This workshop will focus on non-traditional approaches to developing original content for artist’s books. A wide range of research tools will first be demonstrated to jump start ideas for projects. From these research seeds participants will respond to writing prompts and engage in experimental creative writing techniques to grow these ideas into prototypes for artist’s books. Processes will be shown for getting text onto the pages of simple folded book structures including alternative mark making, transfers, rub-on type, stencils and rubber stamps. This workshop is for visual artists who want to expand their writing skills and for writers who want to explore the artist book as a time-based medium and go beyond their usual writing practice.
Ellen Sheffield is a visual artist, poet and teacher based in Gambier, Ohio and Point Richmond, California. Her works on paper and artist’s books play with image and text intersections to create unexpected readings. Collaborations with poets, experiments with found text and working with visual scores are some of the ways she engages with themes of place, memory and language perception. She recently finished 14 years of teaching Book Arts in the Kenyon College Art Department and continues to teach virtual workshops for arts centers around the country.
Dates: Thursdays, May 18, 25 & June 1, 2023
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm (PT) Sessions will be on-line through Zoom
Fee: $130.00 for GBW members and $150.00 for non-members
The California Chapter board members have been SO busy with your latest member exhibition Book/Art/Artifact at the California Center for the Book in San Francisco, still on display until August 28. Several interesting activities have been planned in conjunction with the exhibition and we hope these will offer viewers a way to be more involved with the pieces. Member Coleen Curry led the in-person workshop at SFCB on leather decoration. Be sure to read Brian Adams’s report in this newsletter. On 11 August 2022 a walk-through of the
Book/Art/Artifact exhibition with members Clair Emma Smith and Sue Ann Robinson discussing technique and style of some of the pieces displayed. Be sure and check the SFCB website.
And we are still working! Election of new board members just ended, and we have terrific leaders taking us forward with workshops and gatherings, both digital and in-person. I would like to especially thank those board members who are staying on the board, exhibitions chair Carolee Campbell for securing SFCB as the exhibition venue, co-chair Rebecca Chamlee for designing the exhibition catalog, treasurer Vicke Selk for timely, clear financial spread sheets, Debra Disman who provided meeting minutes in a timely manner. I’d also like to thank Jean Gillingwators for extending her time as newsletter editor to put together this issue of our newsletter.
Next up on 20 August will be the annual open board meeting and lunch at Claire’s at the Long Beach Museum of Art. New programs chair Sue Ann Robinson will lead the discussion of upcoming chapter activities. This is what happens when capable, committed members volunteer time and talent to making the GBW California Chapter a remarkable organization!
The exhibition will be open to the public starting Saturday, June 11 and runs thru Sunday, August 28th, 2022. SFCB is closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday; but is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am until 5 pm. Admission to the gallery is free; well-fitting masks are required while onsite at SFCB.
The opening reception for Book / Art / Artifact will take place at San Francisco Center for the Book on Friday, June 17th from 6-8 pm. This event is also free to attend. Light refreshments will be served on our back patio; remarks will be at 7 pm. Masks are required while viewing the exhibition indoors; we are encouraging people to register for the opening reception at the following link: SFCB.org
SFCB and CA Chapter of GBW is offering a one day workshop with Coleen Curry to accompany the exhibition.
The California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers
invites members to participate
in the Book | Art | Artifact exhibition
June 10, 2022 – August 28, 2022
San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
Eligibility
All entrants must be members in good standing of the Guild of Book Workers and the California Chapter at the time of submission and carry a current membership throughout the entire run of the exhibition. Membership can be obtained through the national GBW website guildofbookworkers.org. Entrants may submit up to three (3) works that were not shown in previous chapter exhibitions. Finely printed/limited edition books, fine binding, artist books, unframed broadsides, and boxes may be submitted. Entry fee is $30 for one, two, or three works. Additional information will be sent after the Intent to Enter deadline May 31, 2021. The Entry Form with fee and images are due February 14–21, 2022.
