Workshops, Lectures & Tours
Julie Chen, Free Lecture
September 12, 2008, 7:30 pm
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla
True to Life, View, and Full Circle II, by Julie Chen. See more of Julie’s work at www.flyingfishpress.com.
Julie Chen, Workshop, Complex Multilevel Boxes
September 13-14, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station
$150.00 members, $190.00 non-members
During this intensive 2-day workshop, we will be creating complex hybrid box structures with multiple levels and compartments. Students will learn to make a box that contains a drawer, an upper compartment, and a magnetic closure as well as a box with a plexiglass-topped shadowbox compartment in the lid. Once the secrets to creating the multi-level box are revealed, there are endless possibilities to what can be designed using these techniques. Julie will show her collection of innovative hybrid box models to help generate ideas for future boxes.
A basic familiarity with bookmaking tools and skills is required for this class. Previous boxmaking experience will be helpful but is not necessary.
Students must bring the following tools: bone folder, x-acto knife with extra blades, cutting mat, triangle, ruler with both inches and metric, brush to use with glue, 1 large, or 2 small glue sticks, mechanical pencil, pair of small scissors with sharp points. Also please bring at least one postcard, flashcard, playing card, and/or other small graphic that you could incorporate into the shadowbox lid.
Optional: while all basic materials will be supplied by the instructor, students are welcome to bring decorative papers and/or book cloth for their own use.
Julie Chen’s workshop is FULL. If you would like your name put on a waiting list, in case of cancellation, please contact Al Rodíguez at alrod@cox.net.
Karen Hanmer, Free Lecture
November 21 , 2008, 7:30 pm
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla
Karen Hanmer, Workshop, Flagbooks: Interplay of Image and Text
November 22, 23, 2008, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station
$125.00 members, $165.00 non-members
The foundation of Hedi Kyle’s deceptively small and simple book “flag book” structure is an accordion folded spine. Flaps attached to both sides of each of the spine’s “mountain” folds allow the artist to fragment and layer a number of complementary or contrasting images and narratives. When the flag book spine is pulled fully open, the fragmented images on the flaps come together to create a large, panoramic image. This transformation is accompanied by a delightful flapping sound. The spine and covers provide opportunities for additional imagery.
In this two day workshop, students will make two different styles of flag book. For both styles a sample will be made from kits provided by the instructor, plus a more finished book with students’ imagery and hand written text will be made for one or both as time permits.
Students will experiment with complementary and contrasting text and images. The class will discuss the effects of different spine and page dimensions, direction of motion, and which images fill be most successful for different book styles. Students will learn a tidy, non adhesive method of covering boards and use a jig to facilitate quicker, more precise assembly.
To reserve your place, send a check (made out to SDBA) to Al Rodríguez, 736 Sutter Street, San Diego, CA 92103.
Previous Workshops
Emily Martin, Free Lecture
June 13, 2008, 7:30 pm
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla
Emily Martin, Workshop, Cross-Structure Binding
June 14, 2008, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station
$75.00 members, $100.00 non-members
Emily Martin, Workshop, Secret Belgian Binding
June 15, 2008, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station
$75.00 members, $100.00 non-members
Take both workshops and save: $125.00 members, $165.00 non-members
The Cross-Structure Binding is a contemporary binding which resulted from Carmencho Arrugui's study of pre-16th century bindings. This variation was developed by Hedi Kyle and uses a heavy cover paper with paste paper patterns on both sides. The cover is constructed from one long strip of two sided paste paper. The cover is folded in such a way that the covers are double thicknesses of the paste paper and the text block is sewn directly into the cover using strips cut into one end of the paste paper. These strips are laced through the spine and folded around to form a decorative pattern of crossing strips of the paste paper on the spine. This is a non-adhesive binding.
The Secret Belgian Binding is a historical binding, rediscovered by Hedi Kyle, and has been attributed to the Belgians. Its origins are still obscure. This hard cover book can be made with paste paper or other decorated papers or book cloth. The two covers and the spine piece are constructed of binder’s board covered with paper or cloth; each piece is separate until sewn onto the text block. The text block is sewn separately. The covers are sewn onto the text block using a pattern of stitches, which traps the spine in place with a set of loops back and forth across the spine between the front and back covers. This binding yields an attractive and very sturdy book with a decorative pattern of colored waxed linen threads on the spine.
