Some of these long hot days call for some quick thinking with kids home for the summer and stuck inside with heat warnings and temperatures topping out at real-feel temperatures of 103 degrees. I always like to keep a few fun creative exercises to keep the little hands and minds busy! Here are some of my favorites! Robert Sabuda is not only a great paper engineer but his website has some great pop-ups for kids and adults to do. From simple to intermediate to advanced, his pop-ups can teach anyone how simple folds and cuts will create three-dimensional delights. For children under five, there are some simple pop-ups. Most of the pop-ups featured on his website are geared to older children and adults. From exploding birthday cakes complete with candles to blooming blossoms and ships asail, these templates can be printed out on white cardstock, colored with crayons, colored pencils or other media, cut out and assembled. Directions are easy to follow and if at first you don't succeed, print out another, cut it out and try it again! These great templates can be found at www.robertsabuda.com. Anoher great paper engineer is Carol Barton whose artist's books are just amazing! If you haven't perused her site, check it out under www.popularkinetics.com. Carol Barton also has great templates to download and print out for different types of pop-ups. These are geared to older children and adults! She has some fun cards to make as well as great examples of her work. She also has some wonderful pop-up instructional books to order. I have her first two books which are easy-to-follow and build on the basics learned before. These books can be used in the classroom or for just plain fun! Two other great pop-up instructional books that I often refer to are authored by Paul Johnson and Esther K. Smith. Paul Johnson's book is a fun guide to all various pop-up mechanisms with easy-to-follow instructions and samples of how to use them. Esther K. Smith's book is a fun-filled book that shows how to make paper toys and simple pop-up mechanisms. Her models and instructions are also easy to follow and assemble! Their books can be found at your local bookstore or via Amazon.com. Enjoy these links and books and don't forget to make them and send them out to all those favorite friends on their special days and occasions. Everyone loves the magic of the pop-up!
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Summer's here and the temperatures are hot, hot, hot! Staying cool is an arduous task even for me! All studio work is done early, early, early and all other chores as well before that sun starts beating down! So, while in the city to celebrate the Fourth, here's some things that are hot, hot, hot... Catch The Chinese Warriors at the Times Discovery Center in New York City. This is a great exhibit with real artifacts from the underground tomb of the First Emperor of China. Actual 6 foot tall ceramic soldiers, officers and their stallions grace the exhibit as well as other artifacts taken from the tomb of China's First Emperor. Up until August this is a crowd pleaser for children and adults. Also, catch Tracy Bennett as Judy Garland at the Belasco Theater on 44th Street in "The End of the Rainbow". A fabulous show that can be done after seeing the great antiquities mentioned above in the Times Discovery Center on 44th Street! It's a great way to spend a hot, hot day in a hot, hot city. Be sure to cool down and hydrate and enjoy Carmine's for a bite in between or after the shows! Tickets for both events can be purchased through Ticketmaster or on their respective sites.
Another great way to spend a hot, hot day in the big apple is to check out the new gallery exhibits at Pavel Zoubok Gallery and Denise Bibro Gallery in Chelsea. "I'll Take You There" opens at Pavel Zoubok and Denise Bibro has a great summer exhibit of favorite gallery artists such as David Barnet and Dusty Boynton. Stroll around and stop for a quick coffee or water at some of the great cafes and restaurants in Chelsea. Another great hot, hot spot will be in Asheville come August. The Miniature Book Society is having their annual enclave at the Asheville Bookworks and in celebration of all things great and small, the Bookworks is having an exhibit of miniature pop-ups entitled "Mini-Pops". This writer has a work in the exhibit and the Bookworks always has great exhibits and classes. To coincide with the enclave, Shawn Sheehy will be teaching a two-day workshop on pop-ups for miniature books. Check out their website for information but as of this date, the workshop is full! To all things great and small! So stay cool and if you're in need of a hot, hot spot, check out some of the above or email me with some of your favorite escapes, books, or anything Summer is almost upon us. And, school is almost out. Do you have plans for your summer days poolside or elsewhere? To help you stay creative during the fun days of summer, here are three book selections that will keep creativity flowing during the lazy hazy days of summer. First up: Making Mini Books: Big Ideas for 30+ Little Projects by Kathleen McCaffery. Everyone loves handmade books--and these adorable mini volumes are