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Debra Disman

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Artists' Books

National Hispanic Heritage Month: A Bookish Celebration

October 4, 2018 By Debra Disman

In our recent program at the Granada Hills Branch Library of the LAPL,  23 participants created “folded fan” books, comprised of an accordion spine, front and back covers, and fan pages.  In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, they added their own “Picado Papel“, decoratively cut and punched papers, which added a special touch to their creations.

Families turned out, and parents worked closely with children to achieve their artistic visions! Especially heartwarming was the number of Dads who devoted themselves to supporting their sons and daughters through the process, while creating beautiful works themselves. And let’s not forget the Moms! It is wonderful to see adults give themselves over to the creative process. Parents, and all people, so need this time.

This workshop was part of my artist residency project: “We Write the Book“, supported by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles.  Gratitudes!

 


Children’s Librarian extraordinaire, Alice Schock, engages with a young patron, artist and participant.


Like Mother, like Daughter…


The work of our hands…and creative ways of using shaped hole punchers to create Picado Papel!


Sisters and friends work together.


This young teen, age 13, took off with a Halloween theme.


Through careful work, discerning choices, and elegant handicraft, she designed a book that we hope she will keep forever!


This young maker transformed images of a noted Los Angeles mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and used the beautiful colors as a surface to create a repeated design with a butterfly-shaped hole puncher.


Piper and her Dad attended an earlier workshop, and were back again creating happily together.


Father and daughter work closely on her book. her Mom said that though she herself loves scrapbooking, she could never get Dad to do it. Now, maybe he might, after seeing how much fun cutting, pasting and arranging are!


Here is Mom at work on her own masterpiece, along with older daughter.


Sebastian and his Dad work side by side. spending precious time together.


Yellow blossoms drift across a luminous pink ground,  floating in a world of warm colors. Washi tape is used to good effect as a framing device on the covers.

 


Benny and Mom have fun. Who says one has to sit on chairs?


These two friends had a blast, and worked with very different color schemes in their projects.


This is Greer’s second workshop. She loves to work with her hands, and even contributed some extra  Washi tape  to the cause!


Our scrapbooking  Mom works on a mini-masterpiece. What patience it takes to punch out all those butterflies, then arrange and glue them to the cover!

But how worth is it was…here is her magnum opus…a treat for the eyes, heart and soul.

Thank You All.

 

Filed Under: Artist in Residence, Artists' Books, Student Work, Teaching Artist Tagged With: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, Artist Residency The Granada Hills Library, ARTIST'S BOOKS, COMMUNITY BOOKMAKING, Concertina Fold Book, DCA, Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of LA, Family Bookmaking, Folded Fan Book, Handmade Books, Hispanic heritage Month, Latino heritage Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, Papel Picado, The Los ANgeles Department of Cultural Affairs, THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM, Washi Tape

The Book As Art v.6.0: Pulp

September 26, 2018 By Debra Disman

Browse the catalogue…

Filed Under: Artists' Books, Exhibitions, New Work, Work Tagged With: ARTIST'S BOOKS, Book as Art, Book as Artv.6: Pulp, Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Decatur Lubrary, DeKalb Library Foundation, Georgia Center for the Book, Lisa Beth Robinson, Sculptural Books, Stephanie Smith, The Book as Art v.6.0: Pulp. Decatur Arts Alliance

FORMATION

September 17, 2018 By Debra Disman

 

I am beyond honored to be a part of  Formation, the Guild of Book Workers triennial members’ exhibition, which has begun a  two year national tour.
The GBW says it best:

Simply defined by Merriam Webster as “an act of giving form or shape to something,” formation can insinuate process, history, creation, change, beginnings, an arrangement, botany and landscape, personal narratives and impersonal storytelling. What makes us into the artists we are? How does our creative process influence the final product? What pushes us to continue to create? People, events, memories all combine to influence the art we make about the world around us, even if our work isn’t explicitly autobiographical.  The Guild of Book Workers’ 2018-2019 exhibition encouraged members to consider how the act of formation spoke to their artistic process.

An accompanying printed exhibition catalog, published this year as a special edition of the Guild of Book Workers’ Journal, will be available for sale at the venues and online at guildofbookworkers.org. The catalog features full color photographs and complete descriptions of each work; biographies of the artists; remarks from jurors Coleen Curry, Graham Patten, and Sarah Smith; and essays by Formation curator Jackie Scott and Guild of Book Workers President Bexx Caswell.

The Formation Exhibition honors the legacy of the book workers’ craft and celebrates some of the finest examples of book arts today. Founded in 1906, the Guild of Book Workers has over 900 members today and is the only national organization dedicated to all of the book arts, including bookbinding, conservation, printing, papermaking, calligraphy, marbling, and artists’ books. At a time when the masses are considering the materiality of the book and its presence or absence as a physical object, it is exciting to showcase the many hand crafts of the book form. The work presented in the Formation Exhibition is a vibrant and dynamic collection of Artists’ Books, Fine Bindings, Fine Press Printing, Calligraphy, and Sculptural Book Works that showcase both the history of the Book Worker’s craft, as well as contemporary interpretations of the book form. The Guild of Book Workers promotes interest in and awareness of the tradition of the book and paper arts by maintaining high standards of workmanship, hosting educational opportunities, and sponsoring exhibits.

