Holiday Sale--A Lot of Fun!

Everyone ready for the opening!

There was wonderful live music!

There was lots of holiday spirit and excitement and many wonderful things for sale and inspiration.

Add classes and door prizes and it adds up to a great experience.

I, for one, hope we make this a yearly tradition!

Book Arts and More Holiday Sale

COME TO THE ROUNDTABLE

AND MAKE SOME MAGIC

Join the Book Arts Roundtable at the Baird for a little holiday magic on

Saturday December 10

Shop, Meet, Create and Greet During This One Day Only Sale

At the Baird Arts Holiday Workshops

11:00 – 4:00

What a perfect way to meet the artists and ask questions about their work. The informal relaxed atmosphere in the gallery will take some of the stress out of the shopping experience and help us all to feel the real spirit of giving and sharing. Members of the BAR will be selling their handmade books, journals, cards, prints, handmade paste papers, marbled papers, paper art and more in the Pierro Gallery at the Baird.

Many of our artist members are professional in other areas, so you will see exquisite beaded jewelry, baskets, clothing with hand printed images, wonderful little books and paper items to fit all occasions.

Album making workshop for adults: 2:00 – 2:45 ( you must register for both workshops)

While you are in the gallery, take some time to sit and learn to make an album, perfect for gift giving. All materials will be supplied to make this 6” x 6” book with pockets to hold a page of poetry, a collection of photographs for a relative or friend or a record of memories.

Great Things come in Small Packages: Accordion Book Workshop: 3:00 – 3:45

This little 3” x 3” book is a treasure. Learn to fold a strip of paper into a perfect accordion and then embellish the pages with seasonal rubber stamps, nature inspired stamps etc. Write your text with pen or colored pencil. Or use paper punches and make a counting book for the little one on your shopping list. You can design the strip first and then fold for a more serendipitous feel as you turn the pages. Finish it with a hard cover and ribbon.

The Baird Arts Holiday Workshops start at 12:00. Go to the Baird site to register for all workshops.

The Book Arts Roundtable Sale and More starts at 11:00 in the Pierro Gallery.

Card images by Diane Gerard http://stationeryobjects.com/index.php

Joan Bess & Her Amazing Gelli Plate

During the Booked 8 Exhibit, the BAR had the treat of getting a sneak preview of a new monoprinting plate developed by our own Joan Bess! The Gelli Plate is a flexible plate with the qualities of a gelatin printing plate but which can be stored at room temperature and used over and over!

Joan showed us a dizzying array of techniques that can be used.

She showed how you can keep adding layers using color changes, stencils, texture plates, brushes, rollers, paste paper techniques and stamps.

Joan's tips on ways to keep the mess under control were fascinating, such as using a container with a wet paper pad to clean off the roller.

She used a sheet of waste paper that was waxy and translucent for clearing the inks off rollers and tools which was a work of art in itself at the end of the session.

We also heard about the interesting process of taking an idea and turning it into a product that can be brought to market.

The demo whetted members' appetites for a hands on experience but the plate wasn't yet for sale to the public. The plate is now available for sale and Joan gave a drop-in workshop on June 15th where about a dozen BAR members went wild trying out this new printing option!

It was amazing how different and beautiful each person's prints were. Joan pointed out that it's a great way for someone who usually works in a very tight controlled way to cut loose and have a lot of fun.

Here is the link to Joan's Gelli Plate website:

http://www.gelliarts.com/collections/gel-printing-plates

Caterpillar Stitch Demonstration

Wednesday we were treated to the next to the last demonstration for the Booked 8 show. BAR member Ann Vollum showed the Caterpillar Stitch. This technique is such an attention grabber and good to have in your repertoire of skills.

Ann shows variations of what can be done with

this stitch. A large demo card makes it easy to

see how to progress.

Here she is adding beads.

Knotless Netting Demonstration

Last Wednesday, Elisa Caporale did a demonstration of knotless netting. It was a great opportunity to learn an unusual technique that I'm sure members will begin to incorporate into their books! Elisa has a background in, among other things, fiber and basketry.

Here's a closeup of the netting.

And some examples of objects captured in the netting.

Above,Elisa gives Delores some tips and, below, Benita gets help.

Demos Continue During Booked 8 Show

Debbie Livingston demonstrates pop-up techniques outside the Pierro Gallery at the Baird, Thursday afternoon.

These mini lessons are a wonderful opportunity to learn a new skill and sometimes even have a hands-on lesson in a small group setting. I highly recommend coming over to see what's going on!

Here, Donna Drew-Pack is working on a pop-up technique.

Yet to come are demos on Gel Plate Monotype, Caterpillar Stitch with Beads, Long Stitch Binding, Knotless Netting, and Accordion Spine binding. You can find the dates and times by looking at the April 14th post on this blog and double clicking on the image to enlarge the text. The demos are free and open to the public so it's quite a good deal!!

