BOOK ARTS JAM – Past Speakers & Schedule
BABA brings together speakers addressing a wide array of topics related to book arts to help illustrate the breadth and diversity of the form, ranging from book artists, poets, printmakers, conservators, teachers, painters, medievalists, and beyond.
2018 Book Arts Jam Speakers & Schedule
2016 Book Arts Jam Speakers & Schedule
2014 Book Arts Jam Speakers & Schedule
2013 Book Arts Jam Speakers & Schedule
2018 Speakers Schedule & Introductions
WHEN: Saturday, October 18th from 10am-4pm
WHERE: Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, California
| TIME | SPEAKER | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 11:45am -12:30pm | Kit Davey Following the “Inner Gleam” | Kit Davey’s mission is to spread delight across the planet. As a life-long artist, she has explored many art forms, and has found her calling as a book and paper artist. She teaches book paper arts, and sells her work at various venues on the Peninsula. Kit will talk about the fits and starts of her creative journey, offering tips to creatives hoping to devote more of their lives to their work. She’ll delve into her requirements for artistic success: time, space, goals, confidence and “inner gleam resonance”. She’ll also cover her artistic education, and the development of her style. She’ll show examples of her work and works in progress. Plus, you may also see snaps of the “creative chaos” in her studio! Come with questions! found-object-art.com” |
| 12:45 pm – 1:30 pm | Kerith Lisi Second Chances: Discarded Books Rediscovered | Kerith Lisi is a mixed media artist in the San Francisco Bay Area working with discarded, salvaged hardcover and paperback books. Having worked as a residential organizer for fourteen years, Kerith gained insight into the way belongings carry a story, past association, or hope for the future. Kerith will share her process of puzzling together books in a collage patchworks and how she connects books with ideas universal to the human experience: nostalgia, second chances, the beauty of imperfection. kerithlisi.com |
| 2 pm – 2:45 pm | Elaine Treharn Medieval Book Arts | Elaine Treharne has been at Stanford University for six years, where she is the Roberta Bowman Denning Professor of Humanities, Professor of English, and Robert K. Packard University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. She is the Director of the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, and publishes widely on medieval literature and manuscripts. She is a Fellow of the English Association, the Society of Antiquaries, and the Royal Historical Society. This talk will illustrate some of the key features of medieval book production, with an emphasis on the materiality of the book, and the influence it has had on subsequent book artists. @ETreharne |
| 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm | SESSION: “Teaching, Learning, Making” Moderated by Don Drake | Don Drake did commission bindings for thirteen years as Dreaming Mind Bindery. Now retired, he spends each day following his erratic muse pursuing collaborative book projects, his own book arts, writing, woodworking, and landscaping. Dreamingmind.com Kim Brown worked as a graphic designer for Apple Computer, Adobe, and Atari for 20 plus years, and decided to get back to her first creative passion: textiles. Following a class with librarian and artist Jody Alexander, Kim was inspired to begin making more sculptural pieces and to use her own fabrics as book cloth. She is on a quest to listen to her creative voice and make art. Kim Brown Alison T. Gray, a graduate of Princeton University, is getting her Masters of Liberal Arts at Stanford University. A poet, she had never heard of Artist Books until last year, when she built one for a final for a class based around a poetic form she believes she has invented: braided sestinae. She also co-publishes a small local newspaper in Marin. Kent Manske creates images and symbols to inquire, process, manage, convey and assign meaning to ideas about human existence. He uses both traditional and digital print making and book publishing processes to create one-of-a-kind and limited-edition works on paper. In 1992 he co-founded PreNeo Press in Redwood City, California. His work can be found in public and private collections including the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums and the Oakland Museum of California. Preneo.org |
2016 Speakers Schedule & Introductions
WHEN: Sunday, October 16th from 11am – 5pm
WHERE: Palo Alto Elks Lodge, 4249 El Camino Real (at Deodar), Palo Alto, California