Joan Michaels Paque, Free Lecture
April 18, 2008, 7:30 pm
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla
Joan Michaels Paque is a multi-media artist who has exhibited and taught internationally throughout Australia, Japan, Europe, Mexico, Canada and the United States. She studied at Layton School of Art and Marquette University on scholarship. This experience was a foundation for applications in both literary and visual art forms including the authoring and publishing of three books and writing for art journals. Her artworks are found in many prestigious public and private collections.
Joan Michaels Paque, Workshop, Creative Journey: 3D Paper Arts (Books, Boxes and More)
April 19-20, 2008, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station
$125.00 members, $165.00 non-members
This hands-on Paper Arts course includes both traditional and innovative building and binding techniques. Among methods introduced are sewn, woven, interlocking, pop-up, origami and kinetic structures. The use of both conventional and unorthodox materials is illustrated along with creative concepts, ideas and applications. Architectural and engineering principles are explored along with expedient and simplified methods of working. Participants will make prototypes and maquette studies that are applicable in 2D and 3D for later adaptation into media, material and technique of choice. Emphasis is on kinetic structures. Instructor’s non intimidating, enjoyable methods encourage an empirical, problem solving approach and individual style development.
Joan Michaels Paque includes the results of her research, development and experimentation with complex pleat and twist folds and tessellations that resulted in a series of unique sculptural kinetic books. Course content, for both the serious and the curious, is also applicable in the fine and graphic arts, sculpture and in teaching.
For more information about Joan Michaels Paque, visit her Web site at www.joanmichaels.paque.com. Photos of her work may be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/83855901@N00/.
Diane Gage, Poetry Workshop, WORDPLAY: Occasions and Strategies
March 15, 2008, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
McCoy House, Old Town
$25 members, $35 non-members
In 30-some years of writing and teaching, poet/writer Diane Gage has amassed a treasure trove of strategies and tactics to get interesting words going somewhere together on a page. In this class she will share some of her best tricks and tips to help you get yours going too. Come prepared to play with lively words in whole new ways!
This event is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from the Hearst Foundation.
Victoria Rabinowe, Free Lecture,
Friday, February 22, 2008, 7:30 pm
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla
Two of Victoria Rabinowe’s dream books.
Victoria Rabinowe, Workshop, The Art of the Dream
February 23, 24, 2008, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center, 2820 Roosevelt Road, Suite 106, Liberty Station,
$125 members, $165.00 non-members
Create a book filled with dream-inspired artwork that investigates the realm of enchantment, the landscape of myth, and the genius of the night mind. Guided techniques in dream work, image making and creative writing will transform the curious wanderings of the night mind into books filled with the archetypal themes of personal metaphor and symbolic imagery.
Bring a dream. It can be a recent dream or one from any time in your life. If you don’t consider yourself a dreamer, start now by keeping a journal, a pen and a small flashlight by the side of your bed. Ask for a dream before you go to sleep and stay in bed for a few moments in the morning before getting up and into the day’s activity. Train yourself to jot down any fragments and any dream material whether it makes sense or not. Try to take a moment at breakfast to reread and clarify your notes. If you are in the habit of journaling or meditating, take time to muse upon some of the characters, events or emotions that come up without any need to “interpret”.
All participants should bring a journal or notebook to work in for the workshop. We will do collage and writing dream exercises on Saturday before building our books and doing our final project on Sunday.
Victoria Rabinowe is a multimedia artist whose work is profoundly inspired by her dreams. She believes that dreams are one of the most authentic links to the creative source. Trained in advanced DreamTending at Pacifica Graduate Institute, she has taught over 500 workshops, seminars and retreats in the art and craft of dream work to artists, writers, therapists, teachers and spiritual guidance counselors. She is an annual presenter at the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
You can find out more about Victoria at http://victoriadreams.com.
