HOLIDAY CARDS & MARE BLOCKER EXHIBITION

The NORBAG Holiday Card exchange on Dec. 13 was great for both local and out-of-town members again this year. About 20 members were at the Zoom meeting and 13 went to Sandy V's house for the local event. The cards were shared at both events and even members who had not participated shared some of the holiday art they were working on. Photographs of the 2025 holiday cards are in our Flickr gallery.

The following "peace" cards are from past holiday exchanges. They are currently on display in the kiosk at the Humboldt County Library.

Mare Blocker Exhibition

The current exhibition in the Sherry Grover Gallery at BIMA (Bainbridge Island Museum of Art) features work by Mare Blocker, a Washington book artist. Here is what she said about this exhibit that will remain until February 15.

"For this series of artist's books, I have used repurposed paper and paintings loved ones had left for me, and mixed it with older bits I had gleaned for recycle bins in the academic institutions I have worked in." 

"Having a retrospective is a chance to look back to see my event horizons and the layers a life of images has built."

HOLIDAY MEETINGS

 Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us. In December we will offer two opportunities for meetings. both on the same day. In lieu of a workshop at our usual 10 a.m. Zoom meeting on December 13, we will show the cards that are in this year's holiday exchange. We would also like to extend an invitation to those attending the Zoom meeting who did not participate in the exchange to show a card and/or a holiday project to share with our members. At noon on the same day, we will have a local in-person social gathering to celebrate the joys of the season and see the cards that are in the holiday card exchange. 

Sandy V. has once again graciously opened her lovely home in Arcata for our local members to get together to share goodies, see the exchange cards, and have time to chat with each other. It is not necessary to have made a card to come.

Most of the holiday cards that have been shared through the years are timeless, so here is a sampling of some from years past.

What:    Holiday Card Exchange

When:   Saturday December 13

Where:  At 10 a.m. PST on your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom AND/OR in person at the home of Sandy V at 12 Noon

RSVP:   Dolores Guffey by Dec. 8 to receive the password for Zoom or directions to Sandy's home

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

Michael Jacobs

 We are sad to report the news that Michael Jacobs, a well-known book artist, died in September of 2025 in Washington State. Michael taught bookmaking and paper craft workshops in the United States and Canada.

He was born in California and grew up in Santa Monica. At the age of 11, he received a leather craft kit, and this was the beginning of his interest in creative arts. He took workshops and training in photography, paper making, metal work, bookbinding and other arts. In 1988 he obtained a Commercial Art Degree with Honors from Seattle Central Community College.

His career progressed from being the owner of The Leather Works in Santa Monica (1968 to 1975) to working in mixed media crafts and sculptures (1975 to 1986). He was the owner and designer of Dimensional Graphics in Seattle, making paper sculptures, props and signage (1988-1993), the Co-Owner and Art Director of The Creative Zone in Seattle, producing, multi-media artist books, sculptures, and paper craft kits (1993 to 2009).

His artist books have been in private collections across America since 1973. In 1990, Michael designed and fabricated the World's Largest Photo Album (including 7,500 photos and weighing 228 pounds) for the Kodak Goodwill Games.

 In March 2008, NORBAG was privileged to have him come to Eureka to teach 3 workshops: "Spirit Book" “Strap Journal" and "Offbeat Books".

 Michael wrote three books on book projects published by North Light Books:

     Creative Correspondence, written with his wife, Judy Jacobs (2003)

     Cards That Pop up, Flip & Slide (2005)

     Books Unbound: 20 Innovative Bookmaking Projects (2006)

 Michael was an excellent and inspiring teacher and a kind, supportive and positive influence. He was 77.

