Lunch - book binding in September

 

Lunch

During last week's book binding/journal painting workshop we sat in the sun in big comfortable Adirondack chairs, painted our lunches, and talked about food, gardening, cooking . . .

The two days of the workshop, Thursday and Friday, were absolutely  perfect  -  warm and sunny.  And the sketchbook journals that were made were absolutely beautiful  -  colorful and creative.

The idea of having the journal painting day as part of the bookbinding workshop is to get the book binders to "bond" with their books.  The books take a whole day to make and are very precious  -  not something you'd mark up, throw in your paint bag, possibly goof up a page here and there  -  unless of course, you were paying someone to coax you into making those first marks in your book, and you find out how much you and your book like being together.  You might even get a little obsessive about having your book with you at all times.  You might even find that you use it to, not only sketch in, but jot down notes and lists, directions and ideas.  You might even buy a roomier purse for your sketchbook and a little palette. 

Since I've been carrying my sketchbook with me all the time, I find that I look at life around me with a little more appreciation.  I see more colors and shapes, shadows and patterns.  I guess if you look through my sketchbooks, you'd notice a lot of the colors, shapes, shadows, and patterns that I see are food related.  Whatever gets ya goin', huh?

Pansies

 

A Demonstration Page from Our Bookbinding Workshop

This was done during a sunnier, warmer week.  This week I was doing two watercolor classes and four afternoons of outdoor journaling.  It poured rain continuously!  The participants of the outdoor class were really good sports.  We met on the porch of one of the buildings in Bay View and we worked on techniques and painted things like flower pots, watering cans, color mixing, and did manage to get in a couple of Bay View scenes between storms.

It is a little too quiet here now.  The California grandkids are heading down to the Detroit airport today.  It was a wonderful visit!  The month went by all too quickly. It's so hard to see them leave. 

Moving on.  The sun is shining today.  I'm anxious to get out in the garden and see how much damage all the rain has done   -    and the deer.  I have put out repellent things and sprayed liquid fence which has probably washed away by now.  

I have a painting I should be working on, and with this sunshine, it looks like a good day to set up a little temporary studio on the back porch.  Here I go.

Take your sketchbooks someplace this weekend!

Cathy's Birdhouse

Bookbinding/Journal Workshop Demonstration

This birdhouse is in the garden of my bookbinding workshop partner, Cathy.  Someday I'll go through my sketchbooks to see how many times I have painted it over the years.  It makes a good subject for the journal painting part of our workshop.  It is a good example of how contour drawing (continuous line) can simplify a complicated subject, and how to paint colorful neutrals.

We had a fantastic group in our Monday-Tuesday workshop, and another group begins today.

We've been having so much fun with the grandkids! Things have been relatively calm  -  no more crashing through window panes.  Yesterday we took a tour through the new candy factory!  The kids are at the other grandparents for a few days.   I think I'll be okay with the quiet  -  I have to get ready for three new classes starting next week, and begin and finish a small painting.  All fun stuff, and if it weren't for deadlines, I'd probably never do a thing.  Well, maybe I would.

New Journal

A New Journal and More Thumbnails

I am so into doing little thumbnail sketches right now.  When I've had enough of that, I'll start painting with a vengeance.

Yesterday my friend, Ellie, was trying out Yupo for the first time.   I wrote her comment on my sketchbook page. "It almost gives you the freedom you desire."  Pretty profound for painting on plastic, huh?  No, I'm not pushing Yupo  -  not a huge fan.

This is my newest journal, on the left. It is a different size this time.  I started out making them kind of square, and I liked that.  However, I do like to make them in a size that doesn't waste any of the 22 X 30 sheets of Aquarius II watercolor paper.  It dawned on me that this 5 1/2 by 6 size would work.

So if we have all this fresh, new, fluffy snow this morning  -  why doesn't it feel FRESH?

Journals/Sketchbooks

Q & A

Regarding hand bound sketchbook journals

I've had a few emails and questions in the "comments" section of this blog about the sketchbook journals that I make and use.  I'll attempt to answer those questions here, in no particular order of importance (but this is important stuff, you know).

First of all, I want to say that I have a sketchbook "partner".  My friend, Cathy, is the "technical adviser" and instructor when it comes to teaching the book binding classes.  I'm her helper during this stage. When we get to the embellishing and "journaling", that's when I take over, and Cathy is my helper and "food stylist" so we can have a great looking snack to paint in the afternoon.


Q. What are the sizes of the books?
A.  I have done three sizes.  My friend, Karen (who will stop what she doing and make a sketchbook at the drop of a hat), and I took a book binding workshop together at Hollander's in Ann Arbor, MI, and the size they taught us there was 5 1/2 by 5.  It's a cute little fat book that makes a nice gift.

After trying out that size a couple of times, we adapted a larger one that uses  22X30 sheets of watercolor paper with no waste -  7 1/2 X 5 1/2.

A few days ago I tried a smaller one that used the watercolor paper with no waste - it is 3 3/4 X 5 1/2.
It is the one pictured in the middle in the photo above.  I haven't tried using it yet.  It is a very horizontal format. I think it is just about the size of a Moleskine small watercolor sketchbook.


 Q.What kind of paper do you use?
A.We use a mix of Strathmore Aquarius II watercolor paper and Strathmore drawing paper.  Aquarius II is soft enough to fold and stitch, doesn't buckle, and doesn't "suck out" the color.  Sometimes we put in a few sheets of different paper just for the fun of it.

