Borders

Journaling is a way to get ideas out of your head & onto paper you review. 

I make my journals my own by embellishing them.

Making Borders is an activity that keeps the hands busy.

These are a few of the ways I create borders for pages. 

 

 

A carving block is painted with water color then pressed on the page. 

 

I cut stencils to used over & over.

Some felt tip markers do a nice job of bleeding when a small tip brush is run along the edge with water. I really like this effect.

 

This is a great way to define your edges prior to making a commitment.

 

Hand drawn borders can be scanned then printed on multiple pages.

See you tomorrow for day 3..."C"

I'm leaning towards Color.
 

 

 

Chess Anyone?

Ever since PBI last Spring I've had it on my artistic to do list to make some chess piece stencils.

My hubby & I have been playing chess a bit more lately during these long grey days.

It's a great game. Timeless. Have you played? 

 

 

We have this old book, part novel part chess strategy. 

My older son won it in elementary school at a chess tournament. 

The illustrations are wonderful.

You can still get a copy.

This is my favorite Laura Wait image where she created her own version of chess pieces. 

She was one of my instructors.  Lots of inspiration was absorbed. 

 Love the metal pieces on the cover as well.

Working from an old wooden chess (2 opening images) I sketched my design. 

  

I folded them in half and retraced so they would be symmetrical. 

Cut them out of card stock for the stencils.

Trail run in my journal to see how they turned out.

Made some refinements.

Decided they would be my January Artist Trading Cards. 

I have loads of cards for my ATCs cut from cast off projects & experiments.

 Recycling at it's most obsessive. But that's how I roll.

Workshops Part 3 PBI Laura Wait

My third & final class at PBI was with the talented, fun, & saucy Laura Wait.

I have been an admirer for some time & jumped at the chance to take a class with her. So glad I did!

 

Our first exercise was to tape a brush to a LONG stick, go outside with a large sheet of paper

 and Sumi Ink, proceed to make BIG marks on the paper, flip paper over & rub it around on the grass (if you want, which I did). Phase one of mark making.

 

After that we introduced color, shape, hand writing (not necessarily legible) translucent color, dirty sumi water, unusual tools to make marks with...play & experimentation was the name of the game.

 The results were as varied as the personalities in the room.

 

 This grouping is all from my pages. 

It was great to have a soft wall to pin everything up for viewing. 

We were encouraged to bring some sort of symbolic marks along as a jumping off point for marks.

I discovered a Hobo Language. Developed during the depression as a form of communication among the Hobo community.  It's simplicity was perfect for my purposes. 

The all red pages are direct riffs on the Hobo symbols.

One of my pages, a personal favorite.

 These types of exercises get you loose & allow you to play which provides some amazing results.

 

Being attentive to the details of drum leaf book construction. 

That would be another entire post. Lots of accuracy is needed. A departure from the mark making.

From there we created several books each from the cut up pages. Size & orientation is up to the individual. Lots accomplished in a 4 day workshop. That's how PBI rolls.

 Happily displaying our completed books.

Next workshop review, my 3 days in Petoskey with Christine Mauersberger.

Summer Workshops in Four Parts

It's difficult to describe the quirkiness, camaraderie, inspiration 

& beauty of  Paper & Book Intensive. 

This May was my fourth time at PBI. A repeat offender as one director labeled it. 

Attendees take 3 classes during the 12 days at Ox-Bow. I will do a separate post for each as well as a fourth post for the class I had last week end in Petoskey with the marvelous Christine Mauersberger.

First up was Joseph Lappie. Wood block printer extrodinare and all around great human being. 

 

Gotta love a well used paint fan as reference material 

to choose a color, for anything!

 

In his world you use a scroll saw to cut out your wood block 

which then can be used at the art to be hung after you make prints.

The blocks are colored with gouache after you have made the prints you desire. 

Images above are student pieces. The possum! One of my favorites.

Professional pic of the model Joseph brought, being used by him below.

The smaller dremel model. The saw can be removed from the base to be used as a hand tool.

Good tools are so important in wood block. As well as sharpening skills.

My tired gal after carving & coloring. There were lots of books with ideas for those of us who don't have as much confidence in our drawing skills.

We made group prints from our blocks. Fun to make up a story from the result.

Below are Joseph's pieces he brought from his collection. His work is detailed & stunning.

 Next  up Shawn Sheehy, paper engineer and our "Cabinets of Curiosities" class.

Aimee Lee Paper Maker, Artist, Author

Learning to make Hanji paper & what can be made from it with Aimee Lee was a pleasure. 

There is a great video in the above link to her site that informs you about Aimee's starting

 point for learning the process in Korea to make Hanji & her artistic drive.

L is for Aimee Lee 

It was the last time I attended PBI  (Paper & Book Intensive) that I took her class.

She weaves Hanji Ducks from twisted cords from the paper.

I had to have this duck she put on auction at the end of PBI.

Before he was mine hanging out with his friends on the display table at Ox-Bow

I took him to my work to meet a pal one day.

 

I would love to learn in more depth how to crate these lovely vessels. 

You can also knit with the threads from Hanji paper. Right up my alley.

I hope you take the time to look at her story & work. 

Yet another interesting journey by an artist I greatly admire. 

I'll be attending PBI again this year. I'm sure if you follow me 

you will see lots of my inspiration from this year's classes.