generally easier to craft than their larger counterparts! Some even require only folding and stapling. This charming collection includes beautiful leather-clad journals, block print notepads, accordion-fold mini-zines, and others that feature interior pockets, unique closures, colorful stitching, and eye-catching bindings. An invaluable illustrated stitch guide provides the essential info for every binding. Second up: 1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art by Sandra Salamony edited by Peter and Donna Thomas. This book is a timeless art form, one that is as alive today as ever before, and artists continue to explore and explode the boundaries of what a book is and can be. In this beautiful collection, you will experience close-up various aspects of hand-crafted books: covers, bindings, scrolls, folded and origami structures and books made from found objects. You will find richly illustrated and calligraphed pages as well as books created from a variety of printed processes. Ingenuity and creativity abounds in this carefully curated collection of both historically important and modern works. Third up and one that shows examples of Master Book Makers: Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artists
This collection in the popular Masters series, chosen and introduced by one of the world's top curators, offers field-defining work from 43 master book artists. The selections demonstrate conceptual, aesthetic, and technical excellence, as well as incredible beauty. Brief comments from the artists about their work, careers, and philosophies accompany the stunning images of their most innovative and technically accomplished book art achievements. All three of these wonderful books will create a summer filled with bookish dreams and creations! Happy Father's Day, Happy Last Day of School and Happy Summer! Happy Easter! Spring is here and the trees are blooming and daffodils greet me! It's lovely weather and the perfect month to get away for a weekend in New York City! So tie on those sneakers and get moving! Chelsea has some wonderful exhibits up for April. Check out Beverly Pepper at the Marlborough; Adolf Gottlieb at the Pace Gallery and other great exhibits throughout Chelsea too numerous to mention! Check out Denise Bibro Gallery, Kim Foster Gallery and BitForms all on 20th street in one building. Also in the same building is ACA Galleries who represent Faith Ringgold...eleven floors of great spaces showcasing some fabulous art. And, if you want to donate to the HighLine, their offices are located here! Get up and above Chelsea by trekking on the HighLine. It's been refurbished as an elevated urban garden and is lovely to view the downtown and enjoy a brief respite from gallery hopping.
Uptown check out the hot show right now at MOMA of Cindy Sherman. Although we didn't get there, it's up until June and is always crowded. Get there early as soon as MOMA opens or late in the day for the best viewing. Check out the other galleries as well as they always have great photo and drawing exhibits in these respective galleries. For a night out, also check out two shows! The End of the Rainbow at the Belasco Theater is on and is getting rave reviews...and Frued's Last Session on 40th Street. Tickets for both can be had for under $50. and are both great shows for a night out! Enjoy the blooms and catch some downtime by sitting in Central Park or along Fifth Avenue above 60th Street! Vendors offer soft drinks and bottled water and it's great to see the city in Spring! The International Edible Book Festival is held annually around April 1st. Many countries have held this festival: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States of America, and many more.
April 1st is the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food. April fools' day is also the perfect day to eat your words and play with them as the "books" are consumed on the day of the event. This ephemeral global banquet, in which anyone can participate, is shared by all on the internet and allows everyone to preserve and discover unique bookish nourishments. This festival is a celebration of the ingestion of culture and a way to concretely share a book; it is also a deeper reflexion on our attachment to food and our cultural differences. Founders of this "eat your words" festival are Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron. Judith got the idea over a Thanksgiving turkey with book artists in 1999, and Béatrice created Books2Eat website. Despite the distances everybody can enjoy worldwide's creations. Contacting friends and colleagues; their first event happened in 2000. Since then the festival continues as an annual sensation. Locally, Lafayette College in Easton, PA is holding their festival on Monday, April 2, 2012. Other book arts centers like the Center for Book Arts in New York City, the Minneapolis Center for the Book, and the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center in Kalamazoo, MI are also holding their annual edible book arts festivals! Check out their websites for sites and times! Everyone is invited, individually and collectively, to this world banquet where delicious, surprising bookish