BuZzeS: Announcing November's Club Artful

Dear Everyone ~

Cat Bennett, my dear friend & awesome co-teacher, and I are delighted to announce our Club Artful theme for November: Fanciful birds in a slim paper portfolio. We will meet Sunday afternoon Nov. 2 from 2–4pm. It’s also the Sunday that daylight saving time ends. Praise that extra hour for whatever you wish to do before we convene. You could sharpen your colour pencils, trim your papers, artfully arrange your tools, or sip an extra cup of something. 

November is the first session of our second quarter of Clubs. We’ve already shared a few lovely comments we received from students during our first three sessions here. We wanted to add this from Becky F., in nearby Evanston.

This is such a good activity for me. It is pushing me to set aside a bit of time more frequently to do some art. While the drawing part is still somewhat intimidating, the more I play at it and get used to using different techniques, the more confident I get. :) While my hand does not always follow where my brain wants it to go, it usually does not matter! And these small art projects are such a wonderful break from the outside world… Thanks so much to you and Cat for all your efforts. XO, Becky

In our upcoming Club Artful, students will learn how to make a slim gusseted paper portfolio with three interior flaps—for beautifully ensconcing ten-ish pieces of cover-weight paper in random sizes. 

Cat previews what we’ll be doing in the second hour:
 
“Color and the wild swing of a brush is a language unto itself. It speaks of our spirits but doesn’t constrain them. So many times, artists say they want to be ‘free’. I’ve felt the urge myself at times, especially when making observational drawings or paintings when I can get knotted up trying to get things ‘right’. There is a fine balance between rendering the world around us with some accuracy and letting our spirits soar.”

“In this session, we’ll learn to create without too much attention to detail. We’ll get the feel of things and let our brush carry us forward. We’ll learn to mix and blend color and use both a wet and a painted ‘ground’ for our images. We’ll have references of birds as the take-off point but, once we’ve looked at them, we’ll exaggerate color and form to create birds that walk on the wild side. And we’ll be right there with them! They’ll be a good reminder of how we can loosen up and have fun with art too.”

As always we like to assure Everyone: you do not need a specific kit of materials for the Club Artful projects. This is an opportunity to use papers you’ve collected and art supplies you have on hand. We will provide a list (right after you register) detailing exactly what you will need paperwise, including dimensions, and what supplies and tools we will use during the session. Our mantra is Low prep, high charm & plenty of delight!

That said, if you’d prefer to have papers pre-trimmed, our Assorted Sheets for Holding & Befolding presents the papers I used to make my sample portfolios. I was curious myself how the different paper weights would pair up, and I dare say I am quite pleased with the outcome. We have assembled three bewitching (We had to say it!) palettes: True-bluish, Sprightly & Springy, and Rosy & Ruby.
 
We hope you will join us for our upcoming Club Artful adventures!

Club Artful
 
Autumnally, Bari & Cat

BuZzeS: Denise Fiedler puts the ‘ahhh!’ in collage

Dear Everyone ~

I was first introduced to Denise Fiedler and her beguiling collage cards back in 2016 by my postal muse, Alyson Kuhn. I was immediately smitten with Denise’s sense of whimsy and the profusion of textures in her painted paper collage images. I have stocked her cards, and restocked them, and added more designs… for almost a “decade of Denise” now. So, needless to swoon, when I heard that she’d created four collages for this year's holiday stamps from the USPS, I was over the moon! 
 
Alyson bought Denise’s Holiday Cheer stamps on Saturday, September 13, the first day they were available. She had hand-folded an envelope for Denise in advance, added three of Denise’s four stamps (in the spirit of ’xcess!), and had the envelope handsomely hand-cancelled. 

We are delighted to be able to share with Everyone selected bits—the skinny and the snippy— of Alyson’s rambling conversation with Denise.
 
AK:
What was your background material for your collage bits? They look very ‘layery’.
 
DF:
I painted on pages of a vintage horticulture book with many illustrations. I used both gouache and acrylic paint, because I feel there’s more luminosity in paint than flat art paper—and the print offers more texture.

AK:
What size did you work at? And were your final artworks digital?
 
DF:
My original artworks were basically my final artworks. My ‘tweaks’ were manual—for example, I was asked to change the color of the pear, which had been a different shade of green, so I cut a new one. The images are 8 x 10, and that is what I provided to Derry Noyes, my USPS art director. It’s appropriate, being a very hands-on person, that I wasn’t involved in anything mechanical. And finding out that my images would also be notecards was a nice surprise!

