MORE SHOW & TELL

 

Many thanks to Laurie Moorhead for sharing her journey through several art media with us. It was very enlightening to hear about her progression from simple sketching to painting with oils and watercolors, carving stamps and cutting paper, and binding her work into zines and books etc. What a journey it has been and we appreciate hearing about it.

This is a great time to continue sharing some of the beautiful work of our members. Mary Elizabeth Nelson (aka Emmy), one of our members from Pennsylvania, recently completed two boxes commissioned by an Interior Designer. 

In February Emmy first started sourcing suppliers and figuring out what type of box to construct for storing 50 to 75 8 x 10" color photographs. The photos were to be mounted on a complementary color background. She found two new (to her) paper sources; Lessebo Colours from Sweden and Colorplan from England. Both carry a wide variety of colors and weights.

After ordering samples, the designer decided on Sahara from Lessebo. The 300 gsm (110 lbs.) weight was heavy enough for the 8 x 10 photos making the finished size 10 1/2 x 12 1/2". Archival mounting corners were ordered from Lineco. Binders board and Jade 711 PVA were ordered from Talas. Emmy already had navy blue linen book cloth for the spine of the boxes that looked good with her wet-cyan prints and Madeleine Durham's paste paper. 

Lots of wet-cyan prints!

Early in March Emmy started making wet-cyan prints using dried leaves and flowers on quarter sheets of Newcomen paper that she already had on hand. A quarter sheet is 17 1/2 x 22". This vintage paper, in a light tan color, has a high cotton content and holds up well with multiple lengths of wet time. She's previously used it for paste paper and now the wet-cyans. She can only make two prints a day because of the limitations in glass size and the amount of time they have to sit in the sun (about three hours). Emmy was working most every sunny day while also preparing some short videos of the process of making the wet-cyans for a presentation for the San Diego Book Arts Guild. 

April and May brought an increase in the amount of fresh plant materials, but she still used some of the dried leaves she had on hand. Many of these dried materials have become "old friends" because she uses them over and over. Fresh delicate flowers are used only once since they tend to bake after three hours in the sun. In total, Emmy made 30 sheets of wet-cyans by mid June.

Early construction of the first clamshell box. 

Covering the box with the wet-cyan prints. Each

gluing step required that the pieces had to sit over-

night under weights.

The navy book cloth was used for the spine of the box.

The photographs were mounted

on the card stock with archival

mounting corners. 122 photos

with four self-stick corners each.

Because each step in the construction had to sit
under weights, Emmy had two extra tables set up
in her studio.

The finished size for each box is 12 1/4 x 14 1/2 x 3 1/4"

What a beautiful way to store photographs! Well done Emmy and thank you for sharing the process with us!!

SHOW & TELL

Our July NORBAG meeting will feature a show & tell presentation by Laurie Moorhead, our member from San Diego. She is a very prolific book artist with books in permanent collections at Baylor University, Collins Library at the University of Puget Sound, and the Cynthia Sears Collection at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. In addition, her books have been in numerous juried exhibitions as well as member exhibitions.

Laurel (Laurie) Moorhead came to art late in life. After retiring from a career in business and non-profit management, she began taking art classes and got hooked. She has studied book arts, oil painting, watercolor, urban sketching, colored pencil, paper cutting, collage, rubber stamp carving, gel prints, paper weaving, embroidery, and more. Her preferred mediums are book arts, papercutting, rubber stamp carving and watercolor and ink sketching but she is always interested in trying new techniques.

Laurie's major work is a series of stories of her life, centering around travel. There are currently 13 books in the collection that was started in her first book arts class in 2008. Recently, she has added to this project through the medium of zines. Additionally, in 2015 she participated in her first collaborative project, Over the Moon, through a local book arts organization. This inspired a love of collaborative projects prompting her to lead seven projects and participate in many others.

