My first offering will be the elegant Japanese Stab-bound Book. Great for beginners, this class will cover a few variations on the basic binding method. Students will end up with two to three books and notes to continue bookbinding at home. Materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own materials if you wish. Let me know in advance if you would like a set of tools (bone folder, scalpel or X-acto knife, and awl) and I will order them for you. No previous bookbinding experience necessary! Class is limited to 5 people, but if there is an overflow, I will set up additional dates. Cost is $30.

Call or email to secure your spot!
406.396.1911
info@thevespiary.com

I’m  planning some additional classes in the future. keep your eye open for the following:

• Biblio-Biology - Learn the basics of book anatomy and the terminology of bookbinding.
• Flag Book - A modified accordian spine structure, with rows of flags attached in opposing directions that unfold into a panorama.
• Book Medic 101 - Learn how to set up a basic book repair station and an acquire an arsenal of simple archivally sound repair techniques.
• Accordian (Fold) Festival - Several accordian fold spine structures will be explored in this class.

(Apologies to those who have already received an invite - I’m trying to cover all my bases!)

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That said, the gif above was made from the 4 general choices I’m going with.

Red = Caliente

Yellow = Firefly

Green = Seedling

Blue-grey = Templeton Grey

And don’t forget what the shed looked like at the beginning of the project!

See, it looks the same, right?

I ask, because recently a project on the Instructables website really set me off. I had to really examine it to make sure it was not a tongue-in-cheek parody, but I believe it to be a genuine attempt at repairing a book that has detached from its binding. Each step was more horrific than the next (wait til the last step - you’ll lose your mind), and resulted in an irreversible destruction of a book that could have easily been rehabilitated.

It was not a valuable book.  I am not completely opposed to modifying books (i.e. artist’s books, book sculpture, books into purses) as long as some attention is paid to the value (dollar and intrinsic) and scarcity of the item.  And I feel a little hypocritical in my horror, since I have tried to teach myself to do a number of things that stand firmly in the territory of professionals.  Perhaps it was the fact that this set of instructions was featured on the Instructables home page.  Perhaps it was something about the tone of the author, or his lack of research into the basic fundamentals of bookbinding.

The book as a piece of technology is deceptively complex. It is such a ubiquitous object in our modern lives that people take this complexity for granted. I think this has resulted in two trends - a severe decrease in the quality of mass-produced bindings, and an under-appreciation for the skill of the hand-bookbinder. So many times I have heard the words, “can’t you just fix this with a little Elmer’s down the spine?” or “I thought I could just tape it back together.” I never hear people tell their auto mechanic, “I’m sure you could fix that belt with a little duct tape,” unless it’s someone working on my ancient VW camper.

What do you think of current attitudes and trends in the DIY universe? If you’re a professional, how do you handle enthusiastic but totally wrong-headed amateurism? Are you a rabid ambassador of your craft, educating anyone who will sit still long enough to hear out your elevator pitch? Post your thoughts in the comments.

The upstairs is a great little reading nook, and in winter is often 10 degrees warmer than the workspace below, so it’s sometimes TOO tempting to bail on working and go up to read instead. I finished my Master’s of Library Science this past December (hence the big gap in blog posts), and have now been able to get back into free reading again. I just devoured People of the Book (yes, the heroine is a book conservator), and am now tucking into A Universal History of the Destruction of Books (I know, light reading, right?).  The author makes a compelling point in the first chapter that “the discovery of the earliest books also establishes the date of their earliest destruction.”  But that’s a theme for another post… Anyway, it’s been great to watch the snow fall in the garden through the skylight while indulging in my favorite pastime.

The outside of the shed is still just covered in building wrap as I try to search for the perfect siding. So far I’ve contemplated Hardi-board, ship-lap, dutch-lap, and a half-half wood siding + weathered corrugate metal. I think to match the old building and the flavor of the neighborhood, I’m going to try to find some dutch-lap wood siding, either locally milled or reclaimed.

Bonus! The cat has figured out how to get into that snuggly loft:

The second video I heard about on the Book-Arts list-serv. It was made by Abigail Uhteg who recently finished an internship at the Women’s Studio Workshop. She made a video flipbook of 3000 photos that she took over the course of two months that detail her process of constructing an edition of 35 artist’s books. I love how the books appear to sew themselves, and how you can briefly see the artist joyfully jump after couching some paper.

I’ve also been addicted to Craft in America, but that’s another story…

A pal of mine in Helena just alerted me to this fascinating book art exhibit that is touring Montana and hopefully the rest of the nation.  The exhibit is called “Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate” and is a testament to how creativity can be used to combat bigotry.  Some time ago, the Montana Human Rights Network acquired a vast number of white-supremacist books. Instead of destroying them, they were donated to various artists to be part of a show with the goals of educating and stimulating dialogue about racism. The show is currently at the Jesse Wilbur Gallery in Bozeman from October 15 til December 15.  It is also scheduled to be shown at Montana State University’s Helen Copeland Gallery from November 23 to December 18. With the frightening resurgence of white supremacist groups (especially here in Montana), it is vital that we combat hate with creativity and resourcefulness.

If you can’t make it (or don’t want to wait til it starts traveling outside of Montana), you can find some of the work included in this collection online. Check out the following:

• Lisa Jarrett (click on “In Equality”)
• Marc Morris
• Robbie McClaran
• Ralph Esposito
• David Kamm

It’s getting close to the end and I’m starting to look at workbench and bookshelf plans.  If you have any favorites, pass them my way.  I’m hoping to use up some of the smaller (but very wabi-sabi) leftover pieces.  Here’s a link to a website that had a bunch of woodworking benches.  I think they’ll work out well slightly modified.

Oh yeah, one update I hadn’t put in - see this panel with the holes in it?

Unhappily, it caused me a fairly major injury.  We drilled comparable holes into some 2×4s as vents for the roofline.  The paddlebit on the drill I was using caught in the wood and instead of the bit spinning, the drill spun, and ripped my right arm out of socket.  I’ve got dislocation in my genes it seems, as this is not the first time, but everyone please do your rotator cuff exercises, and watch out for those paddlebit drills!

It’s really getting exciting now. June and July were all about getting some major work done on the inside of the shed.  We put in the reading/lounging loft (for me, the most anticipated part of the project), and are almost finished with the floor.  This floor just screams Montana. It’s locally harvested circle sawn fir from Superior Hardwoods right here in Missoula. On seeing photos of the floor boards, a friend pointed out that the circle saw was invented by a Shaker woman named Tabitha Babbitt.  The texture that the circle saw leaves on the boards makes me think of Old West saloons, and the stain we just put on over the weekend makes it look like it’s 100 years old again.

Below are some pics of the project, and as always, more can be found in this Flickr photo set.