COURSES, WORKSHOPS, FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

Summer is very quickly approaching, the sun has been shining on us and the grass and trees have turned a beautiful green.  This summer is going to be busy.  The book arts course I am currently teaching is moving along nicely, and the students had the opportunity to look at some of the contemporary artist books at the Library and Archives at the National Gallery of Canada, a couple of weeks ago.

There are still a couple of spring workshops available before we head into the summer programming.    

MAY & JUNE WORKSHOPS

May 25 & 26, 2013 – 10:00 – 4:30 pm – Japanese Hidden Compartment Box

This is a two day workshop at the Orleans Campus in the Shenkman Arts Centre.  This box when opened in one direction has one compartment and when turned around and opened has two compartments.  The box is a compilation of four boxes with lids.  This workshop is a great deal of fun and at the end of the weekend you get to take home an artistic box.

Registration is through the Ottawa School of Art: by phone: 613-580-2765, or by e-mail: osao.info@artottawa.ca.  To see the course information go to: www.artottawa.ca, Orleans, General Interest. 

June 8, 2013 – 10:00 – 4:30 pm – Explorer’s Leather Journal

This is a one-day workshop at the Orleans Campus in the Shenkman Arts Centre.  You will learn how to work with paper and leather to create a beautiful explorer’s journal. 

Registration is through the Ottawa School of Art: by phone: 613-580-2765, or by e-mail: osao.info@artottawa.ca.  To see the course information go to: www.artottawa.ca, Orleans, General Interest.

SUMMER COURSES AND WORKSHOPS  

Here is the lineup for the summer workshops and courses at both campuses of the Ottawa School of Art.  The July and August courses run two nights a week for four weeks.  The new and interesting workshops at the downtown campus are Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  There are two exciting workshops at the Orleans Campus.  For more information and registration, go to www.artottawa.ca and click on General Interest.

SUMMER 2013
George Street Campus	Orleans Campus
July 2 – 25 –  Book Arts Tuesdays/Thursdays – 6:30 – 9:30 pm	July 3 – 29 – Mondays/Wednesdays – 6:00 – 9:00 pm – The Art of Box Making 13S040A
August 1 – 27, 2013 – Book Arts Tuesdays/Thursdays 6:30 – 9:30 pm	July 31 – August 28 – Monday/Wednesdays 6:00 – 9:00 pm – Book Arts Intro – S13S040B
SUMMER WORKSHOPS
July 6 – Box Making 1:00 – 4:00	July 27 10 – 4:30 – Dada – S13SWS6
July 13 – Paper Decorating – 1:00 – 4:00	August 17 – 10:00 – 4:30  Hanging Puzzle Book – S13SWS7
July 20 – Flowers & Folding Books – 1:00 – 4:00	Registration:  Through the Ottawa School of Art:
August 3 – Box Making 1:00 – 4:00	George Street:  info@artottawa.ca 613-241-7471
August 10 – Paper Decorating – 1:00 – 4:00	Orleans Campus: osao.info@artottawa.ca 613-580-2765
August 24 – Flowers & Folding Books

FESTIVALS AND FAIRS

 

I have been accepted to participate in the ORLEANS FESTIVAL on June 1^st and 2^nd.  I will be selling my books and demonstrating how to make books.  This is the first year I am attending this festival and I am looking forward to participating in it. For more information about the festival go to: www.orleansfestival.ca.  Come out and have some fun and stop by my booth to say hi.    

On June 18^th from 11:00 – 5:00 pm I will be at the OTTAWA SMALL PRESS BOOK FAIR at the Jack Percell Centre, 2^nd floor, off of Elgin Street.  Come out and meet the writers and their new books.  Hope to see you there.

Wishng you a great summer filled with fun and activities.  I hope to see you in a class or at one of the festivals or fairs.

If you have any questions about the books, courses or workshops, please feel free to contact me.  I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Mary

bbinder999@gmail.com

http://youtu.be/k8w13ewrOqg (please note the e-mail address on this video is no longer in use. 

www.artsoe.ca/MaryKritz 

Copyright, all rights reserved Mary Kritz

 

EXHIBITS ≈ BOOK FAIRS ≈ CLASSES ≈ AND ≈ COLLABORATION

HELLO

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the sunshine.  It appears as though Old Man Winter is having a difficult time letting go of us and letting Lady Spring enter our lives.  I found it amazing how quickly the snow left after a few evenings of rain.  Soon we’ll see the spring flowers popping up. 

