FISHBONE AND TREE FOLD WORKSHOP

On Saturday, May 11, Dianne Byington led us in a workshop using two of Hedi Kyle's structures, the fishbone and tree folds. When telescoped together, the fishbone structure has panels of the same width. The tree fold results in panels of different sizes. Dianne had several tips and tricks for us to use, as well as different versions of the folds. She also showed us different kinds of covers.

Dianne showing us the cutting pattern

One of the things that Dianne spoke about was the terminology used for making these structures. So we adapted to new terminology. Dianne also made mention of the different marking and scoring methods. Here you see different types of rulers being used, as well as someone using a scoring board.

After marking, we scored the pages.

After scoring, we marked the areas to be left uncut. We cut some parts

 and left others attached which allowed the folds/pleats to open. 

The paper was folded along the cuts and the uncut areas.

This picture better illustrates how the pleats open. On the uncut

section, we used double stick tape to hold the last uncut section.

We telescoped the pleats to achieve the fishbone structure.

This is a model of Dianne's tree fold. You can see that the open
 areas are larger as you go, resulting in a very tree-like structure.

We made both structures during the workshop using papers that Dianne brought. She also brought four samples of covers for us to use. 

Dianne brought many samples of these two structures and how we could use them.

The uncut section size will affect the overall look of a fishbone book. On the left, the uncut sections are one-half inch. On the right, the uncut sections are one-quarter between each resulting in a more compack structure.

Soft folds look more like organic structures. To achieve this look, 
when a crease occurs, it isn't set with a bone folder.

Tyvek that has been painted makes a lovely tree fold.

This is a fish fold in a simple cover shown both closed and open.

This was a fun workshop and it will be interesting to see how it appears in our future exchanges. 

Please note: many of our members went to the Newport Paper and Book Art Festival last month and we have pictures of their efforts in the previous post. 

2019 NEWPORT PAPER & BOOK ART FESTIVAL

The 24th annual Newport Paper and Book Arts Festival was held this past April.  Twenty-two of the 105 people listed in the roster of participants are members of NORBAG including four who were instructors. The three day event featured a great selection of both one and two day classes. Everything from eco-dyeing to paper bead making, various boxes to spirit houses, and paper decoration to different binding techniques were offered. There were several evening events where one could visit with other participants and view examples from the various workshops, check out the beautiful books and art at the Instructor's Exhibition, and listen to some featured speakers. We especially enjoyed hearing NORBAG member Margo Klass, talk about her Artist in Residence experience on Boulder Creek, Alaska with her husband Frank Soos. Following are photos contributed by Edge Gerring, Dolores Guffey, Bobbie Hayes and Bonnie Julien.

Margo Klass displays her book documenting her Artist in Residence
experience with her husband, Frank Soos.

Photographs, poetry, and journal entries are recorded in the little books
that fit into the empty niches and are displayed along with found objects
such as stones, bones, and wood.

The book is comprised of various boxes that
accordion fold together into a neat package.

 Spirit House workshop participants display their houses.

Dolores's house has an Asian decor.

Randi Parkhurst displays her house made with her hand painted papers.
She taught the Paper Bead making workshop.

Travel Kraft boxes before covering with decorative papers.

Bonnie's finished box

Dolores used her marbled paper to cover the top and trays.

Michele Kamprath's kraft box.

Kraft box by Mary Humphrey

Donna Gephart's Kraft box.

John Arbuckle was also an instructor and had this beautiful book
in the Instructor's Exhibit. His classes were Art Journal in a Pouch,
Vintage Letter Art Journal, and Bound Tunnel Book.

These gorgeous books in the Instructor's Exhibit show off the long stitch binding 
(Let the Spine Speak) taught by Connie Stricks, a member 
of the Northwoods Book Art Guild in Alaska.

Margo's entry in the Instructor's show featured the same box structure
she taught in a workshop and that she used for her Boulder Creek book seen above. 

The colorful spines of Becky McAllister's books from Connie's class
definitely illustrate the title of the "Let the Spine Speak" workshop.

Michele Kamprath's beautiful books from Connie's workshop.

Beads by Mary Humphrey

Donna Gephart's book from Margo's class.

 Dianne Byington's lovely book from the Altered Book Journal workshop.

Dolores' miniature book with wood covers.

Eco-dyed papers by Becky McAllister

FISHBONE AND TREE FOLDS

Hedi Kyle's book, The Art of the Fold, (available in the NORBAG Lending Library) provides a wealth of information and examples of some wonderful book structures. The May NORBAG workshop will feature two of those folds, the fishbone and the tree. Dianne Byington will instruct us on the difference between them and how to make them along with some variations. Some basic skills to be covered are paper folding, mountain fold, valley fold, and because of the many folds, we will review how to determine grain direction of papers to prevent cracked folds.

Tree fold, with varying page lengths

Tools and Materials to Bring:

• Self-healing cutting mat
• Scissors
• Craft knife or X-acto knife
• Bone folder
• Pencil & eraser
• Scoring tool - paper will be scored multiple times so bring your favorite scoring tool: clear gridded ruler, measuring rules, ruler, or scoring board
• Embossing stylus or pointed bone folder
• Double-sided tape, 1/4" wide suggested

Materials Provided:

• Paper, decorative on one side, white on the other 

Fishbone fold, with sharp folds

Fishbone fold, with soft folds

WHEN:    Saturday, May 11 at noon

WHERE:  Eureka Methodist Church at Del Norte and F Streets

BRING?   See list above

COST:     50 cents

RSVP:     YES! by Wednesday May 8 to Dianne Byington, contact information will be in the newsletter.