A Free seminar by Sandra Kroupa
Athenaeum Music and Arts Library
January 18, 2008, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Answering Questions: Professional Practice in the Book Arts
In this seminar Sandra Kroupa will present some basic guidelines of professional practice for book artists based on the typical questions she answers on a regular basis. Topics that will be addressed are selling books to institutions, working with book dealers/galleries, exhibitions, donations, copyright, materials choices, packaging, publicity and editioning. She will talk about what the artist should know about the “how, what and where” in identifying their work. There will be time for participants to ask their own questions as well. Co-sponsored by San Diego Book Arts and the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library
San Diego Book Arts General Meeting
January 19, 2008, 2:00–5:00 p.m. (note time change)
La Jolla Riford Library
7555 Draper Avenue (off Pearl, two blocks east of La Jolla Blvd)
Striving for Balance: Text, Image, Structure
In this illustrated lecture, Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts and Rare Book Curator at the University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, will look at artists’ books from the last twenty years, focusing on pieces that successfully balance the three main elements of books—text, image and structure. Ms. Kroupa hopes to introduce the audience to work of emerging artists, artists who are still striving for national recognition, while not missing the important names in the field. All the images will be drawn from the Libraries’ 14,000 volume Book Arts Collection.
Sandra Kroupa has worked in Special Collections at the University of Washington Libraries for nearly 40 years, most of that time involved with the book arts. Sandra writes, lectures, teaches classes, curates exhibitions and gives workshops on topics related to the book arts, both historical and modern. A founding member of the Book Arts Guild, a regional book arts organization begun 28 years ago, Sandra schedules lectures and workshops of visiting artists and acts as membership secretary of the group. She has apprenticed to a bookbinder, owns two letterpresses and takes as many workshops and specialized courses as possible to better assist students in understanding book history and creating their own books.
Quilted Books Workshop: Jane LaFazio
October 20, 2007, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Semi-Permanent Ink Spot in the Art Center Lofts
710 13th Street, Studio 210, San Diego
$65.00 members, $85.00 non-members.
Materials Fee: $10
Create a small fabric book containing your story or poem. As you create your book from your fabric, you’ll learn transfer techniques to get your words on to fabric, basic sewing and embroidery techniques, and hopefully the joy of creating with cloth. Jane will supply the stiff interfacing for the book pages, a few book designs to choose from, fabric scraps, threads, and buttons. You bring an assortment of small pieces of fabric (4 or 5 ‘fat quarters’ (a fat quarter is a piece of fabric18x22”) sold at craft or fabric stores would be enough) sewing needles, scissors, and most importantly, your short story or poem. (Optional: sewing and embroidery thread, ribbons, buttons, charms or anything that fits the theme of your text.)
Questions?Jane@PlainJaneStudio.com See Jane’s art at www.PlainJaneStudio.com To reserve a spot in the work shop, send a check (made out to SDBA) for $65.00 members, $85.00 non-members, to Al Rodríguez, 736 Sutter Street, San Diego, CA 92103.
A Taste of Gold
June 9, 2007, 9:00 – 11:00 am
McCoy House, Old Town San Diego
$15.00 members, $20.00 non-members
$4.00 materials fee will be collected at the workshop
Did you ever wonder which gold to use on a project? Did you know that no two golds are exactly alike? Yvonne Perez-Collins will lead us through gold sampling of 34 products. This is an excellent opportunity to see a wide variety of gold inks and paints on artist quality white and black paper. You will test these fluids in your writing tools. Each participant will leave the meeting with two excellent reference sheets and three pages of information. At the end of the sampling, you may be surprised which pigments have become your favorites. To reserve your place, send a check (made out to SDBA) to Al Rodríguez, 736 Sutter Street, San Diego, CA 92103.
"The gold presentation I will be giving on June 9 will give you the opportunity to test just over $250 worth of assorted gold pigments. The sample sheets you create will help you make an informed choice on which gold pigment will be appropriate for your next project, whether it be for book pages/covers, collage, painting or calligraphy.
- Pre-lined sheets of black and white Mi Teintes paper will make your sampling easy to keep things in order.
