I was pleased to learn about using calipers and dividers to make measurements for folding and cutting when making artists books.

Martha Kearsley, of the Strong Arm Bindery, showed us how to use these tools to measure book blocks and threads to calculate the width of the spine. The caliper is the tool on the bottom with the dial. The teeth on the left open like a mouth and measure a text block.

The pointy tool on the right is a spring loaded divider. Turn the screw on the right and the pointy legs open or close. This allows you to divide the paper into equal lengths with out doing the math or using a ruler. This is good for dividing up the sewing stations on a binding and figuring out the folds of an accordion book.

We had about 30 artists in the Summer Book Arts Program a USM and there will be an exhibit in September and October:

Book Arts Exhibition: September 6– October 15, 2016
Glickman Family Library, 6th floor USM, 314 Forest Avenue, Portland, ME 04104

Lecture and Reception: Monday, September 12th, 4:00 p.m.,
Lecture by Summer Book Arts Faculty Member: Abbie Read
University Events Room, 7th floor
Glickman Family Library, 314 Forest Avenue, Portland Campus

Following the lecture there will be an exhibition reception from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
6th floor near Special Collections
Refreshments will be served
Free and Open to the Public

Last week I had the opportunity to be a student for 7 days of printmaking and book arts at USM in portland, ME. I unpacked all my creations and experiments today and am pleasantly pleased.

We had 8 different instructors and covered things like intaglio, relief printing, coptic binding, long stitch, hand drawn fonts, paste papers, poetry writing, accordion folds and altered books. WOW! A lot to pack into 7 days.

Above it the the book that I made with the guidance of Anna Lowe of the Purple Bean Bindery She made learning fun and easy.

This long stitch bound book was made on the last day, under the skillful guidance of Martha Kearsley of the Strong Arm Bindery.

Walter Tisdale, book artist from Bangor, ME showed us how to learn, tweak and modify the Neuland type face. We practiced hand drawing, cut a set of letter stamps and cut a complete stencil of letters to build muscle memory.

I was pleased to learn another approach to the low tech form of relief printing, from Pilar Nadal of Pickwick Independent Press. I treated myself to  working big and embracing her ideas.

Three take aways as a book arts student:

1. Bring plenty of supplies but don’t limit yourself to using them
2. Embrace the approach that is being taught
3. To really remember the new technique, teach it to someone else right away.

I will be sharing more about my process and discoveries in the next few days.