Bookbinding: Artists’ Books & Journals workshop taught by
Amy Morris Pickens of Paper Moon Bookbinding

At the West Kortright Centre, East Meredith NY
August 10th, 11th and  12th,   6:00 to 9:00PM
$55 ($40 WKC members) plus $15 materials fee, ages 16 & up/6 students maximum.

In this workshop, students will learn techniques of and bookbinding such as assembling the text, creating hard covers and covering them with a multitude of fabrics, marbled papers, and other materials. The finished projects can be used as journals or artists’ books, and can be replicated at home with basic art supplies for more book making.

Students will learn about paper grain, gluing techniques and working with a bone folder. We will be working with glue so wear an apron, smock or old clothes. Each participant gets a bone folder to use during class and keep afterward!

Although most books in the U.S. are made by machine, there is a small but active population of hand bookbinders spread across the country whose work ranges from conservative to cutting edge. They use everything from rag paper, linen thread and wheat paste to sheet metal and glass. Equipment ranges from 19th century presses and cutters to Teflon spatulas and sheets of spun-bonded polyester, but in the end it all comes back to hand skills at the workbench.

Paper Moon was founded in 2006 by Amy Morris Pickens with the goal of making books which are beautiful and useful. She uses papers and cloth from Asia, Europe and the U.S., and has over a decade of experience in binding, sewing, non-adhesive structures, editions, repair & restoration and box making. Amy recently moved to Delaware County after living in Northern California; she is glad to be back in the Northeast and to be able to share her expertise with her community.

To sign up call the West Kortright Center at 607-278-5454 or visit www.westkc.org.

We’ll be at the Catskill Mountain Artisans Guild’s display in the pavillion at the Pakatakan Farmers Market beginning Memorial Day Weekend and continuing every Saturday after that. It is a great market, we will have great books and paper items including our natural history series of accordion books. See you there!

One of my edition of butterfly accordion books is featured in this fabulous natural history-themed collection on Etsy.com! Check it out fast, because these don’t last.

OK, it looks like my summer class at the West Kortright Centre will be August 10, 11 & 12 from 6-9 pm; here is the description. I’ll post the link for registration as soon as I get it. Let me know what you think!

In this workshop, students will learn techniques of hand bookbinding such as assembling the text, creating hard covers and covering them with a multitude of fabrics, marbled papers, and other materials. The finished projects can be used as journals or artists’ books, and can be replicated at home with basic art supplies for more book making.
Students will learn about paper grain, gluing techniques and working with a bone folder. We will be working with glue so wear an apron, smock or old clothes. Each participant gets a bone folder to use during class and keep afterward.

Although most books in the U.S. are made by machine, there is a small but active population of hand bookbinders spread across the country whose work ranges from conservative to cutting edge. They use everything from rag paper, linen thread and wheat paste to sheet metal and glass.
Equipment ranges from 19th century presses and cutters to Teflon spatulas and sheets of spun-bonded polyester, but in the end it all comes back to hand skills at the workbench.

Paper Moon Bookbinding was founded in 2006 by Amy Morris Pickens with the goal of making books which are beautiful and useful. She uses papers and cloth from Asia, Europe and the U.S., and has over a decade of experience in binding, sewing, non-adhesive structures, editions, repair & restoration and box making. Amy recently moved to Delaware County after living in Northern California; she is glad to be back in the Northeast and to be able to share her expertise with her community.

Here is an announcement from my friends in Hobart NY, the fabulous Book Village of the Catskills…

SPRING FEVER
BOOK SALE
_____________________________________________________

Every Weekend from Saturday March 27th through
Sunday, April 18th

Beginning Saturday March 27th and running through Sunday April 18th the Hobart Book Village will offer a “Spring Fever Book Sale” discounting books on Spring and pleasant outdoor subjects such as gardening, bird watching, home improvement, nature, camping, hiking, travel, fashion, agriculture, etc. These books will be available at 20% off their regular prices over the four week period. After a long Winter which followed a previously long rainy Summer and Fall the anticipation for a more enjoyable Spring is on the minds of many and the Book Sale presents a great opportunity to move in that direction. The bookshops are located on Main Street in Hobart and are open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm.

