Category Archives: Artists’ Books

Cat-A-Log: A Joint Project With Karen Koshgarian

Posted on November 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

Since Sunday was National Day of the Cat it seems appropriate that we bookend the day with two cat related blog posts. Last week, Meet the Cats, this week Cat-A-Log.

Several years ago I began a project titled Picturing Dialogue which was a weekly call and response exchange between me and several other photographers, one-on-one. During that project one of the participants, Karen Koshgarian, and I discovered that we enjoyed our weekly email chats and one another’s perspective on the world and we’ve continued with annual weekly photo exchange projects ever since.

This year we’re doing two projects, “Signs of the Times” and “Watch Your Step.” Having a weekly exchange and an art partner is a great way to keep art-making constant and fresh. If you haven’t tried this kind of art exchange, I highly recommend it. If you’re looking for ideas, you might check out The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas. Although we don’t get our ideas from that book, I do have it in my studio and think it’s a great resource to get you started!

In 2015 one of our projects was titled “Cat-A-Log.” We took turns sending photos of our cats back and forth. Karen’s cat Little Rickey is black with white markings, our kitty, Ellis is white with black markings. It was a fun way to share our love of cats and a much needed break from the more serious political work that I usually do. This is one of the artists books I’m working on in the studio. It will, of course, have one white and one black cover.

Here is a sneak peek of the beginning of the exchange. All photos are copyrighted by the photographers and may not be copied or reproduced without explicit written permission.

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Cat-A-Log Week 1 by Ginger Burrell

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Cat-A-Log Week 2 by Karen Koshgarian

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Cat-A-Log Week 3 by Ginger Burrell

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Cat-A-Log Week 4 by Karen Koshgarian

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Cat-A-Log Week 5 by Ginger Burrell

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Cat-A-Log Week 6 by Karen Koshgarian

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Cat-A-Log Week 7 by Ginger Burrell

Have you done a project about your animals? Have you done a project with another artist? Feel free to link to your project in the comments section.

~Ginger

http://www.gingerburrell.com

 

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“How To” Books That Deserve Shelf Space #3

Posted on October 5, 2016 | 3 comments

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Still working on the studio clean out, but now working in the studio with some cleaning at both ends of the day. It’s exciting to see my new ideas for Codex taking shape.

In the meantime, here are the next five “how to” books that have earned their space on my  studio bookshelf.

As a reminder, my criteria for a book staying include one or more of the following:

  1. Unique binding ideas
  2. The best photos and instructions for a particular binding
  3. A gallery of book examples with outstanding artists books.

In case you’re wondering, here are List #1 and List #2.

This week’s five:

Sleight of Binding by Cherryl Moote

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This book has all of those fun “how did they do that?” bindings. Flexagons, KaleidoCycles and more. The instructions include basic drawings and are a bit more challenging than some of the other books on my shelf. I think my friend, Janice, would love this book. She loves puzzles and math and has the patience to make bindings over and over until she’s got them down. This is one of those books. Worth having, but you’ll need the time to make the structures work for you.

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The Essential Guide to Making Handmade Books by Gabrielle Fox

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This book has terrific step-by-step directions with very good photographs. Gabrielle Fox makes each binding accessible to beginners and experienced artists alike. Each section also has a Gallery of Ideas, like the one featuring the Train Log by Hedi Kyle, below.

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The Art and Craft of Handmade Books by Shereen La Plantz

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This book has beautiful images and some great bindings. Among my favorites are her Recessed Skewer Bindings. You can see from the two sample pages below she begins with a binding concept and then extends it into other ways of using that binding. I just love that approach. She also includes many, many samples from terrific artists. In my opinion this is one of those “must have” books.

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Hedi Kyle Festschrift 2009 by Multiple Authors

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This is a fun book celebrating Hedi Kyle and her contribution to book arts. There are several stories from artists who have worked with and/or been influenced by her, several diagram drawings of her structures and articles about bookbinding and conservation. It is available on Lulu by Rutherford Witthus.