SPIRIT HOUSE EXHIBIT

The Spirit House exhibit was installed the first week of March at the Minto Suite Hotel on Lyon Street.  It will come down at the end of April.  If you haven’t seen it yet, there is still time. 

BOOK FAIRS 

There are two book fairs coming up in the next couple of months where I will be selling my work:

Book Arts Show 2013

Saturday, 4 May 2013, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Library and Archives Canada,
395 Wellington St.,
Ottawa, Ontario.

Speakers and Demonstrations will be running all day.

Open to the public and admission is free.

The Show will provide many local artists with the opportunity to exhibit their explorations in the book arts. From the preservation of historic techniques to taking the book to a new level, book artists want you to see a book as a three-dimensional structure. The Book Arts Show and Sale provides a unique opportunity to meet these artists and discover the breadth of the book arts movement in Canada, including over 25 bookbinders, book artists, letterpress and fine press printers, printmakers, papermakers, paper marblers, calligraphers, book restoration artists and conservators, suppliers, and more.

All book lovers can explore the range of fine handcrafted products being created and will have the opportunity to purchase unique treasures or to start on a new creative journey of their own. The Book Arts Show and Sale is also an opportunity for book artists and bookbinders to meet others working in the related disciplines and to discover new techniques, methods, or materials.

This year’s event presents a wide variety of work both for exhibit and for sale, including one-of-a-kind artist books, letterpress broadsides and publications, livres d’artiste, and bookbinding supplies.

OTTAWA SMALL PRESS BOOK FAIR

June 15, 2013 – 12:00 to 5:00 pm

Jack Purcell Community Centre, 2^ND Floor  

320 Jack Purcell Lane

Ottawa, ON

CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Spring book binding and book arts classes are starting again. 

OTTAWA SCHOOL OF ART – 35 George Street Campus

April 17, 2013 – 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

To register:  www.artottawa.ca: general interest

By phone: 613-241-7471       be e-mail: info@artottawa.ca

WORKSHOPS – OTTAWA SCHOOL OF ART – Orleans Campus, 245 Centrum Blvd.

Japanese Hidden Compartment Box

Saturday and Sunday - May 25 – 26, 2013 – 10:00 am – 4:30 pm

This is an interesting and beautiful box.  When opened one way it has one compartment.  Turn it around and it has two compartments when opened.  It consists of four boxes in one, each with its own lid.  After completion of this box, participants will be able to apply their knowledge and skills to box making of any size and shape. 

To register:  www.artottawa.ca – general interest

By phone: 613-580-2765    by e-mail: osao.info@artottawa.ca

Two compartments

When turned around and opened, one compartment.

Explorer’s Journal

Saturday, June 8, 2013 – 10:00 am to 4:30 pm

This is a leather bound journal lined with Lokta paper.  Participants will learn how to line the leather cover.  They will create multiple signatures and stitch them into the cover using the French stitch. 

To register:  www.artottawa.ca – general interest

By phone: 613-580-2765    by e-mail: osao.info@artottawa.ca

NEW BOOKS

I have been busy creating books for the upcoming book fairs.  Here are some of the books that will be available for sale.

I recently purchased some Italian papers.  They are beautifully decorated and very attractive once incorporated into the book.  I reversed the process I usually use on this style of book.  The leather is on the inside. 

I also got a new template of a hibiscus flower.  Some of the pages of this journal have been hand embossed with the hibiscus flower in different sizes. 

I finally found out how to do the Secret Belgian Binding. 

Traditional Japanese Stab Bound books with Italian paper covers.  I have embossed the pages with the hibiscus flower. 

Here is a coptic bound book and one with the Secret Belgian binding. 

This is a forest green lamb skin, leather bound journal.  I lined it with a red Lokta paper and used a geode to decorate the turn over.  The braided tie is waxed cotton thread. 

I used the Italian paper for a fly leaf and embossed the pages with the hibiscus flower.

This is another lamb skin leather bound journal.  I used a piece of volcanic rock to decorate the cover. 

I lined the leather with a houndstooth decorated paper and made the fly leaf from hand marbled paper.  I used the suminagashi technique to marble this paper. 

The cover of this journal is made from a beautiful foil decorated paper in the design of snake skin.  I lined it with Lokta paper and used marbled paper for the fly leaf.  The closure is a labradorite ring and waxed cotton thread. 