The “Folded Fan Book,” Debra Disman’s personal name for this fun and versatile book structure, is comprised of an accordion spine, two covers, and full-sized pages which “fan out” when the book is opened. This structure can be treated as a traditional codex or built into a sculptural form limited only by the ingenuity, creativity, and innovation of the maker. Students will gather their own materials based on the supplies list provided and determine the size and content of their books, inspired by samples of different ways this structure can be developed, reimagined, and used. We will spend the first part of the workshop creating the basic structure, then take off into unexplored territory where students can take their works to a whole new level, using their chosen materials to transform their books into personal explorations of their own histories or potential futures. Will it become a container of memory, visualization of an intention, a container of dreams, an excavated artifact? Whatever participants choose to create, this book can become a vehicle for imagination, experimentation, and play.
Materials: Participants will supply and source tools and materials. The use of existing materials in your living/work space is encouraged. A list of supplies will be sent one month before the workshop. The Zoom link will be sent the week of the workshop.
Skill level: Open to all levels of experience
Registration: $50.00 USO for GBW members, $60.00 USO for non-members. Click below to register by May 15, 2021.
The workshop will not be recorded. There is a cancellation fee of 10% of the registration fee up to 30 days before the workshop. No refunds are given for cancellations made within 30 days prior to the workshop. Registrations may not be shared and are non-transferable. Please direct questions to california@guildofbookworkers.org.
Debra Disman is a Los Angeles-based artist working primarily in the form of the book, both as a solo practitioner and in the public sphere of community engagement. She creates work and projects which push the boundaries of the book into new forms and materials. Her work is shown in museums, galleries, universities, and libraries across the U.S. Disman was the featured artist for the Big Read in LA in 2016; is the recipient of a 2016-17 WORD: Artist Grant / Bruce Geller Memorial Prize to create “The Sheltering Book,” a life-sized book structure designed as a catalyst for community creativity; and was commissioned by LA’s Craft Contemporary Museum to create an interactive book for the 2017 exhibition, “Chapters: Book Arts in Southern California.” She was a Studio Resident at the Camera Obscura Art Lab at 1450 Ocean in Santa Monica in 2018, and has served as an Artist-in-Residence with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs since 2017. She is local Artist-in-Residence at 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, CA. Website: http://debradisman.com/ lnstagram @artifactorystudio
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Guild of Book Workers ~ California Chapter Sponsored Virtual Workshop The Drop Spine Box Presented by John DeMerritt Saturday, April 10th 1:00 – 4:00 pm Saturday, April 17th 1:00 – 4:00 pm Saturday, April 24th 1:00 – 2:30 pm Pacific Standard Time Presented live via Zoom
Boxmaking has its origins as a tributary of 19th century bookbinding craft. Using the same techniques and materials as bookbinding, boxmaking also utilizes simple principles of joinery to create housings that protect work and reinforce content. We will explore a systematic and formula-based approach to creating the drop spine, or “clamshell” box structure.
Workshop Structure: This 3-session workshop will be taught in a hybrid format of live instruction and independent work done outside of the workshop. An online syllabus comprising handouts, online resources, and short instructive videos will be provided, along with a thorough resource list. A list of required tools will be sent out upon registration.
Session One will be spent learning how to make a clamshell box from a kit provided by the instructor, which will include cut substrate and covering materials as well as adhesives. We will go over covering techniques, miters, cutting sequences, templates, formulas, and adhesive awareness.
Session Two will focus on the construction of a custom spine box. Online instruction on this day will focus primarily on techniques for cutting binders board without a board shear, formula-based approaches to cutting box components, and reviewing covering techniques. Participants will also learn how to source their own materials to make boxes with what they have in their home. This custom box will be constructed outside of class time.
Session Three will be spent reviewing student work, troubleshooting, and addressing final questions and comments. Intended Students: This workshop is designed for intermediate level students who have some experience working with bookmaking materials, using adhesives, and covering three dimensional shapes.
Materials/Resources: A kit of materials to build the clamshell box will be delivered before the first day of the workshop. A separate list of tools will be emailed upon registration. A Google Folder will be made available to all participants prior to the workshop and the Zoom links will be sent out 5 days in advance.
Registration Details: $135 USD for GBW members / $155 USD for non-members. Click here to register by March 21st, 2021. The workshop will be recorded and available for 3 months after the final date. There is a cancellation fee of 10% of the registration fee up to 30 days before the workshop. No refunds are given for cancellations made within 30 days prior to the workshop. Registrations may not be shared and are non-transferrable. Please direct all questions to california@guildofbookworkers.org.