Q.Do you sell kits and your instructions?
A. The kits and instructions would be Cathy's thing.  She doesn't want to send them out into the world yet.  She may someday  -  when they are ready to stand on their own  -  without the "hands-on" instruction to go with them. Hollanders in Ann Arbor has instruction books that are pretty easy to follow.  I took the class there, and that made the book easier to follow.

Q.When and where do you teach the bookbinding/journal painting workshop?
A. We teach it in Cathy's beautiful studio on Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan.  We have done them in the warmer months when it is nice to go outside and paint, but we might try to stretch that time frame a bit.

Q.Where do you get your supplies?
A.Most of the supplies are mail-ordered from Hollanders.  We have no affiliation with Hollander's, by the way.

Q.Where do you get your decorative bookcloth?
A.We make it by bonding craft paper to the fabric with iron-on bonding material from the fabric store.

My current journal didn't make it into the photo, and I have made some as gifts, but you might get the idea here of my journal making style - the more color and pattern, the better.

If you have read this far, you might be ready for a nap.  Sorry for being so wordy. I'm going to go paint now.  I hope you're getting in some sketching or painting today too!

Bookbinding Mess

. . . and a new sketchbook

I am trying to figure out if it is possible for one person to make one little sketchbook without taking up the surface of four tables. It really doesn't matter if I am working here alone, but I do think I could do this a little more efficiently.

I am waiting for an order of paper to put together yet another sketchbook. Every book has a different reason for being, and the upcoming one is to try out a sampling of different and unknown (to me) paper.

We had an interesting discussion in class today. Someone asked, "Do you ever run out of things to paint?" Everything looks like a potential sketch to me. Maybe not a real serious painting, but everything is at least sketch-worthy. Maybe it is all about the act of sketching and painting, rather than the subject. For me, it's not only about keeping the pencil and brushes moving, but the challenge of being able to get a three dimensional object down on a two dimensional surface. Whatever the reason, when we decide to seriously sketch and paint, we begin to look at things differently. We may even buy different food at the grocery store because we're going to paint it before we eat it.

When all we see outside is snow, and inside, things begin to look a little stale, it's time to give ourselves a challenge - sketch every day. Sketch anything - chairs, food, houseplants, dishes, lamps, silverware . . .

You know, I think we have this discussion every winter about now.
HAPPY PAINTING!

Can You Take It?

Can You Take It? One More Journal?

After spending the time and money on the workshop, I wanted to be sure I could make these on my own, and I wanted to make sure I could figure out how to use watercolor paper in them.

My friend Karen (we took the workshop together) came over bright and early this morning, and we started bookmaking. The text block is easy, the covers are easy, but putting it all together is the tricky part.

It is pretty labor intensive - it took all day, and we had so much fun, I can't fix dinner now. I think we're going to have to go out. Pity.

Journals

More Journals

We can't stop making them.

This afternoon I went to my friend, Cathy's, where she was helping some friends make journals. I love to see the variety of colors and patterns every time anyone gets together to make journals. The possibilities are endless. I am not showing the end papers/fly leaves in this picture, but they add even more color and pattern.

I haven't taken the time to make another journal since the Ann Arbor workshop, and I am afraid I will forget if I don't do it soon!

What a great "art day" this was. In class this morning, I had my students working on focal points/center of interest. We were looking through art books and finding the focal points of paintings and discussed how the artist arrived at those focal points - what did they decide to leave out. "Leaving out" seems to be a big part of it. Leaving something out can make a big statement - and be a big decision.

After class, I went to join the girls making journals, and of course we talked art all afternoon. We had a delicious dinner prepared by one of the girls. We sat in Cathy's cozy dining room and talked more art. Relaxing and inspiring.

I'm fired up - so many things going through my head - journals, paintings, drawings, workshops. . . .

Handmade Book

Fresh From the Bookmaking Workshop.

All the struggling I have done trying to make hand bound journals ~ this weekend I went to a workshop and learned how to do it correctly! We all know doing something correctly is so much easier. All the time I was stitching the signatures I kept thinking, "I'm doing this! I'm doing this, and it is so easy now!" The class was from 10 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. and we were exhausted when we were finished.

So seven and a half hours and $130 later I have a beautiful hand bound book. That $130 doesn't include shoe shopping the day before, and buying extra book materials that I just couldn't live without. It was a perfect girls' weekend.

Well, so much for blogging every day in November, huh? I will really try to stay on track for the rest of the month. And I think I am home for awhile. I have info to get out for my next class session, a card order to fill, some new cards to design for an order, and some things to get ready for the Art Center Christmas show. And of course, I have to stay one step ahead of my Wednesday class ~ they just get better and better every week.

More Journals

Seriously. I CAN NOT STOP making journals.

Actually, only three of these are mine. I spent Friday making journals with friend Karen. The Friday before I spent making journals with friend Cathy. Karen and I spent two hours in Joann Fabrics putting together fabrics and papers. Now I understand why people quilt - it's that mixing of colors and patterns thing. Look at that paisley - wow, I love that!

I put aside the journal stuff for a day or two because we had a demolition thing going on here. We demolished a wall, reconstructed it and installed a new window. I love demolition! It has so much potential . I mean, when something is gone, you can put anything in that spot, right?

So today I am going to paint the new wall, scrape and paint the back door and stay away from the journal stuff. There is more to life than making journals. My husbands says.

Fun.

Playing With Paper

Some friends came over today and we played with paper all day long. We made some slip cases for sheets of watercolor paper folded into "sketchbooks", and made little bitty paper boxes, and accordion fold 10 panel folders. and of course ate muffins and coffee cake.

What a nice relaxing day!

We never outgrow our need for play dates.