Second Demonstration!

Joe Reilly demonstrated Coptic Binding on Sunday at the Baird.

There was a lively discussion of the various types of coptic binding and the pros and cons of each as well as other aspects of binding. Whenever a group of book people gets together over a task like this you are likely to learn something new! I learned about using collapsible needles and how to keep from losing them.

Demonstrations Have Begun!

Saturday kicked off the beginning of a series of demonstrations relating to Book Arts.

The first, Trace Monotype, was given by Cynthia Weiss. Several people tried their hand at the technique after the demonstration. It's a wonderful low tech process with dramatic and surprising results!

On Sunday at noon Joe Reilly will demonstrate Coptic Binding. Check the postcard on a previous post to see the entire schedule of demos. (double click to enlarge the image so you can read the type)

Opening Reception Booked 8

The gallery was perfectly arranged and food and flowers materialized as Booked 8 opened to the public.

With all the struggles and work behind us, everyone showed up for the fun!

There was a theme this year of Rescue/Reveal and many works explored this idea in thought provoking ways.

Anyone who has not seen the show yet should definitely make time to come and see this wonderful show!

Booked 8

You can click on the image (twice works well) to enlarge to a readable size!

Booked 8 Exhibition opens

Booked 8 has finally opened!
Rescue/Reveal at the Pierro Gallery at the Baird in South Orange, NJ
Friday, April 15 to Saturday, May 21.
Gallery hours: 10:00am to 4:00pm daily. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 14, 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Scheduled Book and Paper Art Demonstrations:
Sat. April 16 at 1:00pm Cynthia Weiss will do Trace Monotype.
Sun. April 17 at 12noon Joe Reilly demonstrates Coptic Binding.
Wed. April 20 at 12noon Dolores Fish will show how to do the Icicle Stitch.
Thur. April 21 at 1:00pm Paula Ehrich will demonstrate how to make an Accordion Spine Book.
Thur. April 28 at 12noon Debbie Livingston will run a session on making pop-up cards.
Sat. April 30 at 1:00pm Benita Wolffe will show how to do Long Stitch Binding.
Wed. May 4 at 12noon Elisa K. Caporale will demonstrate Knotless Netting.
Sat. May 7 at 1:00pm Sam Forlenza will show how to make an Accordion Spine Book.
Wed. may 11 at 11:00am Ann Vollum with demonstrate Caterpillar Stitch with Beads.
Sat. May 14 at 1:00pm Joan Bess will demonstrate Monoprint with Gel Printing Plate.

The Baird
5 Mead Street
South Orange, NJ 07079

Sage Reynolds aka Ceropegia

Just a quick note for a link I'm adding to the links list. Sage Reynolds is known for his paste paper and NY Central Art Supply carries or used to carry his mixture for paste for making paste paper. He's a meticulous guy and was once on Martha Stewart demonstrating Paste Paper. Now I've discovered another area of expertise of Sage's--book binding. While searching for a video to guide me through making a traditional case bound book I found some very good videos covering all the steps in great detail along with some innovative techniques for dealing with glue and making your own pad for glueing. The name he uses on You Tube is Ceropegia and there are numerous videos under that name. There are so many you might have to ask it to list more.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Ceropegia

Mica Workshop with Dan Essig

The workshop with Dan Essig was last weekend and it was an exciting and intense three days. Mica is an amazing material and we learned a multitude of ways to use and manipulate it. The resulting books had heft and felt good in your hand.
Here you can see some of the books that were made. You can't really appreciate them until you can hold them in your hand, though!
Here's the group photo with our books ready to be sewn.

A very nice bonus of the workshop was the opportunity to buy handmade tools and mica in many forms. The "shopping bazaar" was a popular station throughout the three days.
And here we are in the downstairs room at the Baird working away. Dan was an excellent instructor and nudged us along, with humor, to get our work completed.

Interesting New App

I found this at WetCanvas today. I realize not many of us have iPads but I think this is a sign of new things to come. As a letterpress person I found the "virtual" locking up of a form to be fascinating and looks like fun! That said, I think it misses the essential appeal of letterpress which is the impression into the paper. Part of the video solicits funds to cover cost of developing the software which isn't released yet but I am in no way trying to solicit donations for this project! Just enjoy the video.

Exhibition of Photographic Artists Books

Photo Book Works Exhibit with online gallery.

Booklab video

This video is inspiring for those of us who tend to be a little imprecise and casual. The workshop is to die for! Notice, especially, the device that punches holes in the signatures.

Book Arts Roundtable on SOMAtv

Last year during the installation of BOOKED 7 Nancy Heins-Glaser of SOMAtv interviewed several of us for her Meet the Artist TV show.
View it here:

BOOK--a technological breakthrough!

This video is so clever! Enjoy!

The Eighth Year!