John DeMerritt owns and operates John DeMerritt Bookbinding, in Emeryville, CA. His studio produces books and portfolios for artists, galleries, fine press publishers, and institutions. John has taught and lectured at The SF Center for the Book, The Kala Institute, Columbia College Center for Book and Paper, Visual Studies Workshop, Oregon College of Art and Craft, The Guild of Book Workers, North Bennet Street School, UC Santa Cruz, Dartmouth College, and Paper and Book Intensive. From 2000 to 2013, he taught Book Structure at the San Francisco Art Institute. John and his wife, Nora Pauwels, publish collaborative projects with artists under their imprint DeMerritt | Pauwels Editions.
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La Prose du Transsibérien, published by Sonia Delaunay and Blaise Cendrars in 1913, is the armature on which the drop dead gorgeous bindings in this exhibit are built. Originally folded and bound in a vellum case, the 1913 book explodes into the space you occupy when opened, forcing you to change from a private to a public viewing, a dramatic change in the reading experience. Painter Sonia Delaunay virtually dominates the book, commanding your attention immediately when the book opens with her vibrant, sinuous colors leading you inexorably to the Eiffel Tower. The prose poem by Blaise Cendrars performs its own spectacle in blazing color, taking liberties with poetic form and guiding you on a journey of surprising typographic experiences. For her second act, Sonia Delaunay penetrates the poem with color, reinforcing the shape of the poem. A book with such vitality screams out to the binder: see what you can do with me. This exhibition was inspired by the celebrated binder Paul Bonet, who in 1964, designed an extraordinary binding for a copy of La Prose.
With support from twelve underwriters, Kitty Maryatt initiated the project in 2017 to re-create La Prose using original techniques of letterpress and pochoir. La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation was published in 2018 in an edition of 150 copies, with an additional 30 copies hors commerce for the underwriters. The regular edition is bound in a simple folded vellum cover as in the original, and the deluxe edition is bound in aluminum covers with cut-outs.
The brilliant idea to ask the underwriters (and others) to commission fine bindings
for a traveling exhibit was supported enthusiastically by Simon Eccles and Toby Schwartzburg, co-curators of this exhibit. The result is the dazzling exhibition that is celebrated here.
A virtual two-hour demonstration of pochoir will be given on February 25, 2021 at 8-10 pm EST. The documentary, The Making of a Masterpiece by Rosylyn Rhee, will be shown on March 25, 2021 from 7-9 pm EST. Visit the website above for details about these events.
Guild of Book Workers California Chapter Sponsored Virtual Workshop
The Dove Dale limp case: a sympathetic update of an 1884 binding Presented by Karen Hanmer Saturday, January 9, 2021 1:00–4:00 pm, Pacific Time Presented live via Zoom
Edward Marston’s 1884 “An Amateur Angler’s Days in Dove Dale: Or, How I Spent My Three Weeks’ Holiday” was issued in a simple folded limp vellum case printed in two colors. We will examine two examples from this edition of 100 before creating a low-adhesive, facsimile-ish version in a limp paper case.
Intended Students: Intermediate binders; beginners who are ready for a fast-paced workout to produce a simple structure; and anyone who wants to add another limp case to their repertoire.
Materials: Participants will supply and source tools and materials. A list of supplies will be sent one month before the workshop. A handout and the Zoom link will be sent the week of the workshop.
Workshop Fee: $50.00 USD for GBW members, $60.00 USD for non-members
Registration Deadline: December 15, 2020. Space is limited, register early!
To Register: Click here to register. The workshop will not be recorded. There is a cancellation fee of 10% of the registration fee up to 30 days before the workshop. No refunds are given for cancellations made within the 30 days prior to the workshop. Registrations may not be shared and are non-transferable. Please direct all questions to california@guildofbookworkers.org.
Karen Hanmer’s artist-made books are physical manifestations of personal essays intertwining history, culture, politics, science and technology. She utilizes both traditional and contemporary book structures, and the work is often playful in content or format. Hanmer’s work is included in collections ranging from The British Library and the Library of Congress to Stanford University and Graceland. She has served on the editorial board of The Bonefolder, as Exhibitions Chair for the Guild of Book Workers, and as frequent exhibition curator and juror. She offers workshops and private instruction focusing on a solid foundation in traditional binding skills. Hanmer has been a member of GBW CA for over a decade.
California Chapter 