The Beineke Library at Yale University has acquired one of our "History of the Accordion" books. Here is a nice video they shared with us:
Beineke Library video of the "History of the Accordion" Book.
The Beineke Library at Yale University has acquired one of our "History of the Accordion" books. Here is a nice video they shared with us:
Beineke Library video of the "History of the Accordion" Book.
This is our first road trip since the pandemic. When we found the full eclipse of the sun would be seen from Texas in the first part of April 2024, we planned things to be there for the celestial event. When setting up the workshop at the Austin Center for the book, our host suggested we might enjoy seeing it while attending the Kerrville Folk Festival's "Kerrclipse" event.
The Kerrville Folk festival has been putting on multi-week folk music festivals for over 50 years, and all the info you want to know about it can be found on the internet, but this was their first eclipse festival and a great adventure for all involved. Yes we got a bit skunked, as the weather was cloudy, but the clouds parted just enough at totality that we could see the corona and the solar flares.
On March 23, 2024 we left home, on our first trip as Wandering Book Artists since the pandemic stopped everything. The first thing we did was stop for gas, and the first thing that happened was a crowd of gas pumping patrons crowded around the wagon to get a closer look. It seems to have a magic that bridges over differences of age, ethnicity, regional differences and politics and creates a space where we get to share beauty and conversation with everyone.
As Wandering Book Artists we also have the good fortune to visit and share with librarians, art students and professors, and members of community-based book arts centers in person. We get to talk about the future of the book as art, the skills involved in making books, and show them our artists' books. Everyone learns so much as we talk about each book while they look through them, turning pages or unrolling a scroll. We can share the inspirations that drove each decision in the making of the book. We talk about how the two of us work together, how we divide tasks, and give feedback to each other's ideas. And we also get the opportunity to learn from them through the questions, statement, thoughts, and the books they show us.
Our first library visit was to Scripps College in Claremont, California. We talked to a book arts class where they were getting ready to make their final book project of the semester. They analyzed book structures and printing techniques in our books. They asked good questions about the viability of making a living as a book artist.
The Lowercase: Occidental College's letterpress shop
The Phoenix Public Library is a real showcase for a modern, beautiful, comfortable, sustainably-built library. If you get a chance, stop in for a visit. They also have a great archive of rare books which they regularly display from. Look for our Koch Real Accordion Book there!
Texas sunset
At the University of Texas in Austin's Special Collections in the Fine Arts Library, as Peter talked about each book, the librarian, Tina Tran, told him she was impressed by his professionalism. I guess experience pays off: we've visited lots of libraries over the last 15 years as the Wandering Book Artists!
Peter taught a 2-day workshop at the Austin Book Arts Center. They explored letterpress printing techniques and simple folded paper pamphlets while jointly creating a finished book project.
And now we begin our trip back west - to California, via Santa Fe, the Grand Canyon, and Mt Carmel with Maynard Dixon's home. That story will be told in a blog post after we are home!
How many of you are going to head out of town for the eclipse? Out of state too? We are...wandering again! We'll be combining a Wandering Book Artists' road trip with a stop in Texas to experience the eclipse. Here is a list of talks and workshops Peter will give on the trip. We hope you will consider signing up for one.
Claremont College: Monday March 25: Scripps College book arts class: 10:30 - 12:30.
Occidental College, Tuesday March 26: Letterpress Class: 1:30 - 4.
Tucson: April 1: Pop up event at Cave Paper, 846 N Stone Ave. 10 - noon.
Austin: April 11 and 12: Austin Book Arts Center Workshop: Get Creative with Wood and Metal Type, 10 - 4.
Santa Fe: April 17. Info about workshop coming soon!
I will be co-teaching a 3-day book arts workshop with Susan Lowdermilk at the Focus on the Book Arts Conference in Forest Grove, Oregon, Friday-Sunday, July 15-17, 2022. We still have room in the class and hope you will join us! https://focusonbookarts.org/
Susan and I just completed a 9 month collaborative book arts project titled HOPE? In this class we are going to share what we learned about collaboration and let you practice the skills needed, in a fun and exciting way, to make a book.
The class is titled Pulp to Print: Conceive, Collaborate, Construct. Susan and I will guide the class through the collaborative process of designing and creating an editioned artists’ book. Class participants will design a small book, make handmade paper, use hand set type, carve linoleum blocks, or otherwise employ paints and drawing inks, to create the images and text for our book. Students will then bind the pages created into a “flag book” structure. At the end of the three days each student will leave with their own copy of the editioned collaborative artists’ book we make in the class.