Newsletter
JUNE/JULY 2023
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Hello Bookmakers,
In May I had the opportunity to spend three wonderful weeks in Spain and Portugal! I had a great time. As a bookmaker and a quilter when I travel, I like to see what I can find - either handmade books, paper or fabric and quilts. I can tell you Spain did not disappoint. I found handmade books and other paper items such as jewelry at an outdoor market. At another market I found an artist who was selling eco-dyed paper and fabric. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish and neither artist spoke English. But I did manage to purchase several items. It is fun to see what others are creating on the other side of the world. Of course, I also found a fabric store! Paying with Euros seems like play money – that is until the credit card bill shows up!
So now I’m back in Fairbanks ready to work with all of you on our many projects. The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum Project is underway, please review the article by Connie Stricks in this newsletter. The deadline for participation is June 30. The Education Committee is hard at work developing new classes and events. If you have ideas for a class or would like to teach a class, please contact the committee chairs - Ashley Thayer or Mary Maisch. The Art-O Mat is on the move and is currently at the Wedgewood Resort Bear Lodge. Please check out the calendar for upcoming classes in June and July. Our Program meeting is set for Sunday, July 16th. Linda Adamson will lead our activity on The Mighty Pamphlet Stitch Pop-Up. And as always check out our Wednesday Open Studio if you have the opportunity. The Open Studio will be closed on July 5 for the holiday.
Thank you all for your participation in our guild. I hope to see you in a class or event this summer.
Corlis Taylor
NBG President
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July Program Meeting
The Pamphlet Stitch: Pop-Up
with Linda Adamson
Sunday July 16, 1-3pm
NBG Studio and on Zoom
Look for Zoom link on Friday, July 14th
This month’s activity focuses on combining the Mighty Pamphlet Stitch within a simple pop-up panel. We will first make a pop-up on the mountain fold in the center of our model, then add small folios to the recessed valley folds. This device is an effective way to add color, text, and dimension to any accordion structure.
Card stock paper will be available for pick up on Wednesdays during Open Studio, 12 - 2pm.
Tools and Materials
Awl
Exacto knife
Bone folder
Needle
15 inches length of wax coated linen thread
Straight edge/ruler
Foam board for piercing
Pencil
Scissors
Paper for structure and decorative attachments (3)
Structure: 12 1/2 x 3 inches
Decorative attachments (3): 2 x 1 1/2 inches each
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NBG BOOK CHALLENGE
2023 Challenge Themes
May/June - Jewelry
July/August - Wood
September/October - Architecture
November/December - Winter
The NBG Challenge is an opportunity for guild members to find inspiration through interpretation of the theme in whatever way speaks to them. Once finished, email pictures of your artist book to Ashley to be added to the NBG website. To view previous book challenge entries, visit the NBG website by clicking the button below. |
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Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum | Northwoods Book Arts Guild
Contemporary Meets Vintage:
Book Artists Respond
The Guild's exciting collaboration with the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum has
begun! This project was introduced at the Museum on May 4 with an additional
orientation meeting held there on May 12. Willy Vinton, the Museum Manager, met
with us at each session. The timeline provides participants almost a year, through April
30, 2024, to work on artist books created in response to some aspect of the Museum’s
collection of cars and vintage fashions. The project will culminate with an exhibit at the
Museum in June 2024. A catalog is planned.
Twenty-five Guild members expressed interest in the project and attended the Museum
sessions. The deadline to sign up is June 30. Those interested who have not been able to attend initial sessions, should contact Connie Stricks. |
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Northwoods Book Arts Guild Workshop
PAPERMAKING
with Oralee Nudson
Saturday July 1, 10am - 1pm
Members $45 Guests $60
Materials fee: $20
Location: Chena River State Recreation Site
3530 Geraghty Avenue
The Northwoods Book Arts Guild is excited to host a papermaking workshop! We will meet at the lovely Chena River State Recreation Site on July 1st to recycle paper into pulp, then make custom 5" x 7" sheets of paper. We have reserved the large picnic shelter and will meet rain or shine! Each participant who RSVP's by June 30th will receive a mould and deckle to use in the workshop and take with them for papermaking in the future.
Participants are encouraged to bring:
Paper to recycle (e.g. old Christmas cards or junk mail)
Old towels or newspaper for drying paper
Old sheets or pillow cases cut to about 6" x 8"
Plastic tub or deep dish pan (larger than 6" x 8")
Decorative scraps and materials to add to paper:
e.g. seed packets, string, yarn, glitter, pressed leaves or flowers
We will have one blender available for making pulp, but could use more if anyone has an old blender to loan. Join us for a fun summertime workshop!
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2023 Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Class
Eco Printing and Dyeing on Paper
Instructors: Corlis Taylor and Laurel Herbeck
Tuesday July 25, 9am - 4:30pm
Class Fee $140
Materials fee: $20
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Art-o-Mat Project Update
Wedgewood Resort's Bear Lodge is hosting Artie for the month of June. Stop by and vend a piece of original art followed by a lovely afternoon walk through the 75-acre nature sanctuary, a tour of the amazing Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, or enjoy a fine meal at the lodge.
