KBAC SPRING 2009 CLASSES
Our space on the first floor of the Park Trades Center is now open with an extensive array of equipment for the book arts. Our new season of classes begin April. Check out our courses including our new extended workshops and enroll now. Members receive a disount of 10% on enrollment fees. See the Member’s page for details.
NOTE: Classes marked with this symbol are kid (age 8 or older) and family friendly.
Click on some of the course titles for background information on the (virtual) pages of Wikipedia.
One-Day Workshops
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $45 per session
Three sessions will be offered (take one or more!):
Session 1: Saturday, July 18,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Session 2: Tuesday, July 21,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Session 3: Wednesday, July 29,
5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Making a hardcover book is a lot easier than you think. Learn to sew and bind one by hand! Participants will use traditional materials and book cloth to create a handmade journal.
The Art of Paste Painting
Instructor: Lorrie Grainger Abdo / Fee: $25
Tuesday, July 21, 6 to 9 p.m.
Paste painting is a surface design technique made by brushing colored paste onto a sheet of paper and using various tools to move the paste and create graphic images. Students are encouraged to bring combs, chunky rubber stamps, brayers, or any other mark making objects. The instructor will also have tools available for student’s use. Come play with us!
Colorful Paper Pulp Painting
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $25 per session
Two sessions will be offered (take one or both!):
Session 1: Wednesday, July 22, 9 a.m. to noon
Session 2: Tuesday, Aug. 4, 9 a.m. to noon
In this class we will make handmade paper, and decorate it using colorful dyed paper pulp, glitter, confetti, stars, and dried plant fibers. Students will learn the principals of papermaking and design, while cooling off with this fun, wet, summer activity.
Instructor: Lorrie Grainger Abdo / Fee: $25 per session
Two sessions will be offered (take one or both!):
Session 1: Tuesday, July 28, 1 to 4 p.m.
Session 2: Tuesday, July 28, 6 to 9 p.m.
This class uses beautiful papers made in The Art of Paste Painting class, or card-weight papers that you might already have, to make incredible mosaics. The finished look is similar to ceramic mosaics, but without the heavy equipment and messy grout. For examples of the finished product please visit http://lorrieabdo.blogspot.com.
Star Books
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $25 per session
Two sessions will be offered (take one or both!):
Session 1: Wednesday, Aug. 5, 9 a.m. to noon
Session 2: Friday, Aug. 14, 1 to 4 p.m.
In this class we will create unique star-shaped pop-up books that contain colorful three-dimensional dioramas. These amazing books will send your imagination off to far-away places. Take a vacation, make a star book!
Low-Tech Litho
Instructor: Michael Dunn / Fee: $45
Saturday, Aug. 1, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. w/break
In this class we will explore the use of simple polymer plates to create low-tech lithographic prints that need no processing—just draw, wet, ink, and print! If you like drawing with crayons or marker pens you’ll love this class. This process is great for parents and kids to work together.
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $45 per session
Three sessions will be offered (take one or more!):
Session 1: Saturday, Aug. 8,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Session 2: Wednesday, Aug. 19,
5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Session 3: Tuesday, Aug. 25,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Learn the process of making paper by hand. Each participant will make 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of cotton paper that can be used to make books, cards, or other creative projects.
Two Ancient Book Forms
Instructor: Katie Platte / Fee: $45 per session
Two sessions will be offered (take one or both!):
Session 1: Monday, Aug. 10,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Session 2: Saturday, Aug. 15,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Participants will learn to sew the two oldest forms of bookbinding: Japanese stab binding and Egyptian Coptic stitch binding. These fun books with beautiful stitching can be used to make a sketchbook or journal.
KIDprints
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $25
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1 to 4 p.m.
This class is designed for kids (8-12 years old) who want to explore easy-to-make prints. Learn to carve patterns in soft Easy Cut material to make handmade stamps in bright colors. These can be printed on our press, or by hand at home. Make a print to hang on your wall!
