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By Richard, March 10, 2010 8:33 pm

The Ottawa Chapter of the CBBAG has a great line-up of three new workshops this coming April for both members and general public.  If any of the workshops catch your fancy, I would highly recommend attending as these are an excellent hands-on way of learning various facets of the book binding and books arts trade.

The Nag Hammadi Codex
Instructor: Christine McNair

Saturday, April 3, 2010
9:00 AM – 4 PM

The Nag Hammadi codices take their name from the Egyptian village where in 1945 a clay pot containing thirteen ancient books was discovered. These books are the earliest extant codex bindings ever found – 1800 years old – and were uncovered in remarkably good condition. Students will construct a sympathetic facsimile of the Nag Hammadi codex, and experience the structure and form of ancient bookbinding. The textblock will be bound together with knotted leather tackets on a leather spine piece and covered in boards stiffened by laminates. The book is held closed with leather ties and wrapping bands which are integrated to the cover using a delicate slotting and lacing technique.

Workshop fee: CBBAG members $85, non-members $100 Materials fee: $30

An introduction to inlay/onlay work
Instructor: Christine McNair

Sunday, April 4, 2010
12:00pm – 4:30pm

An introduction to techniques in onlay/inlay work for binding. Students will create sample boards using a variety of different techniques from traditional and design binding. The discussion for the day will include the importance of good technique and sharp tools.

Pre-req: preferably some experience with leather paring, please indicate.

Workshop fee: CBBAG members $40; non-members $50 Materials fee: $5

A Storybook in Mixed Media
Instructor: Holly Dean

April 30, May 1 & 2, 2010
Friday: 6:30 – 10 pm, Saturday: 9 am to 4 pm, Sunday: 12 pm to 4 pm

Mixed media artist Holly Dean will lead you on a journey to the land of “Once Upon a Time” where you will explore the enjoyable process of layering paint, imagery and text to create an enchanting, if short, storybook.

Friday evening we will play with words and images to come up with our story theme. There will be ideas and images on hand, although participants are encouraged to come up with their own.

Saturday we will learn how, when and why to use particular acrylic paints and mediums. The magic of collage, how to put text on the page and how to put it all together will be revealed with lots of demonstrations! We will prepare our book structures and decorate each page, artfully and imaginatively telling our stories. 

Sunday afternoon we will make final embellishments to our storybooks and take time to see what each of us has created.

Materials to bring include images from magazines, laser or inkjet prints of photos, story ideas and scissors. Book structures will be available or you can bring your own – no more than 8 pages plus cover is about right and heavy paper or board is best for the page weight.  If you have any art supplies or tools that you would like to use, feel free to bring them along, but it is not a requirement. The materials fee will cover other essentials.
 
Workshop Fee: CBBAG members $160; non-members $200 Materials Fee: $35 ($25 if participant provides own book structure)

Registrations for these courses can be mailed to:

Larry Thompson
Box 574, Merrickville, Ontario
K0G 1N0

Email: studio@greyweathers.com
Phone: (613) 269-3714

Please make cheques payable to “CBBAG-Ottawa Valley”
Materials fees to be paid to workshop instructor on day of workshop

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By Richard, February 28, 2010 8:57 am

Once again Margaret Lock will be running one of her excellent two-day courses on typesetting and letterpress printing the second weekend in April.  Two of the three spots have already been filled, so if you are interested, be sure to contact her quickly to nab the final spot.  Details of the course are below:

Introduction to Typesetting and Letterpress Printing
taught by Margaret Lock on 10-11 April, 2010 at 231 Johnson Street, Kingston,  ON.

Participants will learn basic typographic design concepts, and how to set lead type by hand and print on a Vandercook proof press. The two-day workshop will cover setting type, letter-spacing capitals, distributing type, imposition, proofing, registration, and printing on handmade paper. As an exercise, participants will design and print a broadside up to 11 x 14 inches in size. Participants should bring a short, favourite piece of poetry or prose (fewer than 20 lines of poetry, and fewer than 160 words for a piece of prose).

The cost for each participant is $185. The workshop hours are 9:30am-5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday.

If interested, please contact Margaret Lock by email lockfp@queensu.ca or telephone 613-544-3505.

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By Richard, February 3, 2010 1:49 pm

The new issue of the Devil’s Artisan is out and packed with great articles.  In particular there is an excellent article on Frank Newfield (award winning designer of more than 650 books) followed by an article written by Newfield on the use and responsibilities of book illustrations.  There are also three in-depth reviews of last falls published books written by Jim Rimmer, Wesley Bates and Robert Bringhurst.  You can find copies of this great journal at a local magazine speciality shop (i.e. Mags & Fags) or subscribe here.

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By Richard, December 21, 2009 8:00 am

For those artistically inclined, here is a new use for those old excess books that may may be accumulating around the house.  If many enjoy the fine art of fore-edge painting, why not the spine and covers!

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By Richard, November 19, 2009 9:25 am

Was introduced to the Printeresting blog by a fellow Ottawa Press Gang member and have enjoyed reading many of the great posts they’ve put up over the past couple years.  They’ve also got a PDF of the Month section and a budding classified area which will hopefully grow into a great place to exchange info and equipment.

It was this fun stop motion video of printing that initially lead me to the site.

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By Richard, September 20, 2009 10:43 am

Passed my way by a fellow Ottawa Press Gang member, these Youtube videos (Part I & Part II) on how to do a coptic stitch binding for your books are very well done providing an excellent level of instruction, demonstration and pacing.  The videos are easy to follow and understand for those looking to try their hand at coptic bound books.

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By Richard, July 30, 2009 9:03 am

Mark Webber, creator of the very impressive linocut below, is asking that very question as he searches for someone who can print his roughly 6′ x 5′ typographically exquisite linocut map of Paris.   Check out this blogpost with more details and photos of Webber’s project.