- A three-page chart of information will include sources, prices, features for all the products tested.
- Pigments will include gold pens, brush, ink, watercolor, gouache and acrylics.
I look forward to sharing this informative morning with you. A $4 material fee will be collected for the art paper, hand-out and pigments."
–Yvonne Perez-Collins, Workshop Artist
Reviews of this Workshop
I took this workshop recently and it was a fun and easy way to see a wide variety of products. It was easy to see that several were not what we thought they were and could then identify our favorites. I keep the sheets as my gold reference!
–Megg Sohn, SDBA Board Secretary
I took this workshop at a recent meeting of the Calligraphy group and can tell you that the information you will gather is invaluable. When will you ever have over 30 samples of gold media to sample? For fifteen bucks! I've already used the information on a piece I'm working on. And you don't have to be a calligrapher to use this media—I'm not. Gold is legendary in its ability to add sparkle and class to your work. Find out what does work and what doesn't work, for all that glitters is not gold.
–Al Rodriguez, SDBA Programs Chair
Design Matters: The Work of Dominic Riley, Artist Bookbinder
July 6, 2007, 7:30 pm, Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
100 Wall Street, La Jolla
Dominic Riley studied bookbinding at the London College of Printing, and has worked in binderies in London, New York, San Francisco and for the last six years in the Lake District in England. He is a founder member of the bookbinding program at the San Francisco Center for the Book, where he teaches every summer. He also travels across the US teaching bookbinding. He is a past president of the Hand Bookbinders of California, and is currently Vice-Chairman of the Society of Bookbinders, and a Licentiate of Designer Bookbinders, the two UK based societies devoted to promoting the craft. His Design Bindings are held in many private and public collections, and he has won over a dozen awards in the last five years for his bindings.
Pastepapers, Contemporary Patterns with Acrylics
July 7, 2007, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
The Ideal Sketchbook
July 8, 2007, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Swedenborgian Church
4144 Campus Avenue, San Diego
Each workshop, $75.00 for members, $115.00, non-members;
Both workshops, $140.00 for members, $180.00, non-members.
Dominic Riley’s “ideal sketchbook” is based on a historical design that is relatively easy to produce, yet results in a very durable and functional binding. You will take home a book that you will be proud use. And even experienced paste paper makers will benefit from time spent with this creative and innovative designer. Dominic’s classes are a delight; comfortably paced, yet packed with useful information and techniques. To reserve your place, send a check (made out to SDBA) to Al Rodríguez, 736 Sutter Street, San Diego, CA 92103. Please be sure to specify which workshop(s) you want to attend.
April 1, 2007 2:00-4:00 p.m.
The Eighth Annual Edible Book Tea
UCSD Geisel Library, Seuss Room
FREE to SDBA Members, Guests Public
(Funds raised in the raffle/silent auction go directly to support programs and exhibitions for SDBA members.)
The Edible Book Tea is just around the corner and to make it a success we need three ingredients: edible books or book related items, donated items, and YOU!
Thanks to Lynda Claassen, Special Collections Librarian at UCSD, last year’s tea was a great success. All who attended had a wonderful time seeing, eating, winning, and making books. Once again, Lynda has generously extended a welcome to SDBA and the Edible Book Tea. Please join us in the Seuss Room in UCSD’s Geisel Library and help make this year’s event truly special.
- Visit the “Make and Take” table and create a unique flag book!
- Sample the many and varied edible “books.” They are a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach!
- Donate an artist’s book, printed broadside, blank book, book about book arts, new art supplies, pop-up book, subscription to an art journal, a print, gift certificate, or whatever. Buy raffle tickets or bid on silent auction items and go home with a piece of art!
- Buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win a 4 day, 3 night stay in a private downtown Vancouver condo (Donated by Past President Elaine Antoniuk)!
- Visit with friends and make new ones as we spend a pleasant afternoon together over tea and art! What could be better?
Invitations will be mailed mid-March for the Edible Book Tea. When you get your invitation, please return the enclosed RSVP cards and make sure to check off what you are bringing to the tea.