We would love to see local artists featured in the machine! Visit www.artomat.org for details. |
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Hornbook Project Enters New Phase
Book artists participating in the Contemporary Hornbook Project completed their work in May, marking the end of project’s active phase. Project leaders Ashley Thayer and Margo Klass are delighted and impressed with the wide range of topics addressed in the content of the over 20 hornbooks created by the group. Subjects include historic alphabets, poetry (original poems and the already famous), inspirations from the Alaskan landscape, games and riddles, and so much more. Each artist presents a unique vision of what a hornbook is, as seen through very contemporary - and sometimes very Alaskan - eyes.
The hornbooks are now being photographed and their colophons polished in preparation for publication of a catalog of the collection. Watch this newsletter for the unveiling of the catalog and preview of the collection next fall.
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2nd annual Tiny Book Party success!
A big thank you to all members, old and new, that attended our 2nd annual Tiny Book Party. Over 20 people made tiny books and socialized at this fun event held at a beautiful new venue at 1504 Gillam Way. Another big thank you to all the volunteers that made it happen, we’re already looking forward to next year's TBP!!
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Northwoods Press Chapbooks & Haiku Book
on display at UAF Rasmuson Library
Northwoods Book Arts Guild has a permanent display case on the first floor of the UAF Rasmuson Library. As one of NBG’s outreach endeavors, members of the Exhibition Committee periodically rotate the displays in this case. A collection of books printed in our letterpress studio will inhabit the case for the summer.
The Northwoods Book Arts Guild nurtures the letterpress tradition with our letterpress shop, Northwoods Press. Under the leadership of Bruce Campbell, two Kelsey hand presses (1890 and 1972) and a Golding Pearl foot-treadle printing press(1910) have been refurbished to beautiful working condition. With over fifty cases of type, in dozens of typefaces, there are myriad possibilities available to interested NBG artists.
The Chapbook Letterpress Project has successfully published four chapbooks created by NBG members under the auspices of Northwoods Press. Some chapbooks were printed with handset type, others with polymer plates. Authors printed multiple copies of each title, binding each book by hand. The chapbooks on display are Ancestors’ Echoes by Nancy Hausle-Johnson, The Daily Blab by Margo Klass and Frank Soos, Talking to Raven by Mary Maisch, and Fielding Lake Perspectives I by Rebecca Morse.
Also included in this exhibit is an accordion book of original haiku by NBG members entitled Letterpress Haiku. Each haiku was handset and printed in a different font. Contributing writers are Bruce Campbell, VeraAnn Campbell, Vanessa DeWolf, Sophia Thayer, and Caroline Wolff.
If you’re on campus this summer, drop by the Rasmuson Library and take a look at this lovely collection.
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NBG Herbarium travels to Pratt Museum
NBG’s Boreal Herbarium is spending the summer in Homer! It has traveled with the ITOC (In Time Of Change) exhibition, Boreal Forest Stories, to the Pratt Museum where it will be seen by hundreds of visitors throughout the next three months. The Herbarium consists of 3 hand bound volumes of original drawings of Alaska’s distinctive flora, each beautifully presented as a botanical drawing along with hand written scientific information. A spiral-bound printed reproduction of the Herbarium is available for purchase at the Guild for $30.
Several other NBG members are also represented in the exhibition including Connie Stricks, Charlotte Bird, Mary Bee Kaufman, Nancy Hausle Johnson, Ree Nancarrow, Susan Campbell, Karen Stomberg, Oralee Nudson, and Margo Klass.
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423 Elementary Students Make Art Journals!
Northwoods Book Arts Guild member Mary Maisch recently led each of Pearl Creek’s 423
K-5th grade students in a book making activity that culminated in an Art Journal for each to
take home. Classes met for five days of instruction: On Days 1 and 2, students used acrylic
paints and broad strokes to cover each side of a large Strathmore watercolor sheet. On Day 3,
we cut or tore the paper into strips, folded them using bone folders, then used “awls” to punch
holes at the spine. Students sewed their books together using the Japanese Pamphlet Stitch
and waxed linen, just like seasoned book makers! (Mary pre-threaded the 423 needles!) Days 4
and 5 were spent adding content to the books, with students writing, drawing, and gluing in
collage elements. When asked what their favorite part of the process had been, answers varied
from painting big to sewing “for the first time” to gluing in pictures of their favorite things.
Clearly, bookmaking has something for everyone!
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NORTHWOODS BOOK ARTS GUILD
CALENDAR
NBG Open Studio &
Boreal Book Arts Showcase Hours
Wednesdays, 12-2pm
*** No Open Studio on July 5th ***
FAAM:NBG Project
Deadline to Sign Up
June 30
NBG Workshop
Papermaking
July 1, 10am-1pm
NBG Program Meeting
The Pamphlet Stitch: Pop-Up
July 16, 1-3pm
FSAF Workshop
Eco Printing and Dyeing On Paper
July 25, 9am-4:30pm
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Learn about and support Northwoods Book Arts Guild!
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