Debra Disman

Artist

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Accordion Binding

Bookmaking at the Community Corporation of Santa Monica With 18th Street Arts Center!

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I had the wonderful opportunity to lead a bookmaking workshop through 18th Street Arts Center for the Community Corporation of Santa Monica at one of their residential buildings.

Supported by the magical Leigh Ann Hahn and intern Ning Sun, I taught an engaging and creative group how to create the “Folded Fan Book” structure, and encouraged them to make their project their own through conceptual development and adornment, utilizing a marvelous array of decorative papers, stickers and leveraging  their own imaginations!


I am always amazed and humbled at the extent of people’s creativity, ability and efforts.
Bravo…

Celebrating Día de Muertos with Papel Picado!

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In celebration of  Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I led a bookmaking workshop that featured Papel Picado (The art and craft of decorative cut paper) as part of my artist residency in bookmaking  at the the Panorama City Branch Library, supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Participants learned the Accordion Fold  technique, and used it to create 11″ high  Accordion Fold Books.

They then created simple Papel Picado  designs, exploring paper cutting techniques using tissue paper sheets, and added these  colorful (or black-) works to our books in various ways.

All of the techniques and materials demonstrated online, through Zoom.

The participants were adventurous, good-humored, and supportive of each other as they moved through the process, and created the  beautiful works pictured below.

BRAVO!

This is truly teaching artistry, and learning,  for the 21st Century!

 


Using the simplest techniques, participants used color and cutting to create wondrous designs, which they layered onto to and into their Accordion Fold Books.


Paper cutting using the thin sheets of tissue paper can be demanding under the best of circumstances,. I marveled at what our participants were able to accomplish guided by an online workshop!


Here, black tissue paper is employed to magical and mysterious effect.


Participants also used origami paper to create their Papel Picado designs.


Participants joined the workshop from Arizona, Montreal, and across Los Angeles County, some with grandchildren, demonstrating the potential of the internet and its global reach.


Photographing through a computer screen can be challenging, but the brilliance of these colors and repeated cut-out designs cannot be denied!

THE ART OF THE BOOK at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art!

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Kids Art Class: Fall Art Camp—The Art of the Book (Ages 9–12)

Create your own books using fun folding and gluing techniques! Add your own writings, drawings, photographs, and more! Sketchbook, journal, album—what will YOUR book become? Each class will teach techniques for creating fun and fantastic books, and unleash your imagination!
With artist Debra Disman.

Join on your computer or tablet wherever you have internet. A Zoom link will be sent prior to camp start. Materials are included in tuition.

Three Days: Monday–Wednesday, November 23–25

  • Mon, Nov 23, Tuesday Nov 24, Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
  • 10 am–12 pm PT
  • Online
  • Art Camp is designed for children ages 9-12; children ages 8 and under will not be admitted.
  • NexGenLA Members $100; General Public $125
  • Pre-registration is required for all classes
  • Tuition includes materials.
  • Additional fee for shipping.
  • For additional art class information, please contact ArtClasses@lacma.org.
  • For ticketing support, contact boxoffice@lacma.org.
  • Please visit LACMA’s FAQ page for our refund policy.
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Children Create Unique Handmade Books

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It was a gift to be able to work with students every day for five weeks this past summer, and introduce them to the book arts as well as other media. As a teaching artist, we often only see students once a week, so to be able to watch them learn and grow on a daily basis was a thrill!

In our “Creating Unique Handmade Books” class, students aged 6-8 learned and created a variety of book structures while exploring all sorts of materials. They learned about folding, gluing, sewing, and book structures including accordion, single signature, flag book, and side binding.

At the end of our time together, parents were invited to celebrate their bookish achievements, and a good time was had by all!


We used a wide variety of materials to create our books, including all sorts of papers, ribbon, stickers, washi tapes, feathers, glues, drawing and writing tools and more!


The accordion or concertina fold is primary in many bookmaking structures. Students learned this process then applied it to several projects.


Our wonderful TA wrote personal notes to all the students!


Single signature (a gathering of pages sewn together through the fold) structures were fun for the students to create, because they looked to them like “real” books.


We invited families to join us the second to last day of class to see all the students had created.


This student adores pattern and collage and had an impressive array of books featuring these by the end of our class session.


Mother and daughter peruse her handmade books together.


A young student shines as she shares her accordion-folded and flag books with her parents.


Sharing books with Dad…this student created so many books he made a second portfolio to hold them all!

It was hard to say goodbye after such storied adventures this summer, but it is my hope that these students will continue to exercise their imaginations as they make books and develop their skills and creativity.
They are well on their way!