Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Spring workshops!



The Southeast Guild of Book Workers is pleased to announce two spring workshops at the Woodruff Library, Emory University, Decatur GA.


Lacing and Tacking Workshop with Chela Metzger
April 2 and April 3, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

$120 for guild members/$140 for non-members.
This workshop is appropriate for adults of all skill levels. Maximum enrollment is 15.

Lacing and tacketing are medieval techniques for attaching pages to a cover, and for reinforcing covers. They are non-adhesive techniques and offer many options for interesting structure and decoration using leather and parchment. This workshop will encourage students to try a variety of lacing and tacketing options, resulting in at least one completed binding. Time permitting there will be the option to construct various button and loop closures types. It is open to those with a wide range of experience, from beginners to those with more experience.

Chela Metzger started her official association with books by working as a library assistant at the age of 9. She graduated from Simmons College as a card-carrying librarian in 1990, and began her more intimate association with the craft of bookbinding at the North Bennet Street School in 1991, working 2 years with Mark Esser. She followed that with an internship in rare-book conservation at the Library of Congress in 1993, and began her paid conservation career as a project conservator at the Huntington Library in 1994. She began teaching book conservation to visiting Latin American interns in 1999, and moved into full-time lecturer work in 2001 at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2011 she began as Conservator of Library Collections at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Winterthur, DE.


Flag Books: Interplay of Image and Text with Karen Hanmer
June 11 and 12, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

$120 for guild members/$140 for non-members.
This workshop is appropriate for adults of all skill levels. Maximum enrollment is 15.

In this two-day workshop, students will make two different styles of flag book. 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. The class will discuss the effects of different spine and page dimensions, direction of motion, and which images will 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. While this is not a computer class, digital printing and setting up Photoshop templates for pages, covers and spines will be demonstrated.

Karen Hanmer’s work layers text and image to intertwine cultural and personal memory. The intimate scale and gestures of exploration employed to travel through each piece evoke looking through an album, diary, or the belongings of a loved one. The work is often playful in structure or content, and may include social commentary.

Hanmer’s work is included in collections ranging from Tate Britain and the Library of Congress to Syracuse University and Graceland. She won the 2009 DeGolyer Jury Prize for Binding. Hanmer curated the Guild of Book Workers Marking Time exhibition, and serves on the editorial board of The Bonefolder. A complete catalog of her work is available online at www.karenhanmer.com.


How to register for a workshop:
To register, email ann.frellsen@emory.edu with your name, address and telephone number. Then, mail a check for the full tuition made out to The Guild of Book Workers to Ann Frellsen, 221 Chelsea Drive Decatur, GA 30030. Your space in the class is only guaranteed upon receipt of full payment, and is on a first come, first serve basis.

Sponsored by The Southeast Guild of Book Workers and Emory University.