poster is an 11" x 17" visual treat. Sandy Vrem's book was chosen as the "poster" book for this year. It is called "Long Tall Sally". Please join us in celebration of the book arts in September.

Shereen LaPlantz, University of Puget Sound

Article by Dolores Guffey, Photos by Bonnie Julien

Currently, at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, there is an exhibit of the work of artist Shereen LaPlantz. The exhibit is through March 12, 2010. Not all of our current guild members may be aware that Shereen was one of the founding members of North Redwoods Book Arts Guild. Although she was only a member during the first year (1995-96) her influence and dedication to book arts has shaped not only our guild, but anyone who decided to try their hand at book arts. I feel honored to have had the experience of not only taking workshops from her, but observing her create Cover to Cover.  She had "play days" where she invited other book artists to come to her studio to work up models that would be in the book. Among those at the play days were Dorothy Swendeman, Elaine Benjamin, Robin Renshaw, JoAnne Berke, and Dolores Guffey.

After Cover to Cover was published, Shereen initiated the organizing of a Book Arts Conference here in Humboldt County, one of the purposes of creating The North Redwoods Book Arts Guild. In June of 1996 we put on a fantastic conference with nationally recognized book art instructors from all over the U.S. and even Canada. Shereen was able to use her connections to gather 18 book artists to participate. This was our first and last conference. As successful as it was, it was just too much work! After the conference Shereen took a different direction and concentrated on her one and three year workshop commitments which she taught in her home.

Editor comments:

The University of Puget Sound has an excellent press release where you will learn more about Shereen and her books. NORBAG member, Bonnie Julien enjoyed touring the exhibit and she was given permission to take photos. She has provided all of the captions and has taken photos in very challenging conditions with great results. View the following Picasa slideshow to feel as if you're touring the exhibit yourself! (Click on the slideshow image to view a larger version in Picasa)

To our readers! Do you have a favorite structure from Cover to Cover or The Art & Craft of Handmade Books? If so, use the "COMMENT" link below, then type your favorite structure, answer the "word verification" (keeps out computer spam), use the "Name" button (you only need a first name) and publish your comment to share with other readers.

NCWA: Hard Copy, Book as Sculpture

Written by Bonnie Julien, edited by Michele Olsen

National Museum of Women in the Arts

One lovely Mother's Day a couple of years ago my daughter gave me a copy of The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. (Note:  part of the NORBAG library) This book has almost 200 pages of photographs of fabulous books by many of the premier women book artists in the world AND these books are among the more than 800 in the permanent collection of the museum.  I knew that I had to visit this place. The opportunity finally came when we spent a week in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area with our friends from Germany. The exhibit we were able to see, Hard Copy: Book as Sculpture, runs through January 17, 2010. Unfortunately, it was a small exhibit of only 15 books while the hundreds of other artist books were not on display.

The museum, located at 1250 New York Avenue, is just a few blocks from the White House. Although the book exhibit was well done, we were disappointed that most of the 15 books displayed were included in my book, mentioned above. When we asked about the permanent collection we were directed to the 4^th floor, which turned out to be completely devoid of human life. We did find the library, discovering several display cases of artist books.  Happily we poured over the displays later discovering that the library was open by appointment only. I have no idea where the museum/library staff was that day, but apparently we were very lucky to have been able to see these additional books. It was definitely worth a visit to this museum. If a trip to Washington D.C. isn't in your immediate future, I recommend that you purchase or borrow The Book as Art and also check out:

1)  The museum website:  www.nmwa.org 

2)  Images of the books are available using the link below. Look under "Press Kit" and click on "Illustrated checklist (pdf)" and/or "Press Image Gallery".

Hard Copy: Book as Sculpture

    

Note from Michele:  It was a real treat to see these books as most of the artists were unknown to me. If any of you know of other internet sites featuring these artists, please leave as a comment. Thank you Bonnie!

Arts Alive 2009

Welcome to

North Redwoods Book Arts Guild

(NORBAG)

Arts Alive is a monthly event in Eureka, California. This September, Eureka Books hosted the second annual NORBAG exhibit and sale of handmade books.  The weather was perfect (high 60's) and the event coincided with Blues by the Bay. The turnout was fabulous with people in the streets listening to music well past 9:00 pm. The books displayed represented guild members from Humboldt County as well as other locations in the US, England and Thailand.  

The event served to expand the definition of "book" for most of those attending and it was great fun for artists to watch people admiring their books.  

To see photos of the event use the link below.  A web photo album will open in a new window. Click on the individual photos to see larger images or use the Slideshow button. 


Arts Alive 2009

(Photos by Bonnie, J. Rollie L. and Michele O.)