Dan Kelm's workshop part 2. "Where did we go wrong?"

No, not a lamentation uttered while working on this box; yes, the "Round Box" got a proper name! More about the "content" later.

This in itself could be a finished box, but where would the fun be..

An extra layer added to accommodate the copper rods that will hold the pages in place.

Figuring out the spacing of the holes for the rods.

The "bare" box starts taking shape.

Working out the hinging details of the round enclosure/door on a model - I used copper tubing, threaded on a smaller tube.

 I then worked out how to attach this to the main body.

The two halves of the door, with the flaps that go around the hinge.

One half attached to the hinge.

The two halves attached to the hinge.

The doors with the inside lining.

Trying out the concept of the pages.

At this stage, only the bottom box with the drawers is finished. Everything else is still in the "try-out with masking tape" stage. I am working on the content, and then when all the individual pieces are ready, it can be put together. The last stage is where I assemble the rods, pages, lid and door in fell swoop. Until then I will have done many dry runs, using masking tape and clips.

The learning on this project is incredible, and I am documenting my mistakes. When this box is finished I consider it my "learning" box. The one after that will be the exhibition-standard one!

Dan Kelm's workshop

I was lucky enough to be invited to a Dan Kelm workshop at Mary Taylor's studio back in November. He is the master! Just look at some of his work here.

I went there with a vague idea, and Dan helped me along greatly.

So these past couple of days I finally had time to implement what I had learned from the workshop, and I'm well on my way making the "round book box", for lack of a better title for now.

I am using an old industrial spool, 10" in diameter and 7" high, for the internal structure.
On the bottom it will have four trays, and each tray has a different number of partitions.

The bottom on which the trays will sit, and the top.

The underside of the covered bottom ( a lot of cutting!)

Be careful to not cut the notches too close to the board, or you'll get these little "frays". You should stay away one board width + 1/8"

The tray part is beginning to take shape.

The makings of a tray in close-up.

 The pieces of lining and partitions.

The lining glued in place, with grooves for the partitions to fit into.

 The partition slotted into the groove to check the fit

 The tray covered with paper, the grooves clearly visible.

 The trays drying, and with the damp fronts tied around them to shape them before covering and gluing.

 The covered fronts with little drawer pulls, ready to be put on the trays.

All the trays in place on the bottom housing.

Bottom housing.

My very professional "jig" for shaping the round doors.

Paris est fermee

One of the projects I'm working on and doing some experimentations for is a book about Paris being closed in August. I knew that, but had forgotten, and paid the hard way...   three blisters, zero results.

These are transfers done on respectively a page in an old French novel and pattern paper. The last one is a try out for my friend Kelly :-)

Richard Salley at The Bead House

A wonderful 3-day course in Rhode Island with Richard Salley. He is such a good and generous instructor and very patient.

With a nod to Emily Martin's Volvelles:

Paper & Book Intensive

Paper & Book Intensive, now twenty-five years old, is held in the spring or summer in different regions of the country. It is attended by individuals who are passionate about the book arts, including bookbinding, hand papermaking, conservation, and related fields. I took the following classes:
Frank Brannon

Paper Sculpture

Forming three-dimensional objects by using various papermaking fibers. Basics of papermaking and an introduction to the production of paper pulp. One method of sculptural exploration will involve a cloth muslin armature filled with sand. Dampened sheets of handmade paper will be used to cover the armature using methylcellulose as the adhesive. In the second form of book/sculpture, we will work at the time of sheet formation to initially develop the sculpture, and with the use of sunlight and other sources of heat, convert the two-dimensional form into a three-dimensional one.

Frank Brannon was born in Maryville, Tennessee, in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains, and currently lives near Dillsboro, North Carolina, where he is proprietor of Speakeasy Press. He is a resident papermaker and letterpress printer at Asheville BookWorks and a graduate of the M.F.A. in the Book Arts Program at The University of Alabama. His most recent monograph focuses upon research into the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper of northern Georgia, 1828-1834. He is currently developing a letterpress studio with the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts in Cherokee, North Carolina.

Emily Martin
Movables in a Book Format

The earliest movables date from the 13th century, were developed by a Benedictine monk, Matthew Paris in Herefordshire, England. The form called a volvelle from the Latin verb volvere, meaning “to turn or roll around” was used to coordinate religious dates and even to predict the future. The form has endured to this day. In addition to volvelles, there are other versatile movables such as turning wheels, Victorian wheels, slides and dissolves. The class will make models of all the structures and also make a sample book using a variation on the cross structure binding to accommodate the added bulk of the pages. Participants will also be able to explore the uses of these structures with their own content and crate an editioned movable to share with the class.

Emily Martin makes mostly movable/sculptural books under her Naughty Dog Press imprint. She has recently finished a 5-part flexagon series and also a pop-up book called Sleepers, Dreamers and Screamers. Her work is in collection nationally and internationally and she exhibits extensively. She teaches artists’ book classes and bookbinding classes at the University of Iowa Center for the Book.


Melissa Jay Craig
Beyond Inlays and Onlays: Tactile Books

One of the great advantages of making artists’ books or book art is the fact that books are most often meant to be held; we can engage our viewers/readers through text and image, but also through tactility. This highly individualized class will focus on strategies for using odd materials, from found objects to fur, in the codex and other book forms from simple to complex, both as covers and incorporated into the body of the book. 

Melissa Jay Craig’s handmade paper book works, sculptures and installation works are exhibited internationally. She is also a curator and an award-winning teacher, who has given numerous classes and workshops at schools and art centers in the United States. She was associated with the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts for nearly fifteen years, and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in bookbinding, artists’ books and sculptural paper there. Melissa has been awarded numerous grants and residencies, including several residencies and she was the 2009 National Endowment for the Arts resident in papermaking at Women’s Studio Workshop. She recently became the proud owner of one of David Reina’s early bronze hollander beaters.