AK:
The images are great at notecard size—and on nice toothy cardstock, might I add. So, just painted papers and glue and scissors—and your ‘collage degree’ in visualizing the papery possibilities in everything!
 
DF:
That’s it. I have Japanese scissors, some French, and some British. I used tiny ones for the cardinal’s crown, and longer scissors for the more elongated lines.

AK:
And what about the themes for your four stamps? Did you get to decide what they would be?
 
DF:
I did get to decide. Besides all being natural themes, I used red and green to unify the set. Originally, the wreath wasn’t included. I had done a boot, which apparently wasn’t as universally appealing as the other images, so I had the opportunity to do the wreath instead.

AK:
I guess we could say that your boot was given the boot! We’ve gotten Derry’s permission to show the boot here. And then when the art directors saw the wreath… they were wreathed in smiles! What can you tell us about your wreath?

DF:
 A holly wreath is nostalgic for me, because we always had a holly wreath—no, I didn’t make it!—on our front door, with a big red bow. For me, it was a natural association with the holidays.

AK:
Let’s talk about ribbons while we’re at it.
 
DF:
We associate ribbons so much with the holidays, so the ribbon on the amaryllis was a nice alternative to a pot. It gave the image a looser feeling than if they were planted in a pot. And they looked like a gift. Ribbons are dressy without being fussy. As you know, I put bows on bouquets, and also on cats and dogs.

AK:
And what about the fruits and greens stamp?
 
DF:
I always look forward to eating pears and clementines during the holidays and to using them as decor. I love the structure of pomegranates—I love the little crown. And the red of pomegranates is exceptionally beautiful. I don’t really have any Christmas decorations except for pine branches and walnuts and other seasonal stuff. 

AK:
We can’t leave out the cardinals, who are almost full-size on the cover of the current USA Philatelic, which, I have to say, made a fabulous backless envelope! I had lovely red and also olive-y green cover stock on hand for the back, but I had recently deconstructed the Sensuous Stationery issue of Uppercase, and decided that its front cover made a magical back. This is one of my favorite backless envelopes of the year! 

DF:
I think I need to make one, or two! I gave the cardinals a ‘finishing’ treatment. Once the red paint was dry, I hand-painted using a woodblock with dark gray paint to create a feathery texture on the wings.I added texture on the leaves as well, using the woodblock. Paint first, then cut. 

Charmed and inspired by Denise’s collage work in general and her recent stellar-at-stamp-size collages for the USPS, I invited her to “test snip” some Cambridge Imprint (of which she is a particular fan) and Carta Varese scraps for holiday cards that would be a crafty complement to her stamps. She agreed, I mailed, she collaged… and look what she mailed back!

So, we are delighted to debut our Fiedler Certified Crafty Collage Sampler. May you be enveloped in a festive frenzy of collaging creativity!

Ready, snip, glue, send, Bari
 
PS:
Last week I had a lovely voice-to-voice chat with Denise. We’ve been e-communing for years and this was our first ever phone call. It was delightful to say the least. One of the many things we chatted about was our shared love of paper, collage, and teaching. Next week, we will reveal our debut teaching collaboration. For now, I will say this: Save the date! Saturday, December 6.

PSS:
We’ve added three new designs to our Fiedler repertoire which you can see below and here.

BuZzeS: A Seriz–awe-wa Sunday

Dear Everyone ~

Let me take you back to last Sunday morning at BZS. I publish the Extravaganza of Serizawas e-blast at 9:30, as planned. It’s still early on the Left Coast, and I wonder when shoppers might start shopping. Almost immediately, three customers each purchase three of Mary McCarthy’s gorgeous buttonhole-stitch books. Wow-awe-zawa! One of the “trio book trio” promptly composes a lovely email:
 
Dear Bari, I cannot believe the email I just read from you with those GORGEOUS books for sale. I bought 3—1 for me, of course, and 2 for Christmas presents. I know who they will be for, and I know they are going to just loooove them. What a wonderful person that woman is. I am as dumbstruck as you must have been and the entire wonderful story has just made me so happy today. – Laurie O.

Orders are streaming in. I am in the studio by myself, because Ruby is out of town. I want to share the grand news with someone, so I text Alyson, a.k.a. my postal muse.
 
