The Sunday Paper #480

October 1, 2023

Here’s an exciting trip to participate in next summer! Travel to Northern Italy to work in traditional book arts and letterpress studios. Create prints at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, a design school and studio which for over 50 years has focused on printmaking and artist’s books. Learn to set movable type by hand and print a letterpress book at Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione, one of the largest typography museums in Europe, located in the town of Cornuda at the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains. Visit historic sites including St. Mark’s Square and the Accademia Gallery and tour the 60th Venice Art Biennale, one of the largest international contemporary art exhibitions. The program, led by Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Executive Director Jeff Abshear, welcomes all levels of experience, with introductory instruction in the studio. Find out more and sign up!

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My paper community, The Paper Year, is now open for registration (through 10/10). Would you like to join us? Over the next quarter we will be:

• Making Triangle Bags, designed by guest artist Claudia Lee, who we’ll meet at our monthly Zoom session;
• Creating this Pleated Paper Wall Hanging, with structural support slipped into the pleats;
• Exploring a Double Pamphlet Pocket Book structure (the cover and middle panels are a single sheet of paper);
• Attending a live Zoom stamp carving workshop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer;
• And learning all about Rock Paper with proprietor Molly Grosse.

Here’s what one member has to say about her Paper Year experience:

I joined The Paper Year in January and I’m really glad I did. The projects are interesting, with clear instructions and options – I can do a quick study or a detailed dive depending on my schedule that month. It has been a great way for me to learn lots of new skills and get inspired by others. Helen is also a master at building community – the generous sharing on the forums and monthly Zooms adds a great extra dimension.

– Susan Ruptash, visual artist

I hosted a free mini-workshop on Zoom on Friday, where I talked about The Paper Year and taught participants how to make a Pleated Paper Card. Watch the replay!

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Digitally enhanced origami? Check out this new Uber Reserve campaign. New York-based production company, Taylor James, created a series of paper cars crafted out of folded paper tickets (well, not exactly). They used CG photorealism to replicate the traditional paper folding technique as authentically as digitally possible.

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Paper Life! Ocean is a series of paper sculptures by Tina Kraus who is thinking about how the climate crisis, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity have already had a big impact on nature and life on this planet.

© Tina Kraus, as seen on Colossal

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The Fine Press Book Association has an Inclusivity Fund Grant ($500) to support the work of artists belonging to historically under-represented identities in fine printing and book arts: BIPOC, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and/or those from low-income backgrounds. The grants can be used to help offset any costs related to an artist’s professional activities: registration/travel for book fairs, classes for professional development/new skills, website costs, work documentation, etc. Deadline: October 15, 2023

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Paper Tidbits

• Congratulations to Rosa Rodriguez, the winner of the Giveaway for a copy of Kelsey Pike’s new book, Modern Papermaking.
• I’ve just settled on the theme for next year’s Red Cliff Paper Retreat (August 26-30, 2024). Click through to see what it is. Registration opens later this fall.
• Are you interested in a papermaking intensive? I have one spot that hasn’t been spoken for in next year’s July Master Class (deposits will be due in October). Express your interest here.

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Papermaking Series: EVA Foam Stencils

Here’s the latest in my series of papermaking videos.