Kindred Spirits Exhibit

The Kindred Spirits book exhibition kicks off this week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. As it says on their website, "Kindred Spirits is a touring book arts exhibition that responds to the work and life of Lucy Maud Montgomery. The pieces were created by members of the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG) as an acknowledgement of the enduring legacy of Lucy Maud Montgomery at the 150th anniversary of her birth."

Details about the exhibit locations, the jurors, and the exhibiting artists can be found on the Kindred Spirits website as well. I'm excited to have had two books accepted into this exhibit. One is a full leather rebound copy of a 1956 edition of Anne of Green Gables that my mother received on her tenth birthday. The second book is an artist's book that I made featuring a quote about Anne. Both have custom clamshell boxes. There are a couple of photos on the Kindred Spirits website now, but I will post more photos here when I get a chance.

Of course, the best way to see my books, and all the other amazing work, is to visit the exhibition in-person. I will be in Charlottetown for the opening reception on Friday and for the "make and take" pamplet binding workshop on Saturday! The Charlottetown exhibit will run from June 19 to August 23, 2024. After that, the exhibit will travel to different locations across the country right into 2026. Check the website for locations that have been confirmed and more locations may be added. I hope everyone gets a chance to see the exhibit. Happy Birthday, Maud!

Bookbinding Materials and Techniques 1700-1920

Bookbinding Materials and Techniques 1700-1920 by Margaret Locke is a book published by CBBAG and it can be purchased bound or in sheets (available through the CBBAG website if you're interested). I purchased an unbound copy ages ago. The sheets sat on my "shelf of unfinished projects" for a couple years, actually. I bound it, finally. Using a split board library binding, quarter leather, and my own original marbled papers. I even marbled the edges of the textblock to match. Now I can read it!

CBBAG Book Arts Show and Sale - June 11

Everyone in and near Ottawa needs to check out the "2011 National Handmade Book Arts Show and Sale" this weekend at Library and Archives Canada. I wish I could be there - if anyone goes and wants to report back and tell me all about it, please do!

Saturday, 11 June 2011, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Library and Archives Canada,
395 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ontario.

Open to the public and admission is free.

Exhibition: The Nature of Words - all day

Speakers include: George Walker "The Future of the Book" at 4 p.m.

Future of the Book is the theme for this year’s CBBAG Book Arts Show. An impressive array of book artists and artisans are coming together to look at this intriguing question.

Hosted by the Ottawa Valley Chapter of CBBAG

Millenium in a Box

Last week I finally did something that I've been planning to do for nine years! I went to see the Millenium in a Box collection which was put together in 2000, at the turn of the millenium (obviously) by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artist's Guild (www.cbbag.ca). This is a collection of work by 35 Canadian book artists. "Each artist produced a conceptual interpretation of where the new millennium may lead, whether technically, societally, in terms of personal development, where the book arts may go, or in any other way that challenges them."

There are 50 of these boxes; they are held in various locations across Canada, and there are a few outside Canada, and some that are available to be borrowed. Each participating artist created their work in an edition of 50, so there is one of each in each box. One of the boxes is permanently housed in the Special Collections library at Dalhousie University here in Halifax, which is where I did my MLIS degree and where I first started bookbinding and I even worked in this library for a while... but somehow I never managed to find time to check out the Millenium in a Box collection until last week.

The catalyst for this event is a separate story, but here's the quick version. I made some new friends recently, a couple who were traveling to Nova Scotia from their home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are both artists, one of them doing book arts (among other things) and the other a painter and retired art professor. So I asked if they would like to come with me to see this collection as it would be much more fun to view it in the company of others with similar interests. It was a lovely way to spend our time and I'm so glad we were able to get together (thank you G & B!).

Here we are with a few of the items laid out on the table:

Since the Millenium in a Box collection was not on display last week, they pulled it out of the closed stacks and we were able to sit down with the box and all its contents and look at each piece very closely, read the descriptions, etc at our leisure. There is a full range of book and paper arts included in the box: artist's book, paper making, calligrapy, printmaking, etc. If you are interested in seeing it, check the CBBAG website where it lists all the public locations of the box.

As I mentioned above, each piece was made to show the artist's ideas about the upcoming millennium. Looking at this collection nine years after its creation means that there was an additional element of commentary as we worked our way through the objects. It is a fascinating comment on society of the year 2000; seeing the issues, ideas, and common themes that recur among the various objects and how a mere nine years can affect their meaning. I must remember to go back and look at it again...after another decade or two passes.

The Art of the Book '08

There are not many opportunities to visit book art exhibits around here, but the travelling exhibit for The Art of the Book '08 stopped by for a while and I was able to get there before they packed up last week. This juried exhibition marked the 25th anniversary of the The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild.