She calls right away and asks if everything is all right. I say, “Absolutely, but why are you asking that?” And she says, “Because nothing, not one book, is showing up as ‘sold out.”
 
I shift into full panic mode. I get into the backend of my shopping page and confirm that the “inventory available” has not changed on any of the books. I then go to my website and try to order a book that’s already been sold. THANK GOODNESS, I can’t add it to cart. 
 
I immediately email Squarespace to find out what’s going on, because their live chat is not available on Sunday, alas. I spend the rest of the day & evening monitoring and adjusting each listing manually, using my phone and my laptop in sync. I will spare you the exhausting details. 
 
Ecstatically, most of the books are purchased within hours. It is beyond thrilling, and I can’t wait to tell Mary (as I assume she is not haunting the Serizawa Extravaganza page). 

 I receive a clever text from Audrey K. (niece of my postal muse):
 
Bari, I’m in Seriz-awe-wa over the latest newsletter! How fabulous!
 
So, my thanks to Audrey for inspiring the headline for this post, and my kuhngratulations to her for buying “October 1982,” the month and year of her birth!

A little later, Janet L. writes, and I can almost hear her frustration:
 
What a lovely stash of beautiful books! I am trying to order 2. I'm at the cottage and only have one bar of service and the payment won't go through. Is there any chance you would hold? them for me. I'll be back in the land of full service Tuesday night. I want to learn this style of bookbinding so badly. Do you have plans to teach it soon? The best always, Janet L.
 
I have put one (the available one) of the two Janet wanted aside.

You might think All’s well that ends swell—as I did—but you would be premature! Monday I receive an email from Jan R.
 
Bari, What a great sale! Books that were marked as SOLD yesterday are no longer marked as SOLD today. Is this a mistake? As there is my birth month that was marked as SOLD, but is not now. I would like to change books if possible. I do like the one I ordered, but October is outstanding. – Jan
 
I wrote back to Jan, giving her the abridged version of the debacle. In her reply, she added, “There were so many lovely books it was hard to decide. Some sold while I was looking at  your site.” 

 Mary McCarthy sent me the shortest, sweetest email of all:
 
 That is AMAZING! And It's your magic touch Bari

I hasten to attribute the extraordinary success of the Serizawa Extravaganza to the beauty of Mary’s books, the appreciation of the BZS community, and our collective joie de livre. My deepest heartfelt thank you to Everyone who purchased a book—or wished they had but couldn’t because they flew out so swiftly. I’m also doubly delighted to be hand-folding two envelopes from my own reserves of Serizawa calendar pages to present my checks in person to both Artist Book House & The Newberry (scene at top).

In deep bow, Bari
 
P.S.
We’ve carried Denise Fiedler’s collage cards for several years. Their charms are endless, and the paper they’re printed on is thick and luscious to write on. Well, Denise is the artist of the USPS’s new Holiday Cheer stamps: a festive quartet of seasonal greenery, fruitery, and aviary. The stamps and their companion notecards debuted on September 13, though many Post Offices will not carry the stamps until later this fall. Denise and my postal muse are long-time paper pals. Later this week, we’ll post the fruits of Alyson’s chat with Denise about her inspirations for her first (we hope!) stamps.

BuZzeS: An extravaganza of Serizawas

Dear Everyone ~

An unexpected little email: Several weeks ago, I received an email from Mary McCarthy, a longtime customer and bookbinding enthusiast. She had visited BZS in 2019 with her daughter, who lives in the neighborhood. She had attached a single photo of three books perched atop a stack of boxes beside her desk. I zoomed right in and saw that two were buttonhole-stitch books & the other Coptic-stitch with Serizawa calendar pages as their covers. I could see that they were beautifully made—but not by me. Mary wrote, ‘I made a few journals à la Zaki, would you be interested in selling them? I ordered most of the Serizawa calendars from Japan.” I replied that I’d be delighted to sell them for her and added, “Send them on at your earliest convenience.” What I did not fully appreciate is that the cartons of books in Mary’s photo… were full of buttonhole-stitch books she had made and was offering to send my way! 