These are single signature books with hard covers. 

In some I used the same paper for the fly leaf as I did for the cover.  In others I used marbled paper for the fly leaf. 

Cloth bound multiple signature books. 

I used the hand marbled papers for end/fly leafs. 

These are Coptic bound address books. I created it so there is one page per person.  Information gathered includes the standard as well as blog, website, birthdays and special occassions. 

 This is a stationery box.  It consists of three boxes in one.  The medallion on the top is a recycled brass necklace with an erect red lion on a blue background.

 The corners are covered in a playful, colourful design.  The feet are wooden beads. 

The interior has three compartments.  There are 20 blank notes with envelopes in the right and left hand side boxes.  The center box is for writing instruments.  I used a combination of floral designed papers and an elegant gold designed paper.  A touch of class with a little fun around the edges.  In the left and right hand boxes I incorporated a piece of paper from the corners - just had to bring the fun inside.  This box measures 13.25 X 7.25 x 2 inches (33.6 x 17.8 x 5 cm).

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

This year I am participating in two collaborative projects.  The first project is called Photographic Dialogue.  Ginger Burrell, a photographer and book artist from California initiated a year long photographic conversation with twenty-five participants.  One week we receive a photograph from Ginger and the following week we send her a photograph, in response to the one we received.  I have found this a great deal of fun and it has given me the opportunity to look beyond the visual image of the photograph to explore things like purpose, design and sound.  If you would like to learn more about the project, go to: http://picturingdialogue.wordpress.com.  At the end of the year I will create some photographic dialogue books from the images we have shared with one another. 

The second is an online project called The Noise Project – Labspace Studio in Toronto.  In this project we are given a prompt about noise and then are asked to use any medium to demonstrate the noise.  This has been a very interesting project that gets me to stretch my thinking about noise and how I can demonstrate it using photographic images.  As this is an international project, I find it very interesting how others interpret and present the concept of noise.  If you would like to learn more about this project, go to: www.thenoiseproject..net. 

That’s about all for now.  I hope to see you at one of the book fairs or possibly in a seat in one of the classes or workshops.  Have a great spring and enjoy the beautiful sound of the songbirds returning from the south. 

If you want to know more about my books or classes, please contact me at: bbinder999@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to have a discussion with you.

Mary

http://youtu.be/k8w13ewrOqg 

Just a note:  the e-mail on this video is no longer in use.

 

AN ENDING AND NEW BEGINNINGS

A SHOW OF HANDS

The exhibit came down on the 28^th of January.  All in all it was a great success.  Adults and children alike enjoyed the exhibit.  Comments by those who viewed and played with the books were positive: 

·        “The art work is quite neat! Nothing like I have seen.  Great Job!”

·        “Great show, very poetic and full of colours and images.  Everything I like!”

·        “Fantastic, very impressive and so natural.”

·        “Very beautiful.” 

·        “Une sensation de bein – être.  Une experience réillement unique en son genre – fantastique!  On peu mettre de soon imagination et ceci sans aucune limite.  Merci beaucoup de partager.”

Mike Taylor installing the hanging hands in the exhibit. 

LaLande + Doyle Exhibition Space, Shenkman Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

“Very interesting and inventive.  This is a great book - like the suspended hands and the solid ones on the table."

Sumerian Merchant's Account Book

  “Very imaginative! I know you want it as an art exhibit, but it could be used in homes for a game, educational interactive tool, way to express emotions…Great exhibit.”

 “Wonderful exhibit.  Great work Mary.  I was mesmerized moving around the words.  It definitely captured my attention.”

  “I liked playing with the hands and the words.  Bravo!”

 Flag Book: Eat, Create, Play

 Tunnel Book: Boys and Their Toys At Work

Accordion Slide Book: Eat, Create, Play

 

Accordion Book: Eat, Create, Play

Tunnel, Pop-up Book: Seeing the Trees in the Forest

WHAT’S NEXT

TWO EXHIBITS

I have two exhibits coming up in March:

CONTEMPORARY BOOK ARTS IN EASTERN ONTARIO

 March 1, 2013 to May 31, 2013

W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library, Queen’s University

Kingston, ON

This exhibit brings together work from a representative group of book arts practitioners in eastern Ontario.  Each of the thirteen artists chose pieces made during the past decade which would show their creativity and skill. 