| TIME | SPEAKER | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 11:30am -12:15pm | TALK Kristen St.John The Conservation of Artist Books at Stanford University Libraries | Head of Conservation at Stanford University, Kristen St.John will describe how conservators care for artist books in large research libraries. As major libraries acquire artist books, conservators are often asked to make enclosures for them, to assist with exhibitions that feature them, and on occasion to repair them. Deciding how best to ensure the safe storage, display, and use of artist books provides both challenges and pleasure for conservators. |
| 1pm – 2pm | PANEL Bay Area Book Artists Members Reflect on the Topic of “Play” Facilitated by Rae Trujillo, Featuring Karen Chew and Nanette Wylde | Rae Trujillo received her BA from California State University Hayward in 1978 with an emphasis in sculpture. She has always dabbled in a variety of art forms, but fell in love with Books Arts in 2004. Making books satisfies her interest in storytelling and allows her to investigate structures and materials. She mingles many disciplines into one art form. She is challenged to create books that people can fall into and understand. www.raesofsun.com Nanette Wylde is an artist, writer and cultural worker making socially reflective, language-based works generally of hybrid media. She has a BA in Behavioral Science from San Jose State University and an MFA in Interactive Multimedia and Printmaking from Ohio State University. She is Professor of Art & Art History at California State University, Chico where she developed and heads the Digital Media/Electronic Arts Program. www.preneo.org/nwylde Karen Chew, an artist and building designer, continues to explore materials, structures and narrative through artist books as well as her paintings and mixed media pieces. She holds a B.A. Environmental Design/Architecture from U.C. Berkeley, with continued art studies in the US and abroad. Her newest project, a for-profit foundation serving the arts, is in its incubation stage via a Stanford University startup class. www.karenchewstudio.com |
| 2:30pm – 3:15pm | READINGS Books and Poetry Don Drake and Robert Perry | Don Drake favors books for his artwork because they include the dimension of time. He looks to music for clues about how to translate time based narrative into emotional experience. Viewing the sequence of pages as a source of rhythm, he uses structure and material to manipulate this time-element to amplify emotion in his work. He often writes poetry or prose for his books and frequently draws imagery and ideas from science. www.dreamingmind.com “The Day I Met George” is his story about one morning in his studio, the chance meeting of two strangers, and the inescapable intrusion of a fundamental truth into events. He has embedded this dark drama in a flip book. This delightful form is typically a vehicle for humorous content. In combination with his short story, this flip-animation takes on an ominous inevitability. Robert Perry is a graphic designer, book artist, and poet dedicated to the celebration of poetry and art in books of many kinds published through his imprint, Dutch Poet Press. Robert enjoys exploring the fusion of word and image in collaboration with expert partners in the book arts, as well as poets and artists. www.dutchpoetpress.com A reading of poetry from books completed and in progress, traditional trade books, fine letterpress books and ephemera, and one-of-a-kind artist books. The poetry with the books celebrate what can happen when the visual and verbal come together, often inspired by works of art such as painting, photography, and film. |
| 3:45pm – 4:30pm | ARTIST TALK Karen Rush Dreaming in Book-Form : Narrative, Materials and Three Dimensions | Karen Rush has been exploring the interaction of narrative, material and the structure of the book since discovering book arts about five years ago. The familiar feel and universal recognition of the book structure make it a uniquely personal form that invites viewer participation. Working also in architectural design, and formerly in the semiconductor industry, she makes her own paper and draws inspiration from the physical attributes of materials. Having moved to the United States as a child, Karen uses personal events and experiences and explores larger topics of time, dreaming, consious/uncouncious, history and belonging. Her talk will address these inspirations and the winding road they can take, and she brings it all together to form her delicate and cerebral creations. www.karenrushinteriors.com |
2014 Speakers Schedule & Introductions
WHEN: Saturday, October 18th from 10am-4pm
WHERE: Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, California.