This presentation will be a wonderful opportunity to see Laurie's books and hear about her journey into the world of art and artist books. Shown below is a sample of a few of her books.

When:    Saturday July 13, at 10 a.m. PDT
Where:   On your computer, tablet or smartphone via ZOOM
RSVP:     To Dolores Guffey by July 9
Workshop Questions:  Laurie Moorhead

laurelmoorhead@netscape.net
Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

TUNNELS OF FUN

The June workshop was all about making a tunnel book. This is a great structure that incorporates perspective and depth perception into one view. Participants came up with some wonderful images for their tunnel books that featured backyard animals, Candyland, Beatrix Potter, and even a visit to the Newport Paper & Book Art Festival. Thank you Celeste Chalasini for a very rewarding workshop. 

Margaret Beech

Sherrill Story

Sherrill featured her granddaughter in a ballet performance.

Puget Sound Book Artists (PSBA) is currently holding their annual members' exhibition at Collins Library on the campus of the University of Puget Sound. The theme this year is Time Travel. The following photos are a sample of the books in the exhibit. If you are in the area, the exhibit will run until August 1.

Lynn Skordal
The Light Within represents travel through culture.

Suze Woolf
Bark Beetle Volume XLI: A Brief Bestiary of Bark Beetles

Ann Storey
The Grand Canyon of Color (Tunnel Book)

Deborah Greenwood
Amended. A collection of collected items collaged and stitched.

Bonnie Julien
Skara Brae

Mari Eckstein Gower
Robot Dreams

Judy Cook
Frosting Frenzy, A Home Economics Memory

John Arbuckle
Crow's Compendium II

Dorothy McCuistion
Transition. Journal pages cut into strips and woven together.

Jan Dove
Don't Go

TUNNEL BOOK

 

Our June workshop will be a lesson in how to make a basic tunnel book. Taught by Celeste Chalasani, this will be an introduction into the world of tunnel books. What is a tunnel book? It is a structure that contains pages that are held together by folded strips of paper on each side that resemble an accordion. To “read” a tunnel book you look through a hole in the front cover. Each page features openings that allow the reader to see through to the back page. The images on each page work together to form a three-dimensional scene. The overall effect is an illusion of depth and perspective. According to Wonderopolis, https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-tunnel-book#  tunnel books date back to the mid-18^th century when they were originally called “peep shows.” The concept was inspired by theatrical stage sets.

Participants in this workshop will need to print and cut out photos and “things” to go on four pages. In the workshop, we’ll cut frames, attach the “things” to the frames, create the accordion folds for the sides, and then attach the pages to the sides. Celeste will talk about variations—specifically about how you can add more pages and make the accordion longer to avoid the swell (and what that does to the book).

Materials:

• One 3" x 5" photo printed out on cardstock. The photo should be a background photograph, showing something in the distance.  Celeste's photo above is from the "Meanwhile in Saskatchewan" Facebook page. Cut out your photo leaving a 1/2" margin all around so that the actual piece will be 4" x  6".
• Three additional "things" of varying sizes for the foreground of the tunnel. Celeste's examples are two trees and a deer, both clipart found using Google images. "Thing" number one that's the closest to you, should be the largest. "Thing" two should be slightly smaller, and "thing" three should be the smallest. All three of these "things" should be larger than what's shown in your background photo. The three "things" will need to touch the frame they are attached to and should be cut out leaving a 1/2" tab on the side where they'll touch: underneath (if they touch the ground), above (if they touch the sky), or on either side.
• Three (3) pieces of cardstock cut to 4" x 6"
• Two (2) pieces of text-weight paper cut to 4" x 4"
• Ruler
• Xacto knife
• Stylus or similar scoring tool
• Glue stick 
• scrap paper for gluing

When:    Saturday June 8, at 10 a.ml PDT

Where:   On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:     Dolores Guffey by June 3

Workshop Questions:  Celeste Chalasani

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter.

Here are three more photos from the May Interlocking Accordion workshop taught by Mary Conley.