MIURA FOLD WORKSHOP

At the Saturday April 12 workshop and book exchange Melissa Brown taught us the Miura Fold used by NASA for their solar displays. The fold enables an astronaut to open a small folded packet by holding the two opposite corners and simply pulling in opposite directions without having to unfold multiple times. It is also a handy way to fold a map because it refolds into its original shape easily.

Melissa supplied each of us with maps cut to 8 ½” x 11” to work with so that all of the folded paper looked the same. First we folded the page into an accordion fold with 5 panels. Using an odd number made things easier. After the first folds we had an accordion folded piece of paper that was 11” long and about 1 ¾” wide. Melissa used a huge piece of paper so that we could see what she was doing as she was walking around the room. Since we all used the same paper, there wasn't much variation to see.  

If you take the top left corner and the bottom right corner 
and pull them in opposite directions, the paper opens wide.

We progressed to fold the long accordion at not quite 90º degrees from the long side. The last step was to open the paper and refold yet again. There is no way to explain without lots of drawings and even more words. You can download a PDF file from the International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics at https://ijpam.eu/contents/2012-79-2/8/8.pdf. Not only do you get instructions, you also receive a bit of history.

We didn't discuss how to use these in books. If you have any ideas please let us know.

Melissa told us not to bring a ruler but then she told us to make a five panel fold without the ruler. She showed us a method of using an accordion folded piece of paper that results in equidistant folds that can be applied to your project to divide it into five sections. You can use the equidistant markings on a ruler without actually using math (for example, 8 ½” paper divided by 5 equals 1.7” per colum or 1 and 11.2/16ths). Again, words cannot fully explain the process. The NORBAG Compendium of Project Pages, Volume II, page 53 shows us how to do this. 

Remember the Piano Hinge Accordion Book March workshop? We didn’t finish many of our books and a few people brought them in for display this month. Here are the pictures.

There is an opening in the cover to continue the feel of this structure made with windows.

This is a paste paper technique on acetate.

Nature bits and pieces

Decorative threads

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2019!!

Now on display in the kiosk inside the Humboldt County Library are 26 nature themed books created by members of the North Redwoods Book Arts Guild. Peggy Marrs water colored plants and animals and bound them into a lovely book. Dolores Guffey used her marbling technique on corrugated paper, die cut into tree shapes and placed them in the accordion folds of a book with nature quotes. Bobbie Hayes created a flag book based on nature walks along the Hikshari’ Trail. Lynne Gurnee created Mylar windowed views of nature in a piano hinge accordion book. Michele Kamprath used autumn colors and dry leaves to print on black and white papers in a flora book. Edith Fuller, in Oregon, made a beautiful book with painted nature prints by a local artist. Carole Maurer, in Pennsylvania, hand lettered a whirligig book, The Mosquito, and reminded us that the mosquito is Alaska’s unofficial state bird. And that describes a few of the beautiful books that celebrate our wondrous earth. 

From the Earth Day website: In nature, nothing exists alone. - Rachel Carson, 1962

CHRISTMAS IN APRIL?

Our member from York, England, Margaret Beech, knows how to plan ahead. Her motto is "it's never too early to make a start". She recently sent photos of her progress working on holiday cards for the December exchange. She decided to write down how many stages are involved in the making of one card...multiplied by at least thirty for the exchange. So far there are 17 stages including the signature. At a certain point she'll go into production line methods which will speed things up, but it's a while before she has a finished card. She writes "it's always easy to make one card, but I need to keep in mind how easy (or not) that will be to scale up". Here's a sneak preview of Margaret's holiday card...now get busy on yours!

Planning ahead for the coming year of exchanges can begin as early as November when the new themes will be revealed. While some people work best under pressure, others need to plan ahead without a deadline looming. Of course some themes remain the same each year such as Valentine cards in February, Project Page or ideas from the compendiums in May, and the holiday cards in December. But once the new themes are released, consider choosing your favorite (no matter what month it is scheduled) and begin work. It will feel good to be "ahead of the schedule" and perhaps it will even help to inspire you for your next book, maybe the one that has the most difficult theme.

Thank you Margaret for sharing your progress on your holiday cards and for being an inspiration for so many aspects of book art.

MIURA FOLD WORKSHOP

The April workshop will feature Melissa Brown teaching an origami fold that is used by NASA. Although we won't be deploying solar arrays, we will learn how to transform an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper into a flat, compact 1" x 4" packet. This fold is named for its inventor, Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura.

Bring a pencil and your favorite bone folder, but ditch the ruler. Melissa will teach us how to use a piece of paper to divide our project into even sections. No measuring (whew!).

If you want to decorate your project, feel free to bring pens, pencils, etc., but that's extracurricular. 

Tools to bring:

• Pencil
• Bone folder
• Optional: materials to decorate your project

Melissa will supply:

• Paper and written instructions

When?   Saturday, April 13 at noon

Where?  Eureka Methodist Church at Del Norte & F Streets

RSVP?    Yes, by April 10 to Melissa (contact information in the newsletter)

Cost?     50 cents