The monumental Real Mail: The following Monday (a day I’m not typically in the shop, but happened to be), Will’s large postal truck suddenly pulls up right in front of the shop. This is unusual as he normally parks down the street. He begins unloading 10 boxes! I quickly open the door for him, and once he’s brought them all in, I share the story that is unfolding right here, right now. Together, we immediately open a box and begin our chorus of oohing & aahing. (photo of Will oohing & aahing)

I proceed to open each box and take an inventory of sorts. I am in awe. This is by far the largest surprise and most generous gift. And I appreciate beyond measure this opportunity to share the beauty, the Serizawa love, the craft… and the potential each of Mary’s books has to tell someone’s story: to become a home for their art, their ephemera, their poetry, their musings.

We have decided to sell each of Mary’s books for $88, a felicitous number in Japanese culture. (The price is substantially less than books made by me, because it is not my labour, or my Serizawa pages, that went into making them). BZS will donate the net proceeds to two organizations near and dear to my bookbinding heart: the Newberry Library and Artist Book House, both in Chicago. I so appreciate the opportunity to make a significant donation, particularly as funding for the arts has become so precarious and contentious. 

As you might imagine, I asked Mary quite a few questions about her attraction to Serizawa calendars and her ability to make such beautiful buttonhole books without having taken a workshop (from me or anyone). I would be proud to say she had been an attentive student of mine, but she hadn’t been! Here are a few of my favourite comments and insights from Mary—practical, technical, and lyrical.

My daughter treated me to your store when I visited her in Chicago c. 2019. You shared how you started your paper journey—and I found myself researching bookbinding and Serizawa calendars. I bought one of your journals and couldn't stop looking at it, flipping through it and turning it back-to-front and front-to-back the way the Japanese read their books.
 
I began collecting the Serizawa calendars, sending off to Japan and anticipating the arrivals with the exotic stickers and printing. I felt badly breaking up the sets and noted the different colors and stenciling accuracy while being so beautiful.
 
I used your journal as a teaching guide and back engineered it. I did not actually take it apart. I have some seamstress skills, so I tried my version of the buttonhole stitch. You can't pull too hard or you tear the paper, so a delicate balance parallels the challenges of living. If you sew it a particular way, right or wrong, just stay consistent.
 
When COVID hit, I had already started making these journals. I perched myself at a desk overlooking my wildflower garden and began just keeping busy with paper until 2023. Time passed and the stacks grew higher.  I don't really know why I kept at it other than I thought someday someone would love it and use it up the way I love the mother-journal I purchased from you. My daughter has it now.

Carry on Bari, you and your artists make the world a better place.

We are thrilled to be the temporary home of this extravaganza of Serizawas. We are ardent believers in choosing a book by its cover, whether to use or to display or simply to cherish. (I personally have several in this category.)
 
Serizawa Extravaganza
 
With deep & abiding gratitude, Bari

P.S.
You are more than welcome to visit all the books in person, to touch & such, to ooh & aah, to shop & chat.

BuZzeS: Booklet of Good Things for Oct. Club Artful

Dear Everyone ~

We are delighted to announce our October theme for Club Artful: A Booklet of Good Things. The good thing we will make is a single-signature booklet, which we will fill full of line drawings made with brush and pen. We will convene Sunday, October 5, and Cat & I are thrilled to present our next low-prep, high-charm project.

The slim booklet we will make measures 5⅞" x 7⅝" x ¼", and its single signature is flush at top and bottom. Our materials list will include instructions for folding down the sheet of whatever paper you choose for your signature, and exercising your bonefolder and shipping clerk’s knife to make a delightful deckle all the way around. Your front and back inside covers will each have an envelope/pocket, perfect for tucking in bits & bobs of ephemera, creative fodder for the project, from stamps to scraps to pix to snax. We will stitch the cover & signature together using the loopy-link stitch. 

Cat’s and my intention for our artful convenings is that what you make in each session can be adapted for future projects, adding to your crafty repertoire. For example, in September, students learned to hand-fold an envelope without a template. We filled our envelopes with whimsical botanical postcards we had made under Cat’s expert tutelage. Sooo, you could hand-fold an envelope to enclose your booklet, whether to actually mail it, or to perch at a place setting or on a pillow.

 Cat shares her inspiration for the October theme: “Drawing is the foundation of all the art we make. When we learn to simplify our drawing with a focus on line (contour drawing) we can easily make observational or imaginative drawings that are full of life. The key is finding confidence in our hand. An assured line comes with practice and from keeping our eyes ahead of our hand—a practice we’ll dive into in this session. We’ll also discover good ideas for how to vary our drawings as we fill a beautiful book with images that will continue to brighten our days. Our book will be a very good thing!”