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Cover to Cover by Shereen La Plantz

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Another book by Shereen La Plantz and another must have. Terrific gallery images with samples from artists such as the Fish Messages by Judith Hoffman, below. Clear and conversational instructions with ways to extend each binding with new ideas.

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Well, there it is, three blog posts, 15 “how to” books and we haven’t even finished one square out of 15 in the bookshelf. We’re going to take a break from “how to” books until November when the Pop-Up Now II exhibition will open at 23 Sandy Gallery. Then we have the Keith Smith books. The books about being a professional artist. The inspirational eye candy books…

Next week, studio lighting and a guest blog post by my husband, Greg, who patiently researched and swapped out bulbs until my studio became the beautifully lit, real colors, less eye strain environment that I needed.

~Ginger

http://www.gingerburrell.com

 

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Posted in Art, Artists' Books, Business of Art, Handmade Books, Instructions, Studio, Uncategorized

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“How To” Books That Deserve Shelf Space #2

Posted on September 13, 2016 | 11 comments

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The studio is getting cleaner, but I’m still far from done. I’m afraid I’m having to undo years of bad stashing habits. Creating new strategies and new systems is taking longer than I’d like. I am, however, determined not to stash anything this time around.

In the meantime, here are the second five books that have earned shelf space on my new, cleaned out, bookshelf.

As a reminder, my criteria for a book staying include one or more of the following:

  1. Unique binding ideas
  2. The best photos and instructions for a particular binding
  3. A gallery of book examples with outstanding artists books.

In case you’re wondering about the first five, here are the “How To” Books That Deserve Shelf Space #1 from last week’s blog post.

This week’s five:

Making Books by Hand by Mary McCarthy and Philip Manna

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This book has outstanding diagrams and clearly labels everything. Excellent for a beginner and a good reminder for experienced artist. There are also several box structures that I find useful such as this portfolio, below. Apologies for the bad photo, the glossy black page and my studio lighting were not making friends, you get the idea.

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Books Unbound by Michael Jacobs

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This book is probably in my top 5. It does not have the clearest instructions and he does not use the best materials, but Michael Jacobs approaches bookmaking from a sculptural standpoint and the books and boxes he creates are truly unique.

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The Matchbox Marvel, above, is typical of his enthusiasm to combine book structures and boxes into interesting shapes and variations. His Specimen Book, below,  is one of my favorites. I’ve made this as a gift a few times. It is always a hit. A wonderful way to highlight a treasured (small) item.

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Also in my top 5, Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms by Alisa Golden

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This book is the most comprehensive on my shelf. If you’re only going to own one “How To” book on making handmade books – this is it. From basic accordion books to basic pop-up and move-able books, you can find something here to fit your ideas. If if you use scrap materials and patience, you can teach yourself any of these bindings or boxes.

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235 pages of instructions, diagrams and ideas!

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You’ll notice the next two books are also by Alisa Golden. There is a lot of overlap with the Making Handmade Books, above. Virtually all of the instructions and diagrams from the next two books are in the 100+ book. So… I wouldn’t recommend buying them, too. Unless you find them for a great price. What makes them worth having are the gallery/example photos that are not in the Making Handmade Books. I’m still debating whether they have enough value to stay on the shelves. But for right now they’ve earned a spot. When that shelf begins to overflow again, these are the first two I’d reconsider.

 

Unique Handmade Books by Alisa Golden

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Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden

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One more set of five to finish out that shelf and then we’ll move on to some other topics. In fact, I’m looking forward to my husband, Greg, writing some guest posts. One on lighting, which we’ve just redone in my studio and one on what it’s like to be in his role as a support system and collaborator for an artist.

You may have noticed that I haven’t talked about the Pop-Up “How To” books in that shelf cubby. I’m saving that discussion for November when the Pop-Up Now Exhibition opens  at 23 Sandy Gallery.

Do you have a “How To” Book  in your studio that I should have in mine? Give me some of your recommendations in the comments!

~Ginger

http://www.gingerburrell.com

 

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