Instructor: Katie Platte / Fee: $25
Saturday, Aug. 22, Noon to 3 p.m.
In this workshop kids will learn to make colorful accordion books that pop out as you open them. Parents are welcome to enroll with their kids to create fun 3-D books!
Accordion Books
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $25
Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1 to 4 p.m.
Accordion books are wonderful structures that can be read in sequence like a regular book or easily set up for displaying drawings or photos. In this class we will make accordion books with colorful covers that can be used for sketchbooks or journals.
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $45
Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
This class is for artists who want to make their own paper. We will use large molds to create sheets of laid white cotton paper. These can be used for drawing, painting, and printmaking. Imagine working on paper you’ve made yourself!
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $45
Saturday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Participants will make two easy book structures, an accordion book and an envelope book, which can be constructed with simple binding tools and materials you have at home. You’ll never buy another blank journal again!
Book Arts for Teachers
Instructor: Jennifer Sweeney / Fee: $45
Saturday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. w/break
Learn simple book making techniques for children. We'll make five different books that are perfect for the classroom, and I’ll offer writing activities to accompany them that span across the curriculum. This is a practical, fun class for both teachers and parents.
Extended Workshops
Instructor: Michael Dunn / Fee: $120
Thursday evenings, July 16, 23, 30, & Aug. 6,
6 to 9 p.m.
In this class students will create a relief print by carving into linoleum or wood. Working from a photo or sketch, we will develop layered prints in multiple colors. Learn to develop images, use carving tools, and print on the press during this four-week session.
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $120
Tuesday evenings, Aug. 4, 11, 18, & 25,
6 to 9 p.m.
For over 500 years, before the invention of the computer, books were produced from metal type, set and printed by hand. In this four-week workshop we will explore these traditional techniques handed down from Gutenberg. Please bring a poem or short piece of text to the first session.
Instructor: Andrea Stork / Fee: $45
Wednesdays, Aug. 5 & 12 , 6 to 9 p.m.
In this two-session class the book format will be explored—as sculpture, vessel, and art form—by altering old books. Bring your own book to alter (old cookbooks, children’s books, encyclopedias, or novels) as well as found imagery, old photographs, or other collage elements. Project will be started during the first session, continued at home, and then developed and shared during the final meeting. Learn to look at books in a new and interactive way!
Instructor: Jeff Abshear / Fee: $120
Thursday evenings, Aug. 13, 20, 27, & Sept. 3,
6 to 9 p.m.
In this class we will create images that can be printed on the letterpress “type high.” Participants can work in wood or linoleum to create carved images. Another option is to have polymer plates made from line drawings or computer images. These can be combined with handset type, dingbats, or other photo-engravings in our studio.
LORRIE GRAINGER ABDO has taught papermaking, surface design, and bookbinding classes for all ages. She is the current Workshop Coordinator for the Handmade Paper Guild of Southwest Michigan. Her colorful artwork can be found in galleries in Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin.
JEFF ABSHEAR, Director of the KBAC, was a Fulbright Research Scholar to Venice, Italy, where he worked at the Accademia di Belle Arti and studied the history of Italian printing, bookbinding, and papermaking. He has also taught Book Arts to children at the Scuola Didactica di Thiesi in Sardinia, Italy, and at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
MICHAEL DUNN earned his MFA at Western Michigan University and creates prints using woodcut, intaglio, and lithography techniques.
KATIE PLATTE is a graduate of the Studio Art program at Grand Valley State University. She completed an internship at the Women's Studio Workshop, an arts organization specializing in printmaking and book arts in Rosendale, New York.
ANDREA STORK is a book artist and graphic designer who teaches at the Center for New Media at KVCC.
JENNIFER SWEENEY has taught book arts and creative writing to youth for many years. She was part of a printmakers collective in San Francisco and is the author of two award-winning books of poetry.
The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is funded in part by grants from the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.
