Debra Disman

Artist

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Artist in Residence

Getting Lit: Making Matchbox Books at the Granada Hills Public Library

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It has been exciting to lead programs at the Granada Hills Branch Library of the LAPL, as part of  my Artist Residency there:  “We Write the Book“, supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

In honor of Women’s History Month, I led a workshop on how to create mini “matchbox books”.  Open to the whole community, participants included families, seniors, children, adults and youth.  Participants used actual matchboxes as the container or “cover of their books, and folded accordion pages to place inside them. I had appropriately-sized images of the work of five amazing women artists, who the makers learned about, and used in and on their pieces.

Faith Ringgold of New York City,  Yayoi Kusama of Japan,  Liza Lou    of Los Angeles,  Frida Kahlo   of Mexico, and  Georgia O’Keeffe of New Mexico were featured, nd participants incorporated images of their work and the artists themselves into their projects, hopefully learning about them and being inspired in the process


Families work together.


Honored members of the Friends of the Library joined us.


Mother and daughter work side by side.


I couldn’t agree more!


Purple and pink…perennial favorites.

 
Kusama’s polka dots rule….


Kahlo graces the cover…


Our fearless, peerless teen librarian, Kristin Peers, joins the fun!

It is such an honor to serve this community as Artist in Residence, and get to know the families and individuals who frequent the Branch, as well as its awesome Staff.

Gratitudes!

Seeing Double Vision: Double Flower Bookmaking

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It has been exciting to lead programs at the Granada Hills Branch Library of the LAPL, as part of  my Artist Residency there:  “We Write the Book“, supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

In honor of  Chinese New Year, community members participated in creating “Double Flower” books (also known as “Exploding Books”).

Both adults and children learned to fold and “pop-out” the basic structure. They then made several and glued them together to create a  long or short book of repeated folded forms  that flatten into a single square. Finally, they had a blast adding covers and a tie if they wished, and embellishing their creations with all manner of materials.


Sisters with their folded up books: books closed..


Books open!


Taking the materials in another direction…


Mom gets into the act making her own Double Flower creation.

 


I also taught the “Turkish Map Fold”, (but that is another story…), and this intrepid maker was able to create one on her own!


Dad gets a gift from daughter…


The work of our hands…

Celebrating the beauty of the holiday, in community, creating together.

Beach, Books and Shelter

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Now that The Sheltering Book and The Big Beach Book are no more, except for fragments, in photos, and in memory, I wanted to look at the one structure/two projects piece in greater depth, and see the different ways the large book co-created in community was used. [Read more…] about Beach, Books and Shelter

Freedom of Expression and More…

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It has been exciting to lead programs at the Granada Hills Branch Library of the LAPL, as part of  my Artist Residency there:  “We Write the Book“, supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and freedom in all its forms, participants created “single signature” sewn  and glued books, and then used their Freedom of Expression to develop and embellish the covers. A “signature” is a gathering of folded sheets that create pages for a book. Single signature bookbinding refers to a group of sheets (usually paper)  folded in the middle and bound together through sewing through their folds.

Although our program was originally planned for teens and “tweens”, several families attended including a number of dads with children. We had a wonderful time!


Sister and brother enjoy the delight of adding to their books after working step by step sewing and gluing to create them.


The glory of patterns. This young participant is age 3!


She attended with her mother.


In the background, mom and dad look on, taking a well-deserved break and enjoying the fun from the sidelines as their children worked and played.


Father offers support and presence to his son.


Our fearless leader, Branch Manager Pam, enjoys some creative “play” time, adding washi (decorative paper) tape to her book.

There is something very satisfying about hand-sewing a book together. It feels real…permanent. The work of our hands on a whole other level.
Hopefully, these books will continue to be developed at home, and most importantly, used!

 

“Be Part of the Story”: VAPA Students Make Books

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At a recent series of bookmaking workshops at Verdugo Hills High School, Visual and Performing Arts  (VAPA) students in VAPA Art and English classes learned to make their own books which they then shared with others in the school library, in  a singular exhibition and reading.

Thus we engaged visual, literary and performing/presentational art forms in a single four part series,.


“Be You”, an important message of the series.


Student artists set up their own books in the school library.


Then presented their works to an audience of other students, who had also participated in the program.


Some went up in pairs…(safety in numbers?),


While some braved it alone…


All expressed pride,


and absolute individuality.

I only wishg we had longer. It was incredibly fun, and gratifying to see these Visual Art and English students take off with the forms learned, and skills attained through the program.

Many thanks go out to Amanda  Swann, VAPA Coordinator and theater educator, Amy Lesserman VAPA English class teacher, Tina Staley, Art teacher, and Lisa Cheby, school librarian, who worked closely with me to make this experience happen.

Kudos and gratitudes!

“It’s About the Story”: VAPA Students Make Books

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At a recent series of bookmaking workshops at Verdugo Hills High School, Visual and Performing Arts  (VAPA) students in VAPA Art and English classes learned to make their own books which they then shared with others in the school library.

Below is a sampling of their stunning works…

 

The works speak for themselves, and were astonishing to see. With technical guidance, creative support and a bit of , students learned to create the versatile flag book structure, and then took off with it.