foods will be consumed. To learn more and participate, visit, www.books2eat.com Now go "Eat Your Words"! - Excerpted from www.books2eat.com Happy Spring! With it brings a new round of book arts exhibits! Opening this month is "Readers' Art 12: Longing for Home" at the Susan Hensel Gallery, Minneapolis, MN...with a theme of home and what it means to you. This blog's writer has two works in this always inventive and exciting annual exhibit! Also, from NJ is Mary-Ellen Campbell who also has a work in the exhibit. Check it out at http://www.susanhenselgallery.com/. At the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center in Kalamazoo, MI, presents "Good Eats". This is an annual exhibit as well with all 2-d food-related artwork. (I also have a work in this exhibit as well...shameless self-promotion here!) This coincides with their annual Edible Book Fest taking place on April 2nd, where contributors to the Fest make all books edible! In May, their other popular exhibit, "The Illustrated Accordion" will open with another work of mine in the show! For more information, check it out at http://www.kalbookarts.org/category/kbac-gallery/. Also, showing here on the East Coast and closing at the end of this month is an interesting exhibit at the Center for Book Arts entitled "Fine and Dirty" curated by Betty Bright and Jeff Rathermel showcasing letterpress and its use in book arts and more! http://www.centerforbookarts.org/exhibits/archive/showdetail.asp?showID=217 Also, for the lovers of popups, check out this: University of Rochester showcases "Pop-up and Movable Books from the 16th Century to Today". It will be up for awhile and looks to be a great exhibit of pop-ups and moveables. Another fun exhibit that opened at the Santa Fe Community College celebrating the creation of their Center for Book Arts and Printmaking is "BAG Shows Off", an exhibit of book artists from the area exhibiting their wonderful creations...and, yes, I have a piece in this exhibit as well! Enjoy this lovely weather and get out there and make some books!
Well, Valentine's Day is little more than a week away and some of my friends are scrambling and wracking their gray cells for gift ideas. This blog is for them. Here's some books that I have and want to have and will be sending this blog to my significant other to give him some ideas. Here we go! For the book artists out there I have two favorites: Doug Beube: Breaking the Codex, and Bookwork: Medium to Object to Concept to Art by Garrett Stewart. Doug Beube's monograph is a beautiful book showcasing the artist's work from book installations to book sculptures. I just received this and I'm trying to keep my drool marks to a minimum. The second listing includes work by Buzz Spector and many other book artists who use the book in installation, performance and more! For the photography book lovers, try Larry Fink: The Vanities: Hollywood Parties 2000-2009...this is a sumptuous celebration of black and white photography from a contemporary master. Sure to please everyone who loves Hollywood icons and photography. For the purist in landscape and pastels and painting, try Wolf Kahn by Justin Spring. Wolf Kahn's work is lyrical and exquisite in its essence of capturing light and atmosphere in a contemporary mode. Just beautiful. For the contemporary art lover and portrait painter, try Unprecedented Ego: Self Portraits of Lucas Samara by Marla Prather. Also, check out Pinnochio by Carlo Collodi. This catalog of the prints by Jim Dine of Pinnochio is a great gift for the printmaker and contemporary art lover...Enjoy and here's sending some love your way! Happy V Day!
Happy New Year, Happy Groundhog's Day and more! With spring-like temps here in the East, trees are confused, bugs are confused, and daffodils are appearing earlier than normal! But here's some fun things coming up that are sure to warm the hearts and minds for those who love art and book arts! Opening February 9th, is a photo documentation show of the time-period of the "happenings" at the Pace Gallery in Chelsea. With black and white photos of assemblages by Oldenburg, performances by Bob Watts and Allan Kaprow, this is a great celebration of a time frame in art that augmented the birth of many art movements. Be sure to catch this and google the Pace Gallery for more info with great images from the show! Also happening is a great exhibit at Lafayette College in Easton, PA following William Pope L. opening February 11th! One of my favorites, this creative artist will showcase one of his new videos with an exhibit in the adjacent gallery at the Williams Center. On the book arts front, check out some great exhibits at the Center for Book Arts: Fine & Dirty Organized by Betty Bright and Jeff Rathermel, MCBA; Patricia S. Ward: Re/Vision Organized by Alexander Campos, Exec. Dir.; and Ethan Shoshan: Strange Birds . All run from January 18, 2012 - March 31, 2012. Also showing at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea is an exhibit of 2 of my favorite book artists: Spitz and Pollack. These 2 artists collaborate as a team to create some of the most fun and innovative artists' books. Check it out at the Ceres Gallery website...
