Setting up your tool box | Workshops | Books | Other resources

Setting up your tool box

It’s true that you can make a book with very few tools. But as you progress, there are a few things that can make your experience a little easier or even more fun. Talas in New York has many of these items and does same-day shipping or you can find them at your local art or hobby store. This isn’t a complete list, just some of my favorites.

• a handmade bone folder (left in photo) from Jim Croft with a very sharp point, great for scoring or getting into tiny corners
• a 36” x 24” self-healing cutting mat and a nice large triangle — If you’re cutting large paper, this makes the work so much easier.
• key stock in ½”, ¾” and 1” widths, wonderful for quick measuring and cutting straight lines (You can find key stock at most hobby or hardware stores.)
• a tiny pair of dividers is particularly useful if you’re allergic to rulers and measuring (Ebay is a great source.)
• a 12” ruler (top of photo) with increments which start at the very edge of the ruler, if you had a good math experience in grade school and aren’t nervous around rulers
• a Japanese push drill (third from right) for making holes in paper and soft materials
• a Teflon bone folder — Teflon won’t glaze or “shine” your papers when you crease them with it as a typical bone folder will.
• a pin-vise to hand-drill small holes in book board
  

Workshops at Schools and Centers

More and more art centers are offering book arts workshops. Here are a few that I visit or whose reputation I know— ones that have consistently wonderful teachers and offerings.

Center for Book Arts The New York location means that they have access to some of the finest talent on the east coast.
Garage Annex School for Book Arts Weekend workshops offered by some of the most innovative artists currently teaching. Visit their web site for their photo gallery.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Offering two-week sessions in the summer with outstanding teachers. Many sessions have a poet-in-residence, as well.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts The largest book arts center in the country with a beautiful facility. Offers primarily weekend classes for adults with a week-long symposium every odd year.
Paper Book Intensive This once a year, 10-day program travels around the country. Founded by some of the best in the art form, it has a very fun and spontaneous feel to the program.
Penland School of Crafts My idea of heaven on earth. Two-week sessions are offered in the summer and longer ones in the fall and spring. The food is wonderful, the facilities fantastic, the view is no-fail inspiring.
San Francisco Center for the Book The center of a lively book arts community on the West Coast, their web site hosts an imaginative list of workshops and an online photo gallery. The center also has a wonderful blog for teachers interested in using book arts in the classroom.

Books to inspire you

Looking at books about book arts is like going to a great restaurant...it’s hard to decide which structure you’d like to try next. Here’s just a few books that I turn to for inspiration:

The Book as Art Krystyna Wasserman (Princeton Architectural Press)
The National Museum of Women in the Arts has created a beautiful showcase for these artist books.
Making Memory Boxes Barbara Mauriello (Rockport Publishing)
Out of print, but available from used-book stores, this is a beautifully written book with clear directions on box-making.
The Penland Book of Handmade Books (Lark Books)
This book is now out in paperback and I may have to replace my own hardcover copy because it’s so tattered from use. Featuring 10 book artists who have taught at Penland, this book includes personal statements from the artists, tutorials and a gallery of their own work and the work of artists who have inspired them.
Woven and Interlocking Book Structures Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner (Janus Gefn Unlimited)
The woven page tutorials in this book may constitute my own Mt. Everest. I love looking through the examples and dreaming about actually creating one of these inventive structures.

Other resources

Philobiblon is the center of the book arts community on the web. It has a great collection of links for suppliers, artists, galleries and classes. You can also sign up there for the Book Arts List Serve, a lively online forum for questions and notices. (Sign up for the digest form if you don’t want individual emails.) The online publication Bonefolder is available for download every three months.

Umbrella is available as a quarterly print or online subscription. The publication is the most comprehensive journal covering artists’ books.

The Pacific Center for Book Arts publishes Ampersand on a quarterly basis.  The journal has articles about all aspects of the book arts, from historical commentary to profiles of working artists to practical how-to tutorials.

I've created a list of suppliers for my classes.  You can find a copy here.