{ Afterschool Arts : Registration Opens Monday, August 19th } : Fall Session //

An Afterschool Artist works on decorating her Smash Book

Riv proudly displays her decorated Smash Book

An Afterschool Artist explores color and pattern as she makes the cover for her sketchbook

An Afterschool Artist diligently folds her pages for Mini Photo Accordion Book

In Afterschool Arts, young Artists ages 6 years and up explore a variety of mixed media supplies and techniques including book arts, printmaking, fiber/textiles, 3D design/assemblage and more! This September begins my third session of Afterschool Arts and it is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. If you have a Creative Child in your life that loves to work with non-traditional art supplies and mediums and wants to explore techniques in a fun and supportive environment, this class series is for them!

{ BOOKMAKING AT FLOYDFEST : JULY 26-27, 2019 } //

It will never cease to amaze me the wonderful opportunities that are presented to me for being a Book + Paper Artist Teacher. This summer my weird skill set allowed me to attend Floydfest—a large outdoor music and art festival held annually in the beautiful mountains of Floyd, VA.

Rebecca, an art teacher from Roanoke, joins me for Mini Accordion Album

It has easily been 8 years since I attended any music festival. One thing that I forgot—music festivals are SO MUCH FUN.

A young Artist Friend joins me Mini Flower Fold

I taught two variations of mini handmade books—the Flower Fold and the Accordion Album. I had several repeat visitors. It was GREAT to see the interest that young Artists have in book arts!

When one Young Artist does it, the others often join in…

While the Mini Accordion Album can be a bit tricky for my younger Artist friends, once they get the hang of it, they love to keep adding more and more pages. Rainbow Accordions are always a huge hit!

We had a full house for Mini Accordion Session 2!

A dedicated future book artist joined for me Mini Accordion Album Session 2

After a weekend of teaching, the rest of the weekend was mine to enjoy! I danced into the early hours of Sunday morning. I came home with a stack of CDs from great new Artists, sunburned, exhausted and hungry. Decompression can be hard after such a fun-filled weekend of friends, art and music, but memories of spending my weekend teaching an old world art form that I love is absolutely priceless!

{ Mixed Media Printmaking : Gelli Plate Prints } : May 2019 //

While teaching my ‘Rust Printing + Mark Making’ workshop back in April, one of my student introduced me to Gelli Plate printing. I had been looking into the process for awhile and after checking out her Instagram feed, I was HOOKED. I came home that weekend and ordered myself several plates and did what most artists do when learning a new technique—I obsessively scoured Pinterest for visual inspiration and watched YouTube videos until my excitement led me to my studio.

I tried multiple techniques and was not happy with the results. I tried cheaper, more fluid acrylics. I tried heavier bodied acrylics. I tried spray inks. I made a MESS. I threw many prints into the recycling bin.

Then I got SICK. Every few years, seasonal allergies will kick my butt. This was one of those years. My throat was raw, I had a persistent and painful cough. I eventually lost my voice (which is fun when you teach art to young children). And the best part—I got several tick bites that became swollen and a rash spread over my entire torso.

During the recovery process, I spent a weekend resting and took this time to play around with my plate. I made dozens of prints. Below are some of my faves…

It took a few days of rest but I did recover from both the allergies and the bites. I am looking forward to using these prints in a new body of collage work and covers for new mini booklets for my upcoming show in December.

{ Bookmaking with VT Industrial Design Students } : April 2019 //

On Friday, April 5th, I joined 14 VT students to create one-of-a-kind mini handmade books as part of a class entitled Mindful Makers. This was the second semester I have been invited onto campus to be a part of this class. Isn’t it funny how others see us in regards to how we see ourselves? When I was originally invited to join the class, I remember how honored I was to be thought of as ‘mindful’ in my making.

Working with young adults that know how to (and love) work with their hands is a treat!

A VT student is learning how to ‘convince’ the decorative paper that it wants to wrap around the book board.

Here the Instructor discusses with the class their final projects as we admire the uniqueness of each piece

Yes…mini handmade books are the cutest…these students nailed it!

This class has inspired me to become more intentional in my mindfulness in regards to the way I create. I try to weave mindfulness into every class, workshop and camp I facilitate. Breathe, be in the present and focus on workmanship.

{ Bookmaking Bonanza! : A Personal Dream Come True } : March 2019 //

In my mind, I had imagined this thing that I eventually named the ‘Bookmaking Bonanza!’ I wanted to gather a group of people together to see how many handmade books we could make in a day. I had tried multiple times to make this workshop happen. Third time is the charm! 11 magnificent women joined me on Saturday, March 23rd at the Floyd Art Center in gorgeous Floyd, VA to make this artist’s dream come true!

We made 5 handmade books in 5 hours—the Accordion Fold, Flower Fold, Smash Book (a variation on the Accordion Fold), Japanese Stab Binding and a 5 Hole Butterfly Stitch Pamphlet.

SO. MUCH. FUN. This group of women ROCKED it! Infinite gratitude to all that participated!

I am thinking that another Bookmaking Bonanza would be great around the holiday season?