Those who are bringing edible books, items for the raffle, or otherwise participating, should plan to arrive and set up between 1:00 and 1:30.
Most of all, come and have fun!
—Gina Pisello and Stephen Sloan, EBT chairs
March 10, 2007, 10:00–1:00 PM
Shaping Words with Poet Diane Gage at San Diego Writer's Ink / Semi-Permanent Ink Spot, Downtown, San Diego, $25.00
What do a pantoum, a villanelle, a triolet, a list, and a cinquain all have in common? Each is a possible way to shape a poem! As a book artist, you no doubt pay careful attention to the formal properties of your creations. But what about the formal properties of the words inside your books? And how might such forms harmonize, or even do the tango, with your book structures?
Poet Diane Gage offers a workshop focused on some poetic forms that might lend themselves well to book projects. Her approach tends to be playful and participatory, so besides examining a variety of poetic forms, participants will have a chance to spend time writing as well. You are also invited to bring ideas and questions about your own future book projects.
Diane is a published poet who earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from Arizona State University in 1978. Since then she has gone on to develop her interest in visual art (especially fiber and collage) as well as in language. Some of her fiber art work is available at La Jolla Fiber Art Gallery on Girard Avenue in La Jolla. Dr. Gage is also trained as an Expressive Arts Counselor, helping people to flourish and blossom as creative beings. Recent projects include “Walking In Birdland,” in which daily haiku composed on walks in her 1950s tract-home neighborhood have become a series of books that were displayed in the recent SDBA show at the Mission Valley Library.
You can read a bit more about Diane online at www.publicaddress.us. Click on the name “Gage” when it appears as you scroll over artists’ photos on the homepage. Here’s an example of a “list” poem, recently published in the “Magee Park Poets Anthology 2007” and the “San Diego Poetry Annual”:
FINCH LANE
Diane Gage
the man who took to folding
laundry in his dreams
the man who walked a dog
smaller than the fold of his belly
the man who edged his lawn daily
while his daughter shook her head
the man whose father wasn’t sad
enough in his mother’s waiting room
the man who pulled over when
Bjoerling sang Nessun Dorma
the block they all lived on
with its cracking sidewalks
February 24 & 25, 2007
Sas Colby Workshops. Sas Colby’s workshops have room for six more participants. Names will be added to the list in the order in which their check is received. If your check is received after the class is full, the check will be held in case of a cancellation.
Sas Colby is a mixed media artist with more than thirty years’ experience. Her survey exhibition, “Twenty Years of Book Thinking,” originated in Santa Fe before traveling to Philadelphia and Oakland, California, in 1995. She was the featured speaker at the James Renwick Craft Alliance of the Smithsonian Institution. Her work is in many international art collections including the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Sas currently divides her time between Berkeley, California, and Taos, New Mexico, where she conducts annual art retreats.
Metaphor and Meaning in Artists’ Books. Saturday, February 24, 2007. This workshop investigates the role of metaphor in artists’ books, and provides the tools to conceive and produce a visual book uniting content and materials. Writing exercises will lead participants into producing text for visual interpretation. Non-traditional methods of bookmaking will be demonstrated. The emphasis is on how to unify text, image and material to make the book come alive.
The Art of Juxtaposition. Sunday, February 25, 2007. Make a small construction using found objects and collage. One plus one equals much more than two. See how the pairing of images and found objects immediately generates additional meaning in an artwork. Through a series of free associative exercises we’ll each design a small construction that illustrates the power of juxtaposition, similar to the way metaphor functions in poetry. Collage and assemblage techniques will be demonstrated.
Both Sas Colby workshops will be held at Mesa College and will cost $90 00 each. If you sign up for both workshops, however, the fees are discounted to $175.00. Send a check (made out to SDBA) to Al Rodriguez, 736 Sutter Street, San Diego, CA 92103, to reserve a spot. Bring a lunch!
February 23, 2007
Sas Colby will present a visiting artist lecture in conjunction with her workshops at 7:00 PM at the McCoy House in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. FREE to members and the general public.
Google Map of how to get to Old Town