We gently remind Everyone: you do not need a specific kit of materials for the Club Artful projects. This is an opportunity to use papers you’ve collected and art supplies you have on hand. We will provide a list (right after you register) detailing exactly what you will need paperwise, including dimensions, and what supplies and tools we will use during the session.

As you might imagine, however, we have assembled a Perfect Project Packet, should you wish: an ensemble of pre-trimmed papers for your covers and signatures in a range of weights, from light (100gsm) to heavy (250gsm). Papers are from all over the planet: Paper Mirchi (India), Art Angels (UK), St-Armand handmade paper (Canada), Carta Varese (Italy), Cockerell hand-marbled papers (UK), and Cambridge Imprint (UK). You can read more about our Perfect Project Packet here. 

We look forward to creating an abundance of joyful energy & beautiful booklets, with you!

Club Artful October
 
XO, Bari & Cat

BuZzeS: A convergence of creative camaraderie

Dear Everyone ~

August has turned to autumn, and September has arrived in a golden glow. It is birthdayful (this very Saturday), Artful (this very Sunday), and Bookful (beginning next Saturday, the 13th). I am basking a bit, both literally and figuratively. The sun in the studio is feeling very dreamy, and I'm feeling community in the air. I will be in the shop on Saturday—and delighted to receive visitors who aren’t necessarily shoppers.

But speaking of shopping, a customer popped in the other day wanting to purchase September’s Club Artful for a friend as a birthday gift. The customer hadn’t joined us for August’s Club, but thought her friend, who makes her own cards, would enjoy a Club. Ruby whipped up a “September Certificate” and ensconced it in one of our handmade paper bags sealed with a butterfly-clip covered in decorative paper. I love the idea of “Artful of the Month Club”! It might happen. You can read about Club Artful in glorious detail here and you are not too late to join us on Sunday.

Speaking of shopping again, we realize some of you are happier working with pre-trimmed papers, so we’ve put together a Perfect Project Packet of papers. The ensemble includes papers in various weights, patterns, and provenance. If you are in drop-by distance, packets aplenty are on our premises. And of course we can ship (not in time for Sunday, mind you).

Looking ahead, Bookful of India, my 17th Bookful collaboration with Cat Bennett, begins Saturday, September 13. As you read this, several armfuls of parcels are winging their way to students from north to south & coast to coast & across the pond. And if you were hoping to join us, there is still time to receive your kit in time. Ruby & I can wrap & ship your parcel post haste!

We love to remind everyone that all levels, or no levels, of artistic skill & interest are welcome in Bookful. If you have bookbinding or artmaking experience, that’s great; if not, that’s great too! Our pace is relaxed & supportive, and the camaraderie is joyful. Plus, you will have four complete workshop videos (recorded in real time) to watch and rewatch at your leisure. We look forward to seeing you soonish via Zoom!

Club Artful
Bookful of India
 
May you be enveloped, Bari

BuZzeS: Donald Evans postcards + Summery of Bookfuls

Dear Everyone ~

We are delighted to herald the arrival of Donald Evans postcards. We have selected a dozen designs depicting stamps of several of the 42 fictional realms the artist invented, from Achterdijk to Yteke. 

I first encountered Donald Evans postcards back in the ’90s, at the Newberry Library’s bookstore. I was instantly smitten and bought many on my many trips there (along with bookbinding and calligraphy books). When I discovered the beautiful book The World of Donald Evans, I acquired a copy… and learned that Donald Evans had died in a fire in the Netherlands in 1977. About the time I bought the book, I made a new friend, Alyson Kuhn, who would become my postal muse. She taught me to hand-fold envelopes without a template. What a serendipitous coincidence!  As much as I loved the Donald Evans book as a bookful of wonderful images, I couldn't resist the temptation to carefully slice out a few pages and hand-fold them into envelopes… which I enjoyed pairing up with the postcards—I admit to having kept a few, as seen here.

Fast forward about 25 years, and a customer, who was also a Donald Evans fan, gave me a gently used copy of the book. I vowed to myself to keep this copy intact. Though, as I type this post, I see that second-hand copies are available online….

A couple of days ago, Alyson texted me to suggest that the postcards themselves would make fabulous fodder for envelope backs. My heart said pitter-patter and I promptly whipped one up. 