Exhibition Schedule:

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minneapolis, MN
June 15–October 21, 2018

Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum
Atlanta, GA
November 1, 2018–March 7, 2019

University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
March 15–May 25, 2019

North Bennet Street School
Boston, MA
June 5–July 27, 2019

University of the Arts
Philadelphia, PA
August 1–October 30, 2019

The Formation Exhibition features 51 works from 46 members that will travel across the U.S. from June 2018 through October 2019. The show opens at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will be held at MCBA until the Guild of Book Workers’ annual Standards of Excellence Seminar in October 2018. Formation will tour the country, stopping at the Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum in Atlanta, GA, UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library, the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. A complete tour schedule is online at guildofbookworkers.org.

 

It was thrilling to see FORMATION featured in The COLOR Issue of  American Craft magazine.

I am looking forward to seeing FORMATION in LA:

University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
March 15–May 25, 2019

Please join us,  in FORMATION!

 

Filed Under: Artists' Books, Exhibitions, New Work, Work Tagged With: American Craft, American Craft The Color Issue, ARTIST'S BOOKS, Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery, Fine Bindings, Fine Press Printing, FORMATION, FORMATION: Guild of Bookworkers Traveling Exhibition, Guild of Book Workers, Guild of Book Workers Formation Book Arts Exhibition, Guild of Book Workers Formation Book Arts Exhibition Begins Two Year National Tour, Los Angeles, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, North Bennet Street School, Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum, Sculptural Book Works, Sculptural Books, the Guild’s triennial members’ exhibition, University of California, University of the Arts

PRAIRIE

September 10, 2018 By Debra Disman

 

“Prairie”, 2018

Inspired, I guess, by the Midwest landscape I was raised in…once all prairie lands, now leafy and not so leafy suburbs reaching to Chicago.

I began the piece, then realized what it was about, as pure a way of working as I can think of at this moment.

The color.

Illinois.
The Chicago suburbs.
Iowa.
Iowa City.

The fields.

The rolling hills.

The endless vistas with no water to speak of.

The place.

Texture.

The texture of a place.


Book board covers. Covers covered in torn strips of tissue paper.


Accordion-fold watercolor paper spine, covered with the same.


Jute cord sewn, stitched and falling.


Board pages become landscape.


Cover stitching.


Spine and page stitching.


Falling cord…


Other side.

“Prairie”, 2018
Book board, board, watercolor paper, tissue paper, jute cord

Filed Under: Artists' Books, New Work, Work Tagged With: Artists' Book/s, Fiber, Handmade Books, Midwest, Prairie, Prairie lands, Sculptural Artist book, Sculptural Book, Sculpture

“The Book as Art 2018: PULP”

September 6, 2018 By Debra Disman

The Book as Art 2018 is an exhibition organized by the Decatur Arts Alliance, the Georgia Center for the Book and the DeKalb Library Foundation.

This sixth year of “The Book as Art” is called:
Book as Art v6: Pulp
Juried by Lisa Beth Robinson, Stephanie Smith and Cynthia Nourse Thompson,
the show runs August 10–September 28  and is open during library hours.
It is held in The Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library,
215 Sycamore St., Decatur, Ga.

“A book begins as a small mass of material, formed and pressed into life by ideas, words, and machines. Pulp becomes paper, becomes thought, becomes word, becomes book, becomes sculpture.

Pulp is the impetus and endgame of these physical book objects. From the tactile complexity of handmade paper, to the sensational tabloid tales of pulp fiction, these objects, in an increasingly digital world, stubbornly survive.

These objects interpret the concept of the book and invite the viewer to look beyond the printed page to where word has become form.

Book As Art: Pulp is the sixth edition of this critically acclaimed artist book exhibition established by the Decatur Arts Alliance in 2013. Entries hail from across the United States and around the world, and from emerging artists as well as recognized masters in the genre. The Book As Art is pleased to present these examples from the finest in the field.” — The Book As Art 2018

I am honored to have two pieces in the show:

Profusion
Artists’ Book/Sculpture
2018, 8.75″ x 24.5″ x 7.75″, book board, paper, hemp cord, canvas


Inside


Detail


Outside

and

Burning Bush
Artists’ Book/Sculpture
2018, 7.5″ x 11″ x 5.5″, book board, paper, hemp cord, canvas


Inside


Detail


Outside

I wish I could see the show.
Los Angeles is just too far away from Georgia!

If You can, please do!
And don’t miss the
Closing Reception | white glove night
Friday, Sept. 27 | 6-8 pm
Join us for one last look at these works of book art. And we’re putting away the “do not touch” signs. Volunteers will provide participants with white gloves to allow firsthand exploration of the books in the exhibition. ––The Book as Art 2018

Sounds like black tie optional, white gloves required.

I hope many view and enjoy before that time.

Kudos to the jurors and organizers on what looks to be a sublime effort.

GrAtItUdEs

 

Filed Under: Artists' Books, Exhibitions, New Work, Work Tagged With: Artist, Artists' Book/s, Book as Art, Book Form, Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Decatur Arts Alliance, Decatur Library, Fiber, Handmade Books, Lisa Beth Robinson, Sculptural, Sculptural Artists' Books, Sculptural Books, Stephanie Smith, The Book as Art v6: Pulp, The Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library

Creating in Compton

August 31, 2018 By Debra Disman

It was wonderful to work with families to create books at the Compton Library.


Participants worked together to create the fun and versatile “flag book” structure.


Community members got to know each other in the library, through the work of their hands.


Siblings and Moms created in community.


Even the Staff got into the creative act.


Creating together brought smiles…


perhaps the greatest gift of all.

Filed Under: Artists' Books, Student Work, Teaching Artist Tagged With: Bookmaking, Books made by Hand, Community Artmaking, Compton, County Library, FAMILY ARTMAKING, Family Bookmaking, Flag Book, LACO, Los Angeles County Library System, The Compton Library

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