Monthly Archives: July 2009

Oakland Frisbie St. Bookbinding Class: Aug 30

29 July 2009

Raid Your Office Supplies! Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal

In this class for beginners, you’ll create your own 3-section “pamphlet stitch” journal from commonly available office supplies including file folders, envelopes and paper clips. You’ll sew the sections, attach eyelets to the spine and secure your book with an elastic band. You’ll then add elements to the cover and inside to make it your own.

When: Sunday, August 30, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Where: Frisbie Street Art Studio, 204 Frisbie St., Oakland, CA 94611 (Click address for google map) Frisbie St. is an alternative art space in Oakland, CA for artists to exhibit their work and for the community to gather to enjoy and create art together.

Cost: $35 Reserve your spot by sending a check to Leah Virsik, 3934 Madrone Avenue, Oakland, CA 94619 or online via PayPal to leah@leahvirsik.com. Payment is processed as it is received. You will receive an email confirming registration. You can cancel up to a week prior with a refund of fees paid, less a $10 cancellation fee. Sorry, no refunds on cancellations with less than one week notice. If the class is sold out or canceled, your payment will be returned.

What to Bring: ruler, scissors, glue stick, pencil, a cutting mat and a bone folder (available for around $7 at Michaels, Dick Blick and Paper Source.) Optional: Bring any elements you’d like to include in your book to personalize it. Some examples are: canceled stamps, rubber stamps, stickers, paper clips, old receipts, shopping list, scraps of paper and handwritten notes. Some materials will be provided.

Questions: Email Leah Virsik or call 510-418-9383

About the instructor: Leah Virsik enjoys making books and painting. She has a passion for paper and bookbinding and daydreams about art when she’s not actually making it. She creates books out of new and repurposed materials and works with paper, fabric, plastic, metal, acrylic and collage. Learn more about her and her work by visiting www.leahvirsik.com.

Workshop Size: 8-10 people

Parking: There is street parking available, please allow ample time before your class to find a parking space.

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Best Toes Ever!

27 July 2009
Best Toes Ever!, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

How do you know you’re taking care of yourself? Some friends have told me it’s when they take the time to have their toes painted. So yeah, my friend Cheryl, helps me take care of myself by making sure we get our our toes painted.

These were photographed by Joanne Clapp Fullagar and painted by Anna’s Nails in Castro Valley, CA.

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Featured on Sub-Studio Design Blog!

11 July 2009

I’ve had an incredible amount of resistance to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. I think a lot of it has come from not understanding the media and not understanding that there are really people behind it all. When you’re staring at a screen and typing on a keyboard, it really can be easy to forget the human element. After further delving into Facebook and Twitter I’ve found it’s really about building community, connections and sharing information.

Cheralyn Watson first talked to me about twitter and I found it tempting but I resisted… “Oh, it’s going to suck up my time which I don’t have enough of b.s.” I do think it’s important to monitor one’s time online but with a bit of time invested, it can be well worth the outcome… When Bobbie Altman mentioned to me how much she was learning about the local art community, I couldn’t help but join twitter and to my delight because of this I was featured on Sub-Studio Design Blog. Such a treat! Thanks Anna and Sub-Studio Design!

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Creating an Artful Home

5 July 2009


bottle_border, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

Tom and I planted our first bottle border this weekend. One down, three more to go. We only need 734 more bottles by our count. No, just kidding, really 150. Anyone who would like to donate to our cause of having the most artful house in our neighborhood, please let me know. The bottles with the flat bottoms are best. Thanks!

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East Bay Pro Arts Open Studios 2009

5 July 2009

originally uploaded by Leah Virsik

Pro Arts: East Bay Open Studios was an incredible experience for me. The biggest lesson for me was the importance of continuing to get my work out there. I’m very grateful for the support I received from friends, family and people I met for the first time. Lately, I’ve been inspired by the need to build community and by having my studio open, it was an act of building community and bringing people together. Neighbors introduced themselves and shared their own creative endeavors. Here I was, a leader in my neighborhood showing that yes, art does exist here. A woman commented that Open Studios is not usually in her neighborhood so she was appreciative of the fact that I was participating near her.


originally uploaded by Leah Virsik

Many people that came told me they were interested in taking classes so I’m putting some fairly simple bookbinding and collage classes together. I’m excited to share my supplies and ideas with others. I just bought some happy tape and I can’t wait for it’s arrival. (It actually has come since I first wrote this and it was way smaller than I expected!)

Currently, I’m facilitating Alyson B. Stanfield’s Art Marketing Salon which is going really well. Three of us participated in Open Studios, including Deborah Griffin, Bobbie Altman and I and three others in the salon Ginny Mangrum, Egmont van Dyck and Joanne Clapp Fullagar each came to visit one of us. I thought it was really great.

I believe one can make a living through art and it requires work…making the work, exhibiting and repeating. It’s a process and I’m learning the importance of appreciating this process.

It’s been really satisfying opening up my space and getting feedback from neighbors and friends and people who are specifically coming to see my art and books. Many times I come from a place of “not enough” and “not ready yet”. It’s a place of lack, of scarcity and only in my mind because it’s not how others view me. What was incredible to experience from people looking at my work was the repetitive feedback from people appreciating my use of color… color was something I was afraid of for quite a long time.

originally uploaded by Leah Virsik

I believe I need to create and share and release it out into the world. Once, I’ve created it, it’s no longer mine. The sharing and releasing are just as important, if not more than the act of creation.

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  • Artist statement

    I’m hungry to learn and it’s through my process of creating that I’m ultimately satisfied. I’m curious about different materials and take on the challenge to incorporate what I’m most drawn to into my work. I’m intrigued to discover the resulting patterns and repetition. As I create, I explore my inner landscape. I’m attempting to uncover a stifled sound. It’s my challenge to express this internal voice through my art and ultimately, boldly, out loud.

    My quest to connect my voice with my work has led me to reexamine my personal history. The threads in my bookbinding and in my collage are entwined in my familial roots. Growing up, I remember a quilt frame my dad made, taking up our entire living room. His grandmother taught him to quilt using scraps of clothing. Years later, I began a quilt when a friend was teaching a class on patchwork. To my surprise, cutting up fabric and piecing it back together reminded me of my work with paper collage.

    As a child I would sew with my mom and what I most remember is the guilt I’d feel as I jammed up her machine. Now, when the threads and material bunch up they become useful fodder for my work. In some ways the threads act as a binding element, as in my books, and in other ways they are a reflection of my internal processes.