As many of you know, we often mail postcards in an envelope, both to protect the card in transit and to leave more room for our actual message. Well, the Donald Evans cards lend themselves to being addressed and franked on the image side, which also leaves the entire back for your message—vaguement trompe l’oeil and very Griffin & Sabine! 

We are pleased as postal punch to be stocking these beguiling postcards. We are offering them singly or as a set of 12. The full dozen is presented in a chic sleeve (so an envelope sans flap) we’ve hand-folded from the map-happiest of Cavallini papers. The sleeve has a tiny re-useable closure, covered in a bitsy of Japanese decorative paper.

*
*   *   *
*   *   *   *   *
*   *   *
*

Back in June, to celebrate our suite of 16 Bookfuls, Cat Bennett & I decided to make our full-length live recordings of workshops Nos. 1–16 available all summer, each complete with its sumptuous kit of materials. You can read about our summerful of bookfuls in enticing detail here. Our Bookful page will remain live on the website until 10pm Chicago time on Friday, September 20, for your perusal and purchase. And then we’ll be into our 17th Bookful adventure, as we are fond of saying!

When you buy a Bookful, its recordings—all 12-hours-ful—are available to watch and rewatch for as long as your hands, and heart, desire. We are also happy to answer any questions you may have as you watch & work. And, as always, we welcome your Bookful reports and photos of your oeuvres—Bon Bookish Voyage!

BuZzeS: Club Artful in September

Dear Everyone ~

We are delighted to announce our September theme for Club Artful: Hand-folded Envelopes + Loose Watercolour Flower Drawings. We will explain below in glorious detail what you’ll be making… but first we’d like to share a few lovely emails we received almost instantly after August’s Club “adjourned.”

Gabriele in Austria (where it was almost midnight when she completed her artful ensemble) wrote: Thank you for the wonderful (nighttime) class. I made several boxes and decided on the small one for my collection of mini portraits. The smaller size of the box was dictated by paper size and I think it fits perfectly. And I could not really imagine painting on those minute paper squares -- way too small -- but then I just could not stop and filled all 30 of my prepared squares. And had a lot of fun doing it. Looking forward to September. 

Gouri in Maryland (who flew into town the day after Artful, and here she is visiting BZS) said: This class was a delightful opportunity to be creative in multiple ways. Time flew by, and I just had a lot of fun!

Mariska in California (an appreciative newcomer) enthused: That was a fun time to get out of your head by drawing heads with Cat Bennett … and folding boxes (so calming) with Bari during club artful.

 Karen in Connecticut (who wins great guffaw for her subject line: They’re Multiplying!!) shared her creative delirium: I’m obsessed! Taking a mental health day today and did a little art therapy. These are made with Christmas-themed 12 x 12 papers. Can’t wait to make some with nicer paper.

 In our next Club Artful—which convenes Sunday, September 7—we will hand-fold an envelope without a template. It measures 4¼" x 6¼", a perfect size for holding a postcard or two. We will also learn to neatly line an envelope with a piece of decorative paper. Cat will lead us in painting & collaging whimsical botanical images for our postcards. They can be mailed as postcards (with a seabreezy sailboat stamp, or a thematic autumn leaf) or in a hand-folded envelope. Or maybe you won’t part with your botanicals just yet, and will prop them somewhere you can enjoy them & bring a smile to your heart.

 Cat shares her inspiration for her botanical theme…  “ Summer will be on the wane when we meet for our second Club Artful—a perfect time to make whimsical flowers to keep the sunshine feel alive as we head into fall! We’ll look at real flowers for inspiration, perhaps from your garden or a potted plant. Or you might have books or postcards with flower images to have by your side as we work. We will not be making literal renderings but taking elements from what we see to make playful images—exaggerating the shapes and colors, even making things up. We’ll be using watercolor, colored pencil and gluing bits of ephemera into collaged flowers. Our focus will be on imagination and how we can draw and paint with a sense of freedom. ”

 Speaking of postcards: our trio (Van Gogh, Hockney, Delaunay) for Club Artful subscribers recently arrived from the printers and are now winging their way to Everyone, in our hand-folded Varese envelopes. Here you see Ruby at our center table, smiling in the creative act! Love stamps all ’round!

Let us re-remind Everyone: you do not need a specific kit of materials for the Club Artful projects. This is an opportunity to use papers you’ve collected and art supplies you have on hand. We will provide a list (right after you register) detailing exactly what you will need paperwise, including dimensions, and what supplies and tools we will use during the session.

