The Publication of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers

www.dvc-gbw.org MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Pressing Matter

Winter 2014

News from Near and Far

In this issue
Annual meeting Page 2 6 questions Review Gold Tooling Page 4 Page 3 Page 5

ello DVC Members, January is sometimes a busy month for our chapter. During November and December, I am always thinking lets wait until after the holidays to do that Then we have a pile of things to do in January! We had our bowling party, we kicked off our collaborative book project, and we put together this newsletter. Not bad at all.

DELAWARE VALLEY CHAPTER OFFICERS Jennifer Rosner Chapter Chair Alice Austin Secretary, Treasurer, Exhibitions Denise Carbone Programs Co-chair

Jon Snyder Newsletter Designer Valeria Kremser Webmaster

The Guild of Book Bowling Workers at the PEP Bowl - more on Page 7.

In getting ready to send out this newsletter, I noticed that we have a whopping 77 members! This is an all-time high and I am so pleased to see our chapter continue to grow. I think this is partly because we have lots of interesting projects (like our collaborative books) and some great opportunities to exhibit (like the upcoming miniature book exhibit at Oberlin) and we just plain like hanging out together (the bowling party!) We have more of that in the works for this coming year. You will see an invitation to our Annual Meeting in this newsletter. I hope you will come! To inspire those who are participating in our next collaborative book project, we will look at some maps from the Library Companys collection. We will have some food and wine and, of course, we will have a (short) meeting. Jennifer Rosner Chapter Chair

Austin Plann-Curley Wilmington, DE Graham Patten Somerville, MA James E. Welker Janesville, WI Kyra Devine Philadelphia, PA Mary P. Wootton Gettysburg, PA Ruth Scott Blackson Philadelphia, PA Susannah Horrom Towson, MD

NEW MEMBERS:

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Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers PRESSING MATTERS

Winter 2014

Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers - March 13, 2014
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Library Company of Philadelphia 1314 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107

2014 Annual Meeting

Schedule of Events
5:00 - 5:45 Wine and snacks 5:45 - 6:15 Meeting (please bring your ideas!) 6:15 - 7:00 See some map books from the Library Companys collection

Please Come!

RSVP: dvcgbw@verizon.net or call Jennifer Rosner 215-546-3181

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Ritual A single-sheet book exhibit

fter spending a cold afternoon visiting galleries in Old City, I was happy to be welcomed in and offered a cup of tea and a comfortable chair at 110 Church Gallery. I was saving the best for last and I was not disappointed.What a great idea! Thank you Stella and Margaret. You have created a sense of community that is a priceless feature in the gallery scene.The exhibit is "Ritual" and there are over 200 books by 100 artists on view and available for handling, reading, looking, enjoying and buying. The open call for books required that artists use one piece of paper, no larger than 11" x 17" and provided instructions on how to fold this paper into a book. Entry fee was $15 for one to three books, prices were set by artists and no commissions were taken. Only two of our guild members, Valeria Kremser and Lesley The exhibit at 110 Church Gallery in Old City Mitchell took advantage of this event, each making beautiful books. I spent two hours happily exploring the books and still didn't finish. Luckily, there is an online catalog. I bought a wonderful book by Barbara Henry,My Winter Coat, which is letterpress printed, illustrated with linoleum prints, and includes a clever insert. Thank you Barbara for pricing this at a very affordable $20! Books were made by a wide range of individuals. Some of the books were made by poets, some by children, some by Oasis, a program for individuals with mental illness. I found the books by this last group striking. Overall, I really enjoyed the diversity of the books and their arrangement on shallow shelves allowed for easy viewing and provided an exciting wall of artwork to be digested in manageable bits. For those who missed the event, here is the online catalog is viewable at http://heavybubble.com/ritual/ ritual-catalog Lesley Mitchells book. Alice Austin

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Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers PRESSING MATTERS

Winter 2014

6 Questions - Graham Patton 1 5 2

Where are you from originally? I grew up in the woods of Ashby, Massachusetts.

How long have you been a member of the GBW? Since 2011 three years.

thing ridiculously small, with the caveat that it must open and function beautifully.

When did you realize you wanted to learn bookbinding? 2003. I believe it was the 4th of September. I got a job at my college library doing minor book repairs, and saw the insides of a book for the first time. First: It suddenly dawned on me that books are made, and people make them, and I could make them! Second: I realized that books were the medium that the hubbub of ideas, stories, images, materials, and mechanisms in my head was clamoring for. Someday Ill be able to make them all happen. The compulsion to copy any interesting thing that captures my attention is also just in my nature that day it was a book.

