Newsletter
AUGUST 2021
Dear NBG Community,
Only three months to go before Books as Art 3 opens in the Bear Gallery on November 5. The Planning Committee is working hard, organizing a variety of events that will take place during our month-long exhibition. I feel a sense of anticipation as I think about the books NBG members will contribute and how those books will be displayed to create a cohesive show. 


Our Guild encompasses a spectrum of book artists, from novices to masters, who share a passion for bookmaking in all its myriad forms. The depth and breadth of our show depends on the participation of our members. Whether you have been a longtime member of NBG or if you have just taken your first class in last spring’s Book Arts Basic Series, my hope is that each of us will embrace this opportunity to share our work. Imagine the collection of books that will be assembled! Imagine the feeling of shared creativity!

As the guidelines state, this group exhibition will “explore books as art and welcomes a wide spectrum of handcrafted book forms. They may be editioned or unique, sculptural or more traditionally bound, interactive or passive.” You are invited to submit up to four entries that reflect your best works completed within the past four years. You can also submit an unlimited number of entries in any of the following special NBG project areas: Set Books, Chap Books, Foldables, #areyoubookenough, and Letterpress. So, as you can see, the vision for this show is that it will showcase a wide array of artist books, a collection that exemplifies the creativity and imagination of our Guild. 

Coinciding with our show, NBG will be featured as the Gift Shop Artist of the Month. Members will be able to display their work for sale in a dedicated space in the gift shop and have access to increased publicity in the Fairbanks Arts Association e-newsletter, on their social media feed, and on their website. For more details about this, along with the show guidelines and timetable for submitting your work, please see the Books As Art 3 section below. If you’ve entered your work in previous exhibitions or if this will be your first show, please join me in making Books as Art 3 a memorable success for our Guild.

Warmest regards,
Susan Campbell
NBG President
WORKSHOP
Kumihimo Braid & Bind
with Sherrill Peterson and Ashley Thayer

a 2-part worksop in the NBG Studio
Part 1: Saturday, August 14 - 10am-1pm
Part 2: Saturday, August 28 - 10am-2pm
Members $105 Guests $120
Materials fee: $15
Class limited to 10 students
Participants must be vaccinated and wear a mask during class

ONE SPACE AVAILABLE

Kumihimo is the traditional Japanese craft of making beautiful and functional braids and cords using a specialized loom. Part 1 of the workshop will be learning how to make flat and round Kumihimo cord with Sherrill. Each student will receive a disk loom designed for braiding these elegant cords. Part 2 of the workshop will be led by Ashley and focus on using your cord to make a simple longstitch binding that will showcase the cord you make between classes. Vintage celluloid buttons will be offered as a wraparound element on the spine.
WORKSHOP
Caterpillar Binding
with Robin Feinman

a 2-part workshop in the NBG Studio
Part 1: Saturday, September 11 - 10am-2pm
Part 2: Sunday, September 12 - Noon-4pm
Members $120 Guests $140
Materials fee: $15
Class limited to 10 students

Participants must be vaccinated and wear a mask during class
We will make a small (3.5x5”) book with caterpillar stitch binding. While this stitch is uniquely decorative, it also binds the text block and covers together to create the book. There will be two options: a straight caterpillar stitch or a curved caterpillar stitch. Both designs are pictured above.

This workshop is for all interested bookmakers; no experience is necessary. We will meet for 8 hours over two days: Saturday, Sept 11 from 10am to 2pm and Sunday, Sept 12 from noon to 4 pm. If you choose the curved stitch option, it’s possible you won’t complete the book in a weekend, as it requires twice the amount of stitching. But once you get the pattern down, you will be able to finish on your own.
BOOKS AS ART 3
November 5-27, 2021
Fairbanks Arts Association
Bear Gallery

GET READY!!!

We hope you are having a busy summer folding, glueing, and stitching your entries for Books As Art 3 exhibition! This is our opportunity to share what we create as book artists and what we do as a Guild within our Fairbanks community. We encourage you to enter books in as many of these categories as possible:

General Entries 
Artist books created over the last 4 years are eligible:
they may be one-of-a-kind or editioned;
they may or may not have text and/or images;
they may have been made in a class or on your own.
Consult the Guidelines for more information.
NBG members may submit up to 4 entries in this category.

Foldable Entries
If you used a foldable structure to create an artist book, enter it in this category.
Recent program meetings have focused on foldable structures,
but Foldables are not limited to those presented at our meetings.
Our goal is to include the widest variety of foldable structures as possible.
There’s no limit to the number you may submit in this category.

