The First Annual Southeast Guild of Book Workers Members' Showcase

This year marks the first Annual Southeast Guild of Book Workers Members' Showcase. The Members' Showcase is an online opportunity for any members of the SEGBW to show their work in an effort to facilitate growth, collaboration, communication, and promote excellence in the craft and art of the book within the Southeast Chapter and the Guild of Book Workers.

This exhibition will be online only and will be hosted on the SEGBW Blog indefinitely as a way to make the work of our chapter accessible to even our most remote members and to the book community throughout the world.

The artists and craftspeople of the Southeast Chapter are encouraged to submit at least one example of the work they produce. Each artist may contribute a maximum of three images of their choosing that they feel best characterizes the type of work they do.

Because this is an online exhibition, it is important that the submitted photos be of high quality.

All SEGBW members may contribute work in the following categories:

Artists Books, Paper Arts, Bookbinding, Hand Papermaking, Historical Models, Fine Bindings, Innovative Conservation Treatments, Handmade Boxes, Collaborative Projects, Conceptual Artist's Books, Altered Books, and Any Experimental or Other Book Related Medium.

Submission Guidlines:

Each member may email three images (no more than 150 dpi each) to southeastguild@gmail.com

In addition to the three images, each member must send a brief 50 to 100 word bio/statement about who they are and their work and interests within the book arts.

Duration:

Open ended

Dates And Deadlines:

Deadline for Entry: January 31, 2018

Exhibition: February 28, 2018

Fee:

There is no fee.

Fall Featured Member, Building Connections

Check out our first fall featured member! Kerri Harding of Charleston, South Carolina.

Kerri Harding

In June of last year Kerri Harding moved to South Carolina to take a position at the Charleston Library Society as the Director of the Bindery and Conservation Studio. At CLS, Kerri spends most of her time on Special Collections conservation and creating full leather presentation bindings. These are given as a token of appreciation for guest speakers, including authors Julian Fellows, David McCullough, and Bernard Cornwell. Kerri joined the staff at an opportune time; the CLS will be celebrating the release of its first publication, Rare, Prized, and Valuable: The Charleston Library Society’s Favorite Fifty from the Collections, in the fall. During production, the bindery was transformed into a photo studio to provide the images for.

Q Is there anything in bookbinding that interests you most?

I'm a bit of a generalist. Though, I love the materials. I could stare at sample books all day. I also enjoy working with my hands and find it really satisfying to have tangible results at the end of the day.

Q Before moving to the SEGBW were you involved with other GBW chapters?
I served as the Midwest Chapter Programs Chair for a year. I worked with Mary Uthupparu on the 2016 annual meeting, and then passed of the duties since I had left the region.

Q What are some of the current binding or conservation projects your working on?
I have several conservation projects on my bench at the moment, including An Account of the Pelew Islands by Captain Henry Wilson published in 1788. It's a tightback leather binding with absolutely lovely gold tooling on the spine. The boards were detached and a crack runs the full length of the spine. It has been and interesting challenge to reattach the boards and provide structural support without intruding on the gold tooling. It is a slow moving project, but I've leaned a great deal from working on it.
 

Q Is there another skill that you’d like to learn?
Everything! I want to learn everything! I'll paraphrase Chaucer, who paraphrased the Greeks; Life is short and the craft so long to learn. I spend a lot of time on research and experimentation. I have also been brushing up on fine binding and finishing techniques.  I recently took a Gold Tooling workshop at the Well Summer Institute taught by Sam Feinstein. I am eager to get more practice in. I would also like to learn more about edge decorating techniques. 

Building Connections Within SEGBW

Hello SEGBW,

The Southeast Chapter of the Guild of Bookworkers is unique in that we are a relatively small number of people spread over a wide geographical area. Let’s get to know each other! In an effort to build connection and community we are planning to feature our members in a series of blog posts. We hope that through these articles we’ll learn more about each other and build stronger book working bonds within the southeast. We’re kicking it off by introducing our new Chapter chair, Sarah Bryant, currently living and working in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. If you would like to be featured, or would like to suggest that we feature another member, please reach out!

Warmest regards,

Kyle Clark, Communications Chair, SEGBW

Sarah Bryant

Sarah Bryant is an instructor and studio manager for the MFA in the Book Arts Program at The University of Alabama. Sarah started Big Jump Press in 2005, and since then has been producing artist books in small editions under that name. She often looks to reference material and analytical imagery when producing her work. Her books can be found in dozens of libraries and private collections in the United States and abroad, including The Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, The Darling Bio-medical Library at UCLA, and The Yale Arts Library. In 2011, Bryant won the prestigious MCBA Prize, an international award given every two years to a single artist book. Bryant frequently collaborates with other artists as well as people working in other fields.

Sarah studied book arts at The University of Alabama MFA in the Book Arts program from 2005-2008, and has been making books ever since.

Q Can you tell us a little bit about a recent project?

My last big project was an artist book called Figure Study, a collaboration with a Biology professor at Middlebury College named Dave Allen. We created human forms out of population data and printed them on drafting film so that they could be layered and interpreted on a grid. It was a fun project, but the binding was much more complicated than my other projects, and I almost lost my mind!

Q What are you working on now?

I’m at the beginnings of a new artist book project that I think is turning into something about urban planning. I never really know where I am going to end up when I start a project, and this one has me doing some pretty serious reading about 20th century architecture. We will see what happens! Right now it is still a primordial soup kind of thing.

Q Is there a skill you’d like to learn?

I am a letterpress printer, but I’d like to branch out further into printmaking and learn some non-relief techniques. I’ve started doing some skill sharing with collaborators that I work with, a really great way to pick up new tricks and move in a new direction.

SCAP and SEGBW Host Letterpress Workshop in Tallahassee

South East Guild of Book Workers and Small Craft Advisory Press co-hosted a letterpress workshop taught by book artist and printer Eileen Wallace of Mile Wide Press over the February 25-26 weekend in Tallahassee, FL. This fascinating workshop highlighted creating and printing experimental matrices on flatbed printing presses, and drew an energetic crowd of FSU graduate students, and professors from FSU, Tallahassee Community College, and University of Florida. Using materials such as wood veneer and wire mounted onto a magnetic base, workshop participants were encouraged to try many different iterations of their compositions, capitalizing on the ease of setup of these modular printable forms. Each participant completed the weekend-long class with a suite of their own prints, a set of printable plates, and a copy of the collaborative class print.

Workshop Opportunity in Tallahassee, FL

Eileen Wallace of the University of Georgia and Mile Wide Press will be teaching a letterpress workshop in Tallahassee, FL on February the 25th-26th. This event is co-sponsored by SEGBW and SCAP and should be a fantastic workshop. 

To register contact AB Gorham at gorhamab@gmail.com 

Hope to see you all there!