What is your favorite book structure these days? Really overbuilt German wooden-boarded gothic bindings, with ship rigging for sewing thread. Chunky beyond reason. And to balance that, I also love any-

What are you working on right now? I am working on a tribute to R. Buckminster Fuller that involves woodcut printing, bamboo popout structures, and braided Dacron lashing. I am also learning to write Carolingian Minuscule hand in miniature for a rather small (1x1.5cm) vellum manuscript I will be binding soon. Im in my third and final year as a graduate student at the Buffalo State College art conservation program, specializing in rare book conservation. This year consists of an internship at the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University, working on special collections materials from the various Harvard libraries.

Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us. I enjoy unicycling and playing the violin, but not at the same time.

Graham Pattons miniature book with his studio in the background.

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Gold-tooling with Jamie Kamph

n early November of last year, the DVC hosted a gold tooling workshop taught by long-time member Jamie Kamph. Jamie taught us traditional gold tooling with hand stamps using gold leaf and Fixor. The techniques in this final step of the bookbinding process are considered by many to be most difficult to perfect. We learned that it will take a lot of practice to become even proficient at gold tooling! The first day was hard on all of us. But by the second day, we had each had our own small triumphs. Practice makes perfect! JWR See a video of the class here

Jamie Kamph has the full attention of Denise Carbone, Ruth Scott Blackson and Alice Austin as she demonstrates glaire technique.

Scribing guides directly on the leather.

Rolling a ruled line.

Cutting gold foil.

Stamping a design using a very hot tool!

One of the examples of Jamies beautiful gold-tooling work she shared with the class.

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Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers PRESSING MATTERS

Winter 2014

Bookbinders, Beer & Bowling!

ineteen chapter members got together in South Philly this past January for a very fun bowling party. This party had been scheduled for early December but had to be canceled because of a snow storm. But maybe it was a good thing since we had such a good turnout. We were especially happy to have our grad students there since classes hadnt started yet. Most of us hadnt bowled in years! This may become an annual event. Our chapter paid all costs and it was money well spent. PEP Bowl is located at Broad and Federal and is a vintage bowling alley dating back to the 1950s. The cost of renting the lanes goes to providing employment and services to people with developmental disabilities. Thanks go to Val for suggesting this event! Most of us have not bowled in many years, but that did not diminish the fun factor!

Scores:
Sharon Hildebrand 70 Val Kremser 124 Jennifer Rosner 103 Karen Lightener 80 Alice Austin 64 Jon Snyder 91 Eriko Takahashi 66 Denise Carbone 88 Kyra Devine 98 James Engelbart 82 Erin Malkowski 129 Ruth Scott Blackson 55

See more photos here

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Secondary Colors Exhibit

ooks from the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers were on exhibit in the Museum Library at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from October 1, 2013 - February 2, 2014. The exhibit looked fabulous and we owe many thanks to Evan Towle, Librarian, and Jude Robison and Sharon Hildebrand for installation and for suggesting the library. The members of the DVC are grateful for all the work and enthusiasm that went into making this exhibit so beautiful. We all love books and love to make books. But it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share with others, and what better place than a library!

WORKSHOPS IN NORTH CAROLINA THIS SUMMER

Alice Austin will be teaching a workshop called Building Books and Imagery this June 15-20, 2014 at the Cullowhee Mountain Arts Summer Program at Western Carolina University in Franklin, NC, 45 miles west of Asheville. Other classes in the book arts will be offered throughout the summer at this beautiful location. There will be workshops taught by both Carolyn Shattuck and Tim Ely in June, and Karen Hamner in July. For more information, go to Cullowhees web site

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Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers PRESSING MATTERS

Winter 2014

In Memoriam:
Elke Shihadeh
DVC member, Elke M. Shihadeh, 78, of Ardmore died of pneumonia Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 at home. The former Elke Nissen was married to bookbinder Fred H. Shihadeh, and worked with him until his death in 2004. Elke Shihadeh had just recently renewed her membership to the DVC and had attended a workshop in April. It was nice to see her again after a long hiatus as a member and it was a pleasure to see her enjoying bookbinding more for fun than for work. To read more about Elke click here: http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-27/news/46641351_1_rare-booksniece-fred-h

John Fatula

Former DVC member John Fatula, 76, died in Philadelphia on December 29, 2013 after a battle with Lewy Body Dementia. He and his wife Audrey Lee Fatula were members of the DVC until recently. John was a former architect who enjoyed making books. It was a pleasure to have both John and Audrey at DVC events and he will be missed. Click here to read more about John ... http://kirkandniceinc.tributes.com/our_obituaries/John-A.-Fatula-97470960