Set Book Entries
If you participated in the Set Book Project, all of your books completed
for the project are part of of the Set Book category.

Letterpress/Chap Book Entries
If you created a letterpress chapbook or used letterpress in any of your books,
enter them in this category.
There’s no limit to the number that you may submit in this category.

#areyoubookenough Entries
 If you created books in response to any of the #areyoubookenough challenges,
enter them in this category.
It's not too late! Current and upcoming challenge themes:
August - Winding
September - Open
October - Rings
November - Winged
There’s no limit to the number that you may submit in this category.


Because NBG is the designated Gift Shop Artist of the Month (GSAM), you are also encouraged to create book works to be offered for sale in the Bear Gallery Gift Shop. A 40% commission on all sales supports the Fairbanks Arts Association.

Stay tuned for the line-up of weekly events to take place throughout the duration of the show!

Download the Guidelines for more information!
The Northwoods Set Book Project

A collaboration of Art and Poetry
by Northwoods Book Arts Guild and University of Alaska Press

The Set Book Project features 26 artist books, each responding to one of four books
of poetry by Alaskan authors; they are the project's "set books:"
Armor & Ornament, by Christopher Lee Miles, 2019
Li Bai Rides the Celestial Dolphin Home, by Tom Sexton, 2018
Of Darkness & Light, by Kim Cornwall, edited by Wendy Erd, 2019
Roughly for the North, by Carrie Ayagaduk Ojanen, 2018

In the four newsletters leading up to the show, we will focus on one of the featured poets
and the books created in response to their poetry.

Of Darkness & Light by Kim Cornwall, was edited by Wendy Erd, and published after the poet's death in 2010. Peggy Shumaker describes Cornwall's poems as "filled with gratitude and wonder and grit" as they weave together themes of strong women and wild landscapes.

The solace Cornwall found in nature is reflected in the 6 artist books that respond to Of Darkness & Light in the Set Book Project. Susan Campbell's rebound copy of the book includes natural artifacts sewn on its cover, a direct reference to Cornwall's love of nature. Similarly, Susheila Khera's response features natural and often symbolic inclusions and embellishments within the text block and on the book's cover. Stephanie Strandberg's longstitch-bound book focuses on the contrast of darkness and light, especially in the carefully selected prints featured on the covers of the book and clamshell casement, as well as on the subtly colored black and white endpapers. Connie Stricks offers two responses, both stab bindings, with abstract imagery referencing the sun and moon. Finally, the cover of Ashley Thayer's bradel-bound book features a gold-tooled sun on its cover. These books exemplify how book artists can respond to the same book so differently and yet appropriate to the poetry's inspiration.

The full collection of 26 artist books by 16 NBG members will be exhibited
in the Books As Art 3 exhibition in the Bear Gallery, November 2021.
Open Studio and Letterpress Shop
Every Wednesday, noon-4pm

The NBG Studio is open to members every Wednesday from noon to 4:00pm throughout the summer and fall, so you may shop at Paper Birches or bring in your book projects for advice or to work among your friends and colleagues. The studio is open to all covid vaccinated members. Please wear your mask during Open Studio.

In the Letterpress Shop Bruce Campbell and Sherrill Peterson are busy designing a souvenir book mark to be given to visitors at our Books As Art 3 show in November. You are invited to join them in the current design and testing phase, and later in the printing and production phase.

Paper Birches is currently well-stocked with many tools and materials. Coming soon are more corner mitering tools, as well as Canson and Shin Inbe papers in the long awaited burgundy and other reds. Be sure to note on the wall any items you would like to be considered for Paper Birches.
Newport Paper Book Arts Festival 2021
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
September 17-18-19, 2021

Full day and half day studio and lecture workshops
Free mini-lectures (must be registered to attend)
REGISTRATION OPEN!
NORTHWOODS BOOK ARTS GUILD
CALENDAR

NBG Open Studio Hours
Wednesdays, noon-4pm
ongoing

Letterpress Chapbook Project
ongoing

Workshop
Kumihimo Braid & Bind
Part 1: Saturday, August 14 - 10am-1pm
Part 2: Saturday, August 28 - 10am-2pm

Workshop
Caterpillar Stitch Binding
Saturday, September 11 - 10am-2pm
Sunday, September 12 - noon-4pm

Save the date!
NBG Program Meeting
Saturday, September 18, 1-3pm
#areyoubookenough September theme: Open

NBG Exhibition
BOOKS AS ART 3
Bear Gallery
November 5-27, 2021
Learn about and support Northwoods Book Arts Guild!