That said, we couldn't resist trimming & assembling an assortment of papers for September’s project! Plus we’ve received numerous requests from students who would appreciate having their papers pre-cut. Our perfect project packet includes a double binder’s dozen (26!) of paper: one sheet each of 24 patterns & 2 sheets of Cat’s favourite drawing paper for practice, all pre-cut to 8" x 10¼". This is the exact size you’ll need for hand-folding an envelope to hold a botanical postcard or two. But wait, there’s more! The perfect project packet also includes a stacklet of 24 pre-cut pieces of Stonehenge measuring 4" x 6".

Club Artful
Perfect Project Packet

See you soonish in September, Bari & Cat

BuZzeS: Announcing Bookful of India

Dear Everyone ~

Last autumn, Zak was working at Gethsemane, an oasis of a garden supply center, and one of his quirkier tasks was deadheading rows of pots of marigolds. He brought the heads home to me, and I garlandized them, using a bookbinding needle (No. 18) and unwaxed linen thread. My garlands have faded in the window, but the memory of making them adds to my excitement about Bookful of India.   

This will be my seventeenth Bookful collaboration with artist, author & dear friend Cat Bennett. Our four-session workshop via Zoom will begin on Saturday, September 13. Cat reminisces & shares her inspiration for this Bookful:
 
“Just after I got out of college, I found myself in a tiny antique store in Montreal where I spotted some 18th century Indian miniature paintings. It was love at first sight—the bold flat colors, the decorative details, the whimsical renditions of people, plants and buildings. The proprietor explained they represented Hindu myths and royal court scenes. But it was the look of them I loved and the small scale. I felt this was the kind of art I could do with different subject matter, of course. Over the years, I’ve taken huge inspiration from the color, stylization and playfulness. Indian art really showed me how we can bring lightness, beauty and wit into art.”

Students will make a set of three ledger-style booklets with soft covers of Indian decorative papers: one landscape format (6” tall x 7” wide), one portrait (6” wide x 8” tall), and one square (6 x 6). Each booklet has five Stonehenge Japanese-fold panels—so a total of ten pages. Scoring the pages ensures that the book opens gracefully and can lie flat.

 The books are stitched with waxed-linen thread, including a handmade (by you, during the first workshop) diminutive decorative tassel.(You can adapt your new betasseling technique to make your bindings & giftings  bedazzling!)

In week #2: we’ll make a portrait of Gandhi and embellish his words of wisdom using the woodblock stamp (included in your kit) and brush drawing.

In week #3: we’ll make our own miniature paintings referencing Indian imagery. We will also fill the book with the profusion of joyful and fanciful blooms we see in the decorative woodblock prints of India. 

In week #4: we'll look at Indian mandalas and create our own. “India has a long tradition of stamping exuberant patterns on fabric with designs carved in wood. Mandalas are the beautiful, mostly circular paintings used to bring us into a meditative focus.” In all, we’ll explore how to stylize and enrich our art with strong, vibrant colour.

The papers I’ve selected for this Bookful are a fabulously floral array of Indian woodblock-printed patterns with a touch of gold accents. These papers, handmade in Rajasthan, are 100% cotton, so the sheets almost feel like fabric and fold elegantly. The paper is drapey rather than crisp; the word sensuous comes to mind.

Your kit includes two each of three designs, and the sheets are large enough for you to choose which pattern to use as the cover for which booklet. (This will yield some luscious scraps, which may find their way into your mandalas.) You will also receive a thread wand: five colours of waxed-linen thread wound on a piece of creamy white cardstock, so you can choose the colour that best complements each cover and tassels. We are including a mini woodblock; certainly, you are welcome to acquire additional blocks.

All levels, or no levels, of artistic skill & interest are welcome in Bookful. If you have bookbinding or artmaking experience, that’s great; if not, that’s great too! Our pace is relaxed & supportive, and the camaraderie is joyful. Plus, you will have four complete workshop videos (recorded in real time) to watch and rewatch at your leisure. We look forward to seeing you soonish via Zoom!

Bookful of India

Namaste, Bari

BuZzeS: Heralding 250 years of mail delivery!