Along with the purchase of books, a limited supply of seeds, edible flowers, and if obtainable, wild leeks (ramps) are scheduled to be on hand to those on a “first come, first serve” basis. Visitors to the Book Village in need of some “spring tonic” are also invited to join the bookshop owners at the close of business on Saturdays at the newly opened tavern inside the Hobart Inn on Main Street for a cash bar happy hour from 5 to 6 pm. It will be a chance to chat about and see first hand the exciting changes that will be taking place in Hobart in the upcoming months.

At the conclusion of the four week sale on Sunday, April 18th, Deirdre Larkin, Horticulturist for The New York Metropolitan Museum’s Cloisters will speak on “The Medieval Calendar Year: Labors of the Month” which will enlighten any avid gardener or floral enthusiast. The lecture will be held at the Adams’ Antiquarian Book Shop on Main Street at 3 pm.

Johnny Appleseed, Mother Nature and the Bluebird of Happiness will unfortunately not be able to attend due to prior commitments globally, but word on the street is that Jack Frost will most certainly NOT be invited no matter who he says he knows. Those who are truly suffering from Spring Fever are advised to rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids and have someone else come to the Book Village to get those inspiring books.

Visit: www.hobartbookvillage.com

Hobart Book Village | 688 Main St. | POB 211 | Hobart | NY | 13788

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Ever wonder how to describe your book, or what each part is called? Here is a little primer on book anatomy.

Boards- the hard front and back of a hard cover book.

Case- another word for a hard cover, usually covered with cloth or paper. A case is made separately from the text, then attached to the text block.

Endsheet- the decorative or plain paper visible right inside the cover when you open a book. The part glued onto the board is the pastedown, the part that turns with the pages is the flyleaf.

Foredge- the edge of the book that opens. Parallel to the spine, it runs between the head and tail.

Gutter- the area of the text block where the pages meet each other. Often the sewing can be seen if you look carefully into the gutter.

Head and Tail- the top and bottom edges of the book.

Headcaps or endcaps- the part of the cover material that curves around the spine at the head and tail. These are subject to damage when used foolishly as a place to hook one’s finger when pulling a book off a shelf.

Headbands or endbands- the narrow strip of decorative material along the head and tail of the text block at the spine. Usually woven, they are not a structural part of a case binding.

Hinge or joint- the area where the boards meet and move at the spine (just like a door.) Some people use hinge to refer to the inside and joint to refer to the outside and some people use them interchangeably, relying on “inner joint” and “outer joint” (or hinge) to clarify.

Hollow- the space between the spine of the cover and the spine of the text block, a tunnel that allows the pages to move away from the cover cloth (called “throwing up”) and drape properly when the book is open. A hollow is a necessity for a case-bound book; paperbacks do not have them.

Mull- the mesh strip that supports the connection of text block to case in a case-bound book. It can usually be seen under the pastedown right inside the cover. It is also sometimes called super or crash.

Pastedown- see endsheet.

Spine- this is the area of the book that is visible when the book is on the shelf, usually where the book is titled.

Text Block- the pages, either sewn or glued together.

Our new workspace is finally as it should be, and everything has found its right place. The big paper drawers and the guillotine were the tricky parts, but once they were right everything else followed.

The space is bright and much warmer than the old shop, and the windows look out into stone walls and woods. There are even multiple closets for all of the necessary and desirable supplies, and a place of pride for the all-important board shears used for cutting everything from gossamer thin Japanese tissue to cloth to heavy binder’s board. Mine is a Marshall, Son and Co. model, made in Boston, with a beautiful wooden bed and graceful cast iron legs and brackets. It has served me well and traveled across the country with me. Now it seems to be suited to its new home.