Carol Barton is the first artist I met who was working with pop-ups. She taught workshops at the Center for Book Arts in New York, where I was a work study volunteer way back in the early 1990’s. Looking back, I’m  so thankful for that sweet gig! I got to take classes with Hedi Kyle, Susan Share, Barbara Mauriello and Gloria Helfgot, among other stars in the world of book arts. But for some reason, I never took a workshop with Carol. 

Five Luminous Towers, A Book to be Read in the Dark, by Carol Barton

But I have had the chance to connect with her every couple of years. She taught several times at the Oregon College of Art & Craft and at the Focus on Book Arts Conference when I was in Oregon. And I’ve had the pleasure of featuring her work in my two latest books.

Carol makes delightful pop-up books. Five Luminous Towers (pictured above) is one of my favorites – it lights up when you open it! She also teaches classes and workshops around the country, featuring pop-ups, tunnel books, carousel books and other sculptural book forms. And she has produced three instructional pop-up books, The Pocket Paper Engineer series.

Pop-Up Paper Engineer, Volumes 2 & 3

What I love about these books is that you can cut out the pages and make the pop-ups right in the books. There are even pockets to hold the cut-out parts! If cutting the pages of your book makes you cringe, you can buy extra sets of pages to make the pop-ups. 

Here are some examples of what you can make from each of the books:

Heart Project from The Pocket Paper Engineer Volume 1

Hand Project, from The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2

Truck and Trailer, from The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 3

Carol’s currently turning back toward her original media of painting and is creating gouache and watercolor landscapes that include floating pop-ups elements within them. Her book Earth Tones and Air Movements, will include several poems about landscapes. It will be complete by the fall of 2014 in an edition of 25 copies.

A page from Earth Tones and Air Movements, by Carol Barton

You will also see one of Carol’s pop-up projects (a pop-up tent and a pyramid) in my next book, Playing With Pop-Ups.