| TIME | SPEAKER | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 10:30-11:00 | Ann Myers What the heck is this thing? Describing artists’ books for special collections libraries | Rare Books Cataloger at Stanford University Libraries, Ann Myers will talk about the artists’ book collections at Stanford, and some of the challenges of describing artists’ books for the online catalog. The catalog record serves as a bridge between artist and library patron, but may not always accurately portray the artist’s work. Artists and catalogers can collaborate to improve access to these collections. |
| 11:15-11:45 | Don Drake Working in Free Fall: What I’ve Learned Making My Love of Bookbinding Into My Business | Owner of Dreaming Mind bindery, Don Drake’s lifetime of artistic exploration, craftsmanship, and 30 year’s experience in the design and printing industry, have made his work well known in the book arts community. In his own words, “Opening a business based on creative work required me to believe new things and act on those beliefs in ways that were unimaginable when I was employed. Join me for a bit of reflection on 12 years of working in free fall. www.dreamingmindbindery.com. |
| 12:00-12:30 | Ginger Burrell Make and Take Demonstration: Cut and Fold Maze Book | |
| 1:00-1:45 | Cathy Cakebread (Panel Host) Photography and The Art of the Book: Cathy Cakebread, Karen Chew, Harlan Crowder, Linda Stinchfield | How is a book based on photographs different from other artist’s books? What makes an artists’ book utilizing photography different from a photo album? In this panel discussion, four book artists (and BABA Members) who are also photographers will display their photo based artists’ books and discuss their inspiration, why they utilized this structure and more. |
| 2:00-2:30 | Judith Serabrin Creating Artists Books with Soul | From solemn to whimsical, Judy Serebrin will talk about making artist books with meaning. She will show her artist-bookwork spanning twenty-three years, sharing their technical and spiritual journeys to fruition. |
| 3:15-3:45 | Nigel Gore Demonstration: Traditional Bookbinding Finishing Techniques | A demonstration of traditional techniques for finishing a book, which will include a presentation of methods for decorating book edges and covers. |
2013 Speakers Schedule & Introductions
WHEN: October 19, 2013, 10am-4pm
WHERE: Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
| TIME | SPEAKER | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 11am-11:45am | Sas Colby Forty Years of Book Thinking, Evolution & Influences | Artist Sas Colby has more than forty years of experience – making, exhibiting and teaching art. Her innovative workshops are combinations of the nontraditional with a solid grounding in art basics. Sas’s mixed media artwork has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. A survey exhibition, Sas Colby: Twenty Years of Book Thinking, traveled from Santa Fe, New Mexico to The University of The Arts, Philadelphia, and to Mills College, Oakland, California in 1995. Colby has been a visiting artist in Australian universities and at schools throughout this country. She has inspired many with her ability to make the creative process come alive. She currently teaches workshops in Taos, New Mexico; Mallorca, Spain; and at the San Francisco Center for the Book. www.sascolby.com |
| 11:15-11:45 | Carrie Galbraith From Content to Form | Carrie Galbraith has an MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking a BFA in Drawing & Painting and in Illustration. She has taught book arts and printmaking, in Italy as a postgraduate fellow for 3 years, in Northern Ireland as artist-in-residence and in Romania, as a Fulbright scholar. She currently teaches in the Bay Area at City College of San Francisco, California College of the Arts, and The San Francisco Center for the Book and now at her studio space: Studio 1027. www.cjgalbraith.wordpress.com |
| 1pm-2pm | Donna Seager Book as a Medium for Art | Donna Seager is a partner at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley and has been in the art business since 1978, working in galleries in New Orleans, Boston and San Francisco. She is dedicated to the book as a medium for art and presents a huge comprehensive books show in her gallery once a year as well as small curated shows of artist books on an ongoing basis. Her goal is to create the same kind of name recognition for book artists among collectors that is enjoyed by painters and sculptors in her gallery. www.seagergray.com |
| 3pm-3:30pm | Jody Alexander Drawing Inspiration from Limp Bindings of the Vatican Library | Jody Alexander is a book artist, librarian and proprietress of Wishi Washi Studio in Santa Cruz, California. She will be speaking about Monica Langwe and her project with the Vatican Library – and her part in it! She binds books with found and discarded papers and fabric in a number of historical and modern binding styles. She combines these books with found objects to create sculptural works. Her pieces celebrate collecting, storytelling, and odd characters. She also likes to rescue discarded books and give them new life as scrolls, wall pieces and sculptural objects. Her characters, books, sculptural pieces and found items are occasionally combined to create installations. www.jalexbooks.com |