I selected 10 miniature books for this exhibit. 

Opening Reception:  March 7, 2013 – 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

In the Graham George Seminar Room, next to the exhibition space:

·        Introductions by Margaret Lock, Lock’s Press and Larry Thompson, Greyweathers Press

·        Barbara Teatero, Curator of Special Collections will talk about the artists and the catalogue, which will be available at the opening. 

·        Books in the exhibit will also be for sale. 

Some of the books I have in the exhibit:

Butterfly Landscapes Box - 57 x 45 x 32 mm

Butterfly Landscapes - 45 x 29 705 mm

This Way - 64 X 70 mm

Star Light, Star Bright - 57 x 64 mm

Clam Shell - Box: 108 x 102 x 32 mm/ Book: 64 x 57 mm

SPIRIT HOUSES -  March 7, 2013 to April 30, 2013

Minto Suite Hotel, 187 Lyon Street, North, Ottawa, ON

This exhibit is based on seminars and lectures by Anaïs Nin.  At the age of 11, she moved to the United States with her mother.  She couldn’t speak English so she started journaling daily, writing about her losses, events and reflecting on life experiences.  She continued to journal throughout her life.  Drawing from the contents of her journals she wrote books: fiction and non-fiction.  In her seminars and lectures, she mentions Spirit House, a place of solace, a place to recover vision and a place to reconstruct oneself after shattering life experiences.   She describes two Spirit Houses, one the external: her journals and two, the internal: her inner world: a protective place to go to when life was difficult. 

Traditionally, a spirit house, found in Southeast Asian countries, is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place.  They often include images of people and animals.  Votive offerings are left at the house to propitiate the spirits.  A Spirit House is in the form of a miniature house or temple, mounted on a pillar or dais and placed in an auspicious spot in a corner of a property.  The house is intended to provide a shelter for spirits which can cause problems for the people, if not appeased. 

If you are downtown in the Lyon Street area between March 7 and April 30, 2013, drop in and have a look at this exhibit.  Here's a sneak peek at some of the spirit houses in the exhibit. 

This house is covered with fabric.  The flower on the top of the roof is made from paper and porcupine quills.  The small tree on the other side of the roof has words written on rice paper.  When the roof is lifted off the house the roots of the tree have words written on rice paper.  A large flower sits in the corner next to a large flower in the fabric.  Words written on rice paper adorn the interior walls of the house. 

This multi-level condo is made from Lokta paper, bookboard and the edges are finished in leather.  I used a decorative Japanese paper for the sides and a satin flower for the top.  Little cards at the entrance of each condo have words written on rice paper. 

COURSES AND WORKSHOPS

Here is the lineup for the spring courses and workshops.  Summer courses and workshops will be announced at a later date. 

March 16, 2013 10:00 – 4:30 pm	Soft Cover Coptic Bound Book with Sleeve	Ottawa School of Art Orléans Campus Shenkman Arts Centre
March 23, 2013 9:00 – 4:00 pm	Japanese Stab Bound Book	Ottawa School of Art 35 George Street Ottawa, ON
April 16 -  June 18, 2013 1:00 – 4:00 pm	Bookbinding/Book Arts Course	Ottawa School of Art Orléans Campus Shenkman Arts Centre
April 17 – June 19, 2013 9:00 – 12:00 pm	Bookbinding Course	Ottawa School of Art 35 George Street
May 25 – 26,  2013 10:00 – 4:30 pm	Japanese Hidden Compartment Box Workshop	Ottawa School of Art Orléans Campus Shenkman Arts Centre
June 8, 2013 10:00 – 4:30	Explorer's Leather Journal	Ottawa School of Art Orléans Campus Shenkman Arts Centre

Coptic Bound Book with Sleeve

Japanese Stab Bound Books

The Japanese Hidden Compartment Box is one box.  When opened one way, it has one compartment and when turned around and opened, it has two compartments.  This is a fascinating box and it makes a beautiful gift.  In making this box, there are four boxes, each with a lid.  I used beautiful Japanese papers to cover it and used four wooden beads for the feet.   

 Japanese Hidden Compartment Box - Front View  

 Japanese Hidden Compartment Box - Back View

 Japanese Hidden Compartment Box - Two Compartments

Japanese Hidden Compartment Box - Two Compartments

Explorer's Leather Journal

Explorer's Leather Journal - Back View

Explorer's Leather Journal - Front View