NOVEMBER WORKSHOP WRAP

 Our last workshop of 2025 was the Australian Reverse Piano Hinge book taught by local member, Donna Gephart. With such a long name it seems like it would be a complicated book, but thanks to Donna, it was not. One of the best features of this structure is that the signatures can easily be removed and replaced with new ones. The dimensions for this structure can also be changed, and one could use one or more accordion pieces to secure the signatures. There is no stitching involved and very little gluing (only on the covers). Thank you Donna for sharing this very adaptable structure with us.

Michele Kamprath used just one

 accordion piece for her book.

Bonnie Julien used two accordions (the gold paper)

to secure her signatures.

Margaret Beech modified her book

on the outside by adding a case binding

that did not change the inside of her book.

She can still replace signatures if she wants.

 

Michele's husband, Doug, even made a book to

showcase his artwork.

Doug's book also used one accordion.

AUSTRALIAN REVERSE PIANO HINGE

Our instructor for the November workshop will be local member Donna Gephart. She will show us how to make one version of the Australian Reverse Piano Hinge book and also demonstrate another version. Below you will find the tools and materials list for the book, but first, here are photos of two versions of the structure. 

Tools:

• Pencil
• Metal ruler
• Art knife and cutting mat
• PVA and brush or glue stick
• Weights (like covered bricks or heavy books)
• Possibly an awl and piercing cradle or a push pin

Materials:

• Two (2) pieces of book board cut 6" x 6"
• Two (2) pieces of cover paper cut 7-1/2" x 7-1/2"
• Two (2) coordinating end papers cut 5-1/2" x 5-1/2"

• Two (2) pieces medium weight paper cut 20" x 1-5/8" for accordions
• Six (6) pieces medium weight paper cut 11" x 5-1/2" for signature covers
• Twelve (12) pieces of text weight paper cut 11" x 5-1/2" for signatures
• Six (6) pieces cut 2-1/4" x 5-1/2" for signature closures

When:    Saturday November 8 at 10 a.m. PST

Where:   On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:     To Dolores Guffey by Nov. 3 to receive the password 

Workshop Questions:  Donna Gephart, gephart.donna@gmail.com

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

LOCAL WORKSHOP & PSBA EXCHANGE

Prior to the Covid pandemic in 2020, NORBAG's monthly workshops were all locally attended by members in Humboldt County.  Average attendance was 15-30 members. This arrangement worked well, except that our "out-of-town" members were completely excluded from attendance. They could get the supply list and instructions for the workshops, but they were on their own to put it all together. Then came Covid and the local workshops came to a screaming halt. It took a couple of months, but thanks mostly to Bobbie Hayes, we discovered Zoom and revived the monthly workshops that all of our members can attend. We even record them so that members who might have missed the workshop can see it again. Now we usually have 25-40 attend, including our British and Canadian members.  

This year we’ve started some local workshops again with hopes of getting our local members more interested. Currently we have four local workshops a year (March, June, September and December) in addition to the monthly Zoom workshops. In September Lara Cox taught the Origata Binding, which she was able to reconstruct from Julie Auzillon's website which can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/4unvdh8p .

 Only 11 local members attended, but they were rewarded with a new and different binding structure. The following photos show this structure.

Book Exchange

Puget Sound Book Artists (PSBA) from Washington state started holding a yearly book exchange about five years ago. The following photographs are a sample of the 23 books that were in the exchange that was held this month. The theme was bridges.

Peter Newland

Mary Preston

Dorothy McQuistion

Bonnie Julien

ALLEGRA BURKE

The October NORBAG meeting will feature the multitalented artist, Allegra Burke. She will be presenting a retrospective of her 25-year journey in the art world. The presentation will feature a diverse range of artistic expressions, including rug hooking, embroidery, shibori, gourds, sculpture, and pieces incorporating plastic. A plethora of handmade books will also be included. The retrospective will be followed by a question and answer period.

The following photographs are an introduction to Allegra's work.

When:   Saturday, October 11 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    YES! To Dolores Guffey by Oct. 6 to receive the password

Workshop Questions:  Allegra Burke aburke459@gmail.com

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter