Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal Workshop: April 18

7 February 2010

office_supply_books
Raid Your Office Supplies! Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal
Time: Sunday, April 18, 2010
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (we’ll take a short break for lunch, bring a bag lunch if desired)
Where: Frank Bette Center for the Arts
1601 Paru Street, (at Lincoln) Alameda, CA 94501
Fee: $45 members, $60 non-members. Plus $10 materials fee
(pay materials fee at workshop)
Click here to sign up via PayPal at the Frank Bette site.

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 accounting papers. You’ll sew the sections, attach eyelets to the spine and secure your book with an elastic band or a button and string. You’ll then add elements to the cover and inside to make it your own. Take home your own unique handbound journal and a one-section mini-postcard book.

What to Bring: ruler, scissors, glue stick, pencil, a cutting mat and a bone folder. Also, bring a 4″ x 6″ postcard (or a piece of cardstock) for a mini-book cover. Optional: If you have them, bring a Japanese hole punch and a bookbinder’s awl. Bring any elements you’d like to include in your book to personalize it. Some examples are: rubber stamps, stickers, paper clips, ribbon, scraps of paper and decorative paper. I’ll have punches available for punching tabs, tags, circles and squares. White inside pages, various lined papers and envelopes will be provided.

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.

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2 Comments

  1. Roberta
    Posted 13 February 2010 at 9:02 pm | Permalink

    Hi Leah, I would LOVE to come to Alameda and take a journal class from you. However, I can’t come on Sundays as I have other obligations that day. Do you ever teach on Saturdays, or during the week? Please let me know if you do! LOVE your journals!

    Reply
  2. Leah
    Posted 15 February 2010 at 6:41 am | Permalink

    Hi Roberta! Thanks for writing and for your interest! Yes, I do teach on Saturdays as well. I’ll connect with you via email.

    Reply

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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.