That's it for now...and Happy Valentine's Day as well! Six days left to Christmas and still more gifts to buy...Of course, I will repeat myself that for those book lovers on your lists who are creative types, nothing beats an artist's book. So, support your local artist book makers and take a gander at www.vampandtramp.com and www.abecedariangallery.com for some great last-minute artsy bookish type gifts! Order now, print out an image of the purchased work and stick it in a card and tell them it's on its way! For other more traditional book on art, crafts, and bookmaking, Amazon has some great offerings from Alison Golden, Gabbrielle Fox, Gwehn Diehn, Esther K. Smith and more! Do the same with the image of the book and tell the recipient, their gift is on its way! What fun! Gifts after Christmas...If poets and artists are on your list, check out another offering of "The Nature of Beyond" by this blog writer and fellow poet, Nancy Scott. Under NEW Release on this website, it is a delightful collaboration between a visual artist and blind poet...well, go figure...but, it works! It's also a great little chapbook for bird lovers, new age enthusiasts and just plain anyone you can't think of what to get them! (Shameless self-promotion going on here! ;-) ...
My boyfriend has shopped Christmas Day from street vendors in New York City as we walked to Penn Station and took all of his gifts for family and friends with him complete with gift bags and more. Where else can you go see Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular and do your last-minute Christmas shopping. Another great idea is to check out your local pharmacy/newstand! Pick up some great magazines for those special people, fill out the subscription cards and drop in the mail and give the magazine to those special people telling them they will be receiving the gift that keeps on giving! This one works wonders for me as I know every month they'll receive something fun to read which may fuel their interests or broaden their minds! Gift cards from Roundabout Theater, Broadway-Box.com for tickets work well for theater buffs and local movie buffs will always cheer at getting gift cards to their favorite local theaters! I throw in a box of microwave popcorn with the gift cards and I'm good to go on this! I like to support local merchants and buy gift cards for merchandise from little boutiques that offer something unique and it gets someone who may not be familiar with local gems to get them out and about! So here's to a great 2011 Holiday Season and don't shop 'til you drop! Have a wonderful time! Okay, the turkey sandwiches are gone...stuffin' long gone...but, tomorrow is Cyber Monday following Black Friday, this is the equivalent of Black Friday online! Whoohoo...free shipping, great rates and great items make shopping online pretty great all from the comfort of my armchair...but, sometimes I need something a little different...for that unique or hard-to-buy for person...here's some of my favorites. I like to make a donation to the person's favorite charity in their name: animals, children, environmental, libraries and educational non-profits are high on my list for this type of gift. It gives twice--once for the recipient who knows their gift is helping their favorite charity and once for the giver who also feels they are giving the gift that makes the world a better place. Donating to the SPCA, local public library, local YMCA/YWCA, or Big Brother/Big Sister as well as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace always brings a glow to both giver and receiver. Since I love classes, I've received gift certificates to local arts center workshops/classes as well as gift certificates to the Center for Book Arts to be used for classes or handmade artist's books...these are my favorites... :D This is a great way to support the arts locally. Give a membership to the local arts/historical museum or a gift certificate for classes at the local arts center or a membership to a local arts organization. Another great idea for those hard-to-buy for people is a magazine subscription geared to their passion...something like "Travel", "Architectural Digest", "Food and Wine", etc. definitely is the gift that keeps on giving 12 months a year. Gift certificates to art cinemas are a great way to get people to those movies that never quite make it to the chain cinnemas and supports indie filmmakers. I've given tickets to local film festivals with a bottle of wine and heard about the gift for months because of the film discussions that ensued. I think gift cards and gift certificates from local small businesses is a great way to shop local and buy local. Local, small businesses are more intimate and unique and gift certificates or gift cards from local businesses is a great way to support local entrepreneurs and the local economy...unique one-of-a-kind items abound and aren't carried by larger retailers. So, here's to Cyber Monday...a lot of gift-buying will occur but not everyone will be satisfied as there is always that unique person or the person who has everything that may need a little more effort to buy for...hope some of these ideas help! Here's to a stress-free holiday! Only 4.5 hours to Cyber Monday...now, where's that coffee mug?
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AuthorMaryann J. Riker, owner of JUSTARIP Press is a mixed-media artist who delights in designing and creating artist's books and creating collaborative book art projects as well as viewing other book artists' work. She definitely enjoys the process! Archives
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