Archived entries for Art Classes

Art 446 fall 2011 calendar

More information will be listed soon

2011-09-06 – Tuesday

Classes start – semester overview discussion.

Handmade Paper in Motion portfolio

Porfolio #9: Handmade Paper in Motion. This extraordinary assortment of collaborative artwork--14 pieces by 28 artists--features pop-ups, movable devices, and other forms of dynamic paper engineering. The motion and imagery is enhanced physically and conceptually by the use of handmade paper designed and made specifically for each edition...The movable elements are as captivating as an African mask or a working sundial, as intriguing as a sealed packet or a 'magic window' into plant fiber mysteries, as surprising as a spilled ink bottle or a jar of snakes! Imaging techniques include suminagashi marbling, woodcut, linocut, letterpress, pochoir, pulp painting, and screenprint. The paper is enhanced with watermarks, natural inclusions, double couching, multi-colored pulps, and other innovative methods. The artists incorporate a wide variety of paper fibers. Some are utilitarian and traditional such as cotton, abaca, and flax; others are more unusual such as yucca, gingko, and bamboo...A custom-made clamshell box houses the work, each in a protective folder imprinted with the artists' names. A handbound booklet contains statements from each artist and a commissioned essay by well-known pop-up collector and author Ann Montanaro, who founded the Movable Book Society...Artists in the portfolio, both juried and invited, are: Richard Aldorasi & Colette Fu, Tom Balbo & Michael Durgin, Michelle Bayer & Kyle Olmon, Rachelle Chuang & Joan Michaels Paque, Helen Hiebert & Betsy Cluff, Amy Jacobs & Philip Bell, Jeanne Jaffe & Alisa Fox & Hedi Kyle, Tom Leech & Sally Blakemore, Bridget O'Malley & Emily Martin, Margaret Prentice & Ed Hutchins, Winnie Radolan & Pamela Wood, Erin Robin & Mary Tasillo, Shawn Sheehy, Lynn Sures & Carol Barton...The portfolio is designed by Steve Miller and edited by Mina Takahashi...Our four jurors are renowned in the world of papermaking and paper engineering. Robert Sabuda has over five million pop-up books in print. Margaret Prentice is an avid collec (Photograph by Jim Escalante)

I had the pleasure of taking photos of the newest portfolio from the Hand Papermaking Organization group. About every two years, Hand Papermaking issues a call for submissions and curates a national competition to promote fine made made from handmade paper. The most recent issue in Handmade Paper in Motion. This link will take you to a gallery of photographs of Portfolio #9 Handmade Paper in Motion. Visit Hand Papermaking Organization for more information about the organization. Purchasing information for Paper in Motion is here.

Kathleen O’Connell Speaks to Book Artists

(2010 © Jim Escalante)
Kathleen O’Connell speaking to the Art 446 Artists’ Book class about her exhibit in the Rockford College Art Gallery, Rockford, Illinois. The show, is titled “Observations from the New World”. Kathleen currently live in Lima Peru. Her exhibition combines the disciplines of printmaking and book arts in her show. The work is inspired by her relocation to Peru. We enjoy having her participate in an informal class critique.

Starting point for a new book.

(2010 © Jim Escalante)How does one start working a new book? What sparks the idea? What is the first step for the new project? For book artists’ it most likely is some type of visual element. Maybe an idea for a new structure, new imagery or the possibility for a new collaboration. Regardless of the starting point, something has to come first.
Another question can be posed as a starting point for the fall 2010 Art 446 Artists’ Book class; “Can you make a book from one sheet of paper?” It could be argued that a single sheet of paper, if left unchanged or un folded can’t be called a book. What is the minimum that we have to do to move it closer to becoming a book.
If we rolled the sheet of paper and call it a scroll. Is that the first step to becoming a book? How about folding it into an accordion fold. Does that move it away from only being a flat sheet of paper. Does that make it a book? If we cut sections of the book so that it folds and unfolds into a book like format, does that bring it closer to becoming a book. It will be fun to see how many mutations we can change a single sheet of paper.

Sarah Noreen Hurtt: Finding Home


Sarah Noreen Hurtt installed her Master of Fine Arts exhibition at the Commonwealth Gallery this May. You can visit a gallery of her work by clicking on the images above. Photographs by Jim Escalante

Julie VonDerVellen: Recollection: Tailored Narratives

Julie VonDerVellen, Recollections: Tailored Memories

An Installation view of Julie VonDerVellen's Master of Fine Arts Exhibition


The pieces in Julie VonDerVellen’s Master of Fine Arts Exhbition tell stories about specific moments in her life when she can recall exactly what she was wearing. This body of work is a collection of garments that read as reinvented book structures. Each piece tells a significant story and is made entirely from paper. For VonDerVellen, memories evoke garments; garments evoke a memory. Follow this link to see a gallery of Julie Vondervellen’s work.

Cartonera! Cartoneros! They’re everywhere!

Douglas Diegues of YiYi Jambo Cartonera - Asunci--n, ParaguayCartonera artists from Cartonera Mexico, Elsoisa Cartonera and YiYi Jambo visited to make work in out type lab on Friday, October 9, 2009. You can see a gallery of photographs of the Cartonera book artists during the energetic and chaotic event. These book artists and publishers were in town as part of the Cartonera Publishers Conference and the Wisconsin Book Festival.

Copyright © 2004–2009. All rights reserved.

RSS Feed. This blog is proudly powered by Wordpress and uses Modern Clix, a theme by Rodrigo Galindez.