Check the Exhbition Schedule to see if it will be coming to your town.

Check the online exhibit on the CBBAG website.

Of course they wouldn't let me fondle the books or take pictures of them. And many were in protective cases so I couldn't drool on them either. I particularly like the books from Erin Ciulla, Paul Johnson, Mira Coviensky, Cathy Berg, Don Taylor, Anna Embree, Robin Muller, Helga Hobday and the papers of Judith Welbourn and Robert Wu and lots more... I meant to just list a few... but of course they are all terrific. Check it out.

A book came in the mail

Today was a good mail day. I got the most recent newsletter from CBBAG. I like getting these and reading about what's going on with CBBAG; it makes me feel like I'm part of the group...even though everything they do is in Toronto so it's too far away for me to play.

But also, I got the "Penland Book of Handmade Books" today! We had a Chapters gift certificate that had been lingering for a few months and nearly forgot about; sheesh, I don't understand how I could let that happen. So I finally used it to buy this and it arrived today. I haven't had much time to look at it. My little boy was quite disappointed with the mail today and when he saw what I got, I think he knew it could take me away for hours, so he wouldn't tolerate anyone looking at it for more than a few minutes. I didn't realize that with each of the featured artists, the book also includes a how-to-do-something-that-they-do section, so that is a nice treat. I'll have some new things to try, can't wait!

L'Anse Amour

I recently came across this collaborative book arts project. Robin Smith Peck, Kevin Major, and Tara Bryan have created this work based on their visit to the inlet of L’Anse Amour, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. L'Anse Amour, Labrador is the site of a 7500-year-old burial site of a 12-year-old boy surrounded by evidence of intriguing ritual. This book is their interpretation of the site and its stories. You can check out the book in significant detail by visiting Tara Bryan's website: www.tarabryan.com.

I spent quite a while browsing Tara Bryan's site. She also has several of her other artist's books displayed there. Some wonderful accordion structures and fabulous linocuts and letterpress work. Bryan was one of the contributor's to the CBBAG Millenium in a Box project, with her World Without End tunnel book.

Online Galleries

Sometimes I find myself just clicking around the Internet looking at pictures of handmade books...for hours. That's what I was doing this evening, and here are some of the websites that I was visiting...looking at pictures, gazing in wonderment, and browsing for ideas and inspiration.

• Ball Peen Bindery Photo Gallery
• Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artist's Guild Online Gallery
• Designer Bookbinders FLOW 2006 Exhibit
• Cai Lun Photo Gallery
• Volcano Arts - The Muse
• Society of Bookbinders Gallery
• Mel Jefferson Bookbinding
• Old English Bindery Gallery
• Guild of Book Workers Online Catalog for the 2002 Members Exhibit
• Guild of Book Workers 100th Anniversary Exhibition 2007
• Guild of Book Workers 1998 ABCDarium Exhibition

Recipes for Motherhood by Stephanie Dean-Moore
CBBAG

Crossed Structure Binding by Mel Jefferson

Snowy Owl for me

So for the book swap, I sent the leafy book to Uwe, and Cathryn sent this fabulous Snowy Owl to me.




Cathryn Miller is a fellow Canadian, located in Saskatchewan. On the CBBAG website, her artist statement appears thus:

I have had a lifelong fascination with paper. I enjoy not only making it, but 'playing' with it to create unusual 3-dimensional structures. I consider it to be not just a support material for other processes, but an interesting thing in itself. The sculptural possibilities appear to be limitless.

More examples of her work.

CSB Expander

I finished the CSB Expander book yesterday. After this type of book is finished, more sections can be easily added. So, since that is the purpose, I decided to use this structure to bind some of my CBBAG newsletters. I'll be able to add subsequent newsletters later.

Similar to the CSB Linked, this structure has the two cover pieces crossed before the sewing is started. So one cover has strips, the other has holes to put the strips through.


Ready for sewing. Each section is sewn individually. This is what makes it so functional for later expansion. Since the sections are not connected to each other, new sections can be added anywhere - front, middle, back, whatever.


Finished sewing, strips visible inside the cover.


Another neat and tidy structure, and very functional. Now my CBBAG newsletters are way stylish in their teal suede covering.

My new blog

I'm Rhonda, and I'm a bookbinder and book artist. I started making books several years ago when I took my first bookbinding course and I haven't been able to stop.Lately, I have been focusing on historic book structures from the Medieval and Renaissance eras and I try to be as accurate as possible with certain elements of the binding process, while still modernizing other elements thus producing a durable, functional, and beautiful book. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions (or suggestions!) about my books and their bindings. I am a member of the Canadian Bookbinders and Books Artists Guild (www.cbbag.ca) and The Guild of Bookworkers (guildofbookworkers.org).