Paper Engineering

At PBI, I also had a class with Carol Barton, doing paper engineering...otherwise known as pop-up and moveable books. Carol is, of course, the queen of pop-ups. Carol has two books about making pop-ups, The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I and Volume II. She is currently working on Volume III.

We spent our time making about a million different pop-up structures (ok, I'm exaggerating, but only a little bit). We started with the basics, like little pop-up squares and triangles that are very common and often used in cards and accordion books, etc. and we worked our way through all their variations, moved on to more elaborate props and platforms that can be built up higher and higher, and even did a few 3-D shapes by the end of it.

My favorite of the single shapes, the star (good thing I wrote "star" on this sample so I'd know what it was...)


Also really enjoyed making these little accordions...


And a sample of combining different shapes and structures...


Carol was a great teacher, be sure to grab any chance of taking a class with her. And thank you, Carol, for helping me find my gate at the airport as I rushed to catch my flight!

More photos on Flickr

Book Doctor

So I'm at PBI (although my luggage took the scenic route and arrived two days later than I did). One of the classes I have been taking is book repair with Ann Frellsen. The focus has been on quick treatments for damaged books, so that they will withstand continued use (in other words, not for rare or ancient books requiring specailized detailed treatments).

We used Japanese tissue to repair holes in pages and to reattach a page that has been cut out. We also did tipping in of pages, endpaper replacement, spine replacement, end cap reinforcement, and all sorts of other things in between. She was very good at showing us what needed to be done for each of the books we were working on since they are all different and some required treatments that others did not. These are not very exciting things to photograph since the finished work is not very obvious - or it shouldn't be very obvious!

One book that I worked on was this lovely orange book.
[Edit May 30]
The most obvious problem with this book was the dirt as it had been stored in a very dusty area for a long time. The photos I had here originally didn't really convey the magnitude of the cleaning that was involved so I've removed those in favor of this one that just shows a closer view. The front cover (on the right) and part of the spine have been cleaned. There were some little pen marks, scratches, and stains that didn't change, but the overall dirt layer has been removed. The back cover (left) hasn't been cleaned. Click on the photo to make it bigger if you want to see more detail.


[end Edit]

Also with this book, I reinforced the head cap, cleaned old adhesive from the textblock spine then re-rounded and backed it. The hinges of the case were weak, so they were reinforced and then new endpapers were attached and the whole thing was put back together.
Pretty exciting, eh?

Another book for PBI

Each year at PBI, there is an auction to raise money for scholarships. I've made a journal for the auction, specifically an OxBow-theme journal, since that's where PBI is being hosted this year.


The last time I went to OxBow, I brought home a booklet about the college which included some photos of the campus. I tore the photos from the booklet and tore a few strips from a Michigan map showing the Saugatuck region, and pieced them together on the covers. The endpapers are hand-marbled by me, and there is a folder pocket sewn into the textblock, made from the OxBow booklet as well. Also includes the bookmark, made from an OxBow information card.

Next week it's PBI

Next week I'll be going to Michigan for Paper and Book Intensive. I'll be taking classes from John Townsend, Carol Barton, and Ann Frellsen. I'm super excited about it and can't wait to share my work and experiences on my blog in the coming weeks.

I made myself a journal to take with me this year. The cover is Suminagashi marbling that I made at PBI in 2008. The pages are a mixture of papers, most of which were acquired at PBI in 2008 and 2009. There are also folders and envelopes sewn into the text block.

Flip Books on a rainy afternoon

My kid came home from school today with a little kit for making a flip book. I don't think he was prepared for my level of excitement. It was, in fact, touted as a "cartoon creator" and the packaging and instruction sheet never used the term flip book. I suppose, a cartoon creator kit sounds more exciting to 6-year-olds! I showed him a flip book that I got from Green Chair Press and then we attempted to make a few of our own. So now we have a stick-man who drops his hat and picks it up, and a rocket circling Saturn. When I have time, I'll definitely want to try a more refined flip book someday!

Mixed Paper Journals

The only thing better than writing in a handmade journal with mixed papers, is making a journal with mixed papers. I love making these because it gives me a chance to sort and fondle my hoard of paper. These small leather journals are each made with an assortment of papers including different kinds of lined paper, decorative papers, handmade paper, some marbled papers, various colours of plain paper, and even a few maps and illustrated pages from an old story book.

Some of these are now available on Etsy.

The Illustrated Accordion

The Illustrated Accordion is an exhibit at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Gallery in Kalamazoo, Michigan (kalbookarts.org). The exhibit will open May 6th, continuing until May 27th. I have a miniature accordion, titled "Piano Generations" that is part of this exhibit.

All the work in this exhibit has been photographed and can be viewed on Flickr. But be sure to check it out "in real life" if you happen to be in Michigan!

"Piano Generations" is a limited edition artist's book, hand-marbled paper on the covers, ink jet printed piano keys, family snapshots in pockets. Limited edition of 10.