BOOKMAKING WORKSHOP

Imagination, Experimentation and Play!

April 14, 2021 By Debra Disman

Free your imagination, experiment, and….PLAY!

Join us for this art and bookmaking online workshop, source your own materials, and create your own exploratory masterpiece! Details in the flier below.

Presented by The California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, part of the national Guild of Book Workers, this workshop is a point of departure for anyone at any skill level who has a desire to explore the world of book arts in a safe, supportive and fun online environment.

Please contact me through the site contact form with any questions.
Hope to see you there!!!!

Marbling Unfurled: Making Marbled Scrolls at the Granada Hills Library

May 24, 2019 By Debra Disman

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 Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, I led a workshop for all on how to marble paper, create scrolls and put these two forms together into one of the oldest book structures extant.

Scrollwork made by an adult artist at a UCLA-Fowler Museum program and generously gifted to me, and which I often use as a sample/model to inspire students.

We begin by floating specially formulated inks on the surface of a tub of water. The ink colors can be gently moved around to create designs. Papers are then carefully lowered onto the surface of the “inked” water, and pick up the designs, like a monoprint!

The marbled papers are lifted out of the tub, placed on and under and blotted with paper towels, which absorb excess water and help with the drying process.

The results can be delicate pastel,

or stronger colors and patterns, depending on the colors and handling of the inks.

While their marbled papers were drying, participants chose bright tagboard papers for their scrolls and added wooden dowels at the vertical top and bottom of the pieces. They then added their marbled papers and a myriad of other materials!

We used both glue sticks and tacky glue, depending on the weight of the materials added.

The results were resplendent, with the softer strength marbled papers contrasting with gold ribbon and more.

Intergenerational attendance enriched the experience, as participants of all ages engaged their creativity and learned new skills in the process.

Whole families joined us, even with very young attendees! Hopefully, these young parents of two got a break.

Attendees young and old loved adding two and three-dimensional stickers,

washi tape, ribbon and string,

putting them all together in imaginative and innovative ways to create singular scrollworks.

This says it all. The Library belongs to Everyone!

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

March 22, 2019 By Debra Disman

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

February 13, 2019 By Debra Disman

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.

Freedom of Expression and More…

January 30, 2019 By Debra Disman

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!

The Sheltering Book Chapter 3

May 20, 2017 By Debra Disman

The Sheltering Book Chapter 3

I am honored to have been one of 17 artists who received an inaugural ‘The WORD Grant 2016: The Bruce Geller Memorial Prize” from the Institute for Jewish Creativity, a project of American Jewish University, to create, “The Sheltering Book“.

“The Sheltering Book will be a life-sized book structure which will become the backdrop for community bookmaking workshops drawing parallels between the meaning and architecture of the book, and that of the Sukkah. The project also explores the relationship between the public sphere and private space, whether that space be our personal creativity, where we create, or what we create.” —Debra Disman

“The WORD Grant, a project of American Jewish University’s Institute for Jewish Creativity, supports artists creating projects that explore Jewish ideas, themes, tradition, history, and identity. We believe in supporting a contemporary, vibrant, Jewish cultural landscape in Los Angeles.” —The Institute for Jewish Creativity

Made of corrugated cardboard, primed, base-painted, and treated with layers of transparent color, the Sheltering Book becomes a Sukkah With the addition of dyed netting stenciled with ferns, the “s’chach“, roof of the Sukkah.