Dear Everyone ~

In June, we celebrated Bari Zaki Studio’s tenth anniversary on Lincoln Avenue. Now, we are celebrating the United States Postal Services’ two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of delivering mail here, there & everywhere! Alyson Kuhn, my postal muse, bought many panes of the new commemorative stamps the first day they were available (July 23)... and her next order of postal business, so to speak, was sending a parcel to her correspondent Antonio Alcalá… using all 20 of the new stamps. Antonio was the USPS art director for the stamps, which he collaborated on with artist Chris Ware. Once Antonio had received his parcel, he and Alyson had a chat about the project in general and some of the design details in particular.

A bit of background about Antonio: He’s been an art director for the USPS since 2011. Here is a big envelope he sent Alyson in January 2022, franked exclusively with stamps from issuances Antonio has art directed. He is the designer of several as well, including the “love” stamp. Antonio’s hand lettering also appears on the Woodstock stamp and on the empanada,  whose Delicioso art is by John Parra. For Monster Messages, Elise Gravel created the creatures and their accessories; Antonio drew their speech balloons and the lettering at the top of the sheet. Other stamp artists on the envelope include Charles Chaisson, who did Yoga Berra’s portrait; Rico Worl, who did the dramatic Raven; and Luis Fitch, who did the Day of the Dead stamps. The Star Trek artwork is by Heads of State.

Here is Antonio’s July 4 communique to Alyson, with a message monster sporting a custom derby that accommodates its horns. Antonio begins his note by enthusing about his recent discovery of Cambridge Imprint stationery goods… and goes on to mention the new pane of stamps illustrated by Chris Ware. He concludes, “I hope your local postal carrier likes them!”

We are delighted to be able to share with Everyone selected snippets of Antonio’s conversation with Alyson.
 
AK:
Had you worked with Chris Ware before this project, or had you met him?
 
AA:
I hadn’t, but I’ve been a big fan of Chris Ware’s for many years. I’m looking at my bookshelf right now, and I have ... 7, 8, 9 volumes of his work. Getting to work with him was a treat. He was a great collaborator, and our email exchanges were always fun and made me laugh. It was the best of the best.
 
AK:
And was he surprised to hear from you, especially with the opportunity to design not one stamp but 20 stamps? What was his reaction?
 
AA:
He was very interested, but not bubbly-excited like many other collaborators I’ve worked with on stamps. I had a pretty clear idea of what I was looking for, but Chris took it and gave it a much richer narrative that makes the piece fantastic. 
 
AK:
Agree! This is not just 20 stamps—the whole pane is greater than the sum of its parts. There is so much going on in every stamp. The sheet could be a quilt, or a tapestry, or a mural, something big. Do you know how Chris created the art?
 
AA:
He draws it by hand at a substantial size—it’s quite large, like a poster. I’m not measuring, but it’s probably 36 high x 24 wide-ish. He first draws in non-reproducible blue pencil, then inks by hand, and then adds the color digitally.
 
AK:
I have to ask: was any real mail exchanged in the course of the project?
 
AA:
I did mail Chris printouts of his sketches at actual stamp size so he could get a better idea of the scale we would be working with. And he mailed me the final artwork flat in a specially constructed cardboard and foamcore container of his own devising.
 
AK:
Let’s chat about a couple of the themes, in addition to the double delights of mail delivery and the passing of the seasons. I see the mail carrier delivering mail on every stamp until the last one, at lower right. On that one, I think we see her in the window of her fabulous sunporch, holding her baby.
 
AA:
Exactly. Let me mention that we didn’t have any discussions about the appearance of the mail carrier. I wasn’t surprised by Chris’s choice, as I’m so familiar with his work. He often has quiet, strong women going about their work—while the men are often caught up in various neuroses. Back to that stamp, her delivery day has ended, and she is at home with her partner and child. You can see her partner through the next window... and have you noticed what is on the table in that room?
 
AK:
Oh, it’s a toy mail truck! I had totally missed that. I actually have one of those! What else might I have missed? Let me add that I’m using a magnifying glass.

AA:
Well, speaking of magnifying glasses—one of my favorite details is in the bottom row. See the retired stamp collector, looking at one of his stamps through a magnifying glass?

AK:
O, that’s great. I did spot the man popping out of the manhole to hand the mail carrier an envelope. Was that your idea?

AA:
No, that was Chris’s idea. And if you look at the stamp just to the left of that, see if you can spot the theme of that particular stamp. It’s wheels—everyone on that stamp is on wheels.

AK:
O, that’s lovely. And we’re probably looking at three generations on that stamp. And across the street—over to the right— I see some young people at a bookstore or a library.

 
AA:
In my world, it is