Sherrill Story

Thanks Sherrill for sharing your photos.

·       

INTERLOCKING ACCORDION REVIEW

 We had a great workshop on May 11 learning how to make an interlocking accordion. Mary Conley led us through the steps of how to put together this simple yet adaptable structure. Perhaps the best part is that there is no sewing and minimal gluing required. The size can be altered as long as you keep the ratio the same between the two accordion strips. We also learned a nifty little tip on how to easily fold a 10 sided accordion. Many thanks to Mary for coming up with this variation of a structure she learned from another NORBAG member, Kit Davey.

Here are some of the books that were made during or after the workshop.

Emmy Nelson

Stephanie Weigel

Michele Kamprath

Dolores Guffey

Notes from the Art Lab

By Bonnie Halfpenny

If you live anywhere near Minneapolis I’m sure you’re aware of the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts (MCBA). If not, you can still benefit by a visit to their excellent website at https://www.mnbookarts.org/. Now housed in a facility called Open Book, it is part of a comprehensive literary and book arts facility that served some 82,000 patrons of all ages last year.

Classes of all skill levels are taught. Some that are available online include Book Arts 101, Eleven Basic Book Structures, and Mail is Magic; all found under the Education Tab.

Under Exhibits & Events there are several virtual exhibits including Solastalgia: Book Art & the Climate Crisis, Drop Dead Gorgeous: Fine Bindings, and Bound/Unbound.

Besides residencies and fellowships, the Center also invites artists across the country to submit their work for sale in the consignment shop which can be found under the Shop tab. The application is online and they generally review applications within two weeks. The artist retains 60% of the sale price.

Summer’s coming…if you are headed to this part of the world, this would be a great place to visit in person!

INTERLOCKING ACCORDIONS

 The May NORBAG workshop will be taught by our member from Victoria, BC, Mary Conley. The Interlocking Accordions structure is a variation of a book by Kit Davey. Mary describes it as being "fairly easy to make". As you can see from the following photographs, the structure is perfect for showcasing art or photos.

Materials:

Two (2) long accordions

• One is 4.5 inches tall and 30 inches long. This is the illustrated part of the book. It needs to be folded into 10 pages that are 3 inches wide. Lightweight paper, like wrapping paper, is recommended.
• The second accordion is 4.5 inches tall by 24 inches long. A stiffer paper is suggested...like cardstock. This piece needs to be folded into 8 pages that are 3 inches wide.

PLEASE FOLD THE ACCORDIONS PRIOR TO THE WORKSHOP

• Bone folder
• Xacto knife or box cutter
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Template: Cut from cardstock a rectangle measuring 4.5 x 3 inches.

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

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    To Dolores Guffey by May 6 to receive the password

Workshop Questions:  Mary Conley, sculptsster@gmail.com

Zoom Questions: Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter.

GIRDLE BOOK & COLETTE FU

At the April NORBAG workshop we made Girdle books (not really related to the kind of girdles that are worn as foundation garments 😉). The design for our books came from structures used during the middle ages that hung down from a person's belt. In this day and age, this type of book would work great as a nature journal where one could have their hands free, but the book would be very accessible. Lara Cox was our instructor and she did a great job leading us through this project. Now that we know the basics of how this structure works, it will be very interesting to see if our members come up with some other interpretations of the design. Thank you Lara for introducing us to this historical structure. Below are a couple of examples of books made during the workshop.

Sherrill Story

Sherrill's husband demonstrated
 how to wear her book.

Bonnie Julien

Inside cover of Bonnie's book.

Colette Fu

In November 2023 the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) welcomed artist Colette Fu for a month-long residency. Fu's work is a melding of her photography and pop-up engineering. Featured below are some of the books that were exhibited in the Sherry Grover gallery.

The legend is that Butterfly Mother gave birth
to 12 eggs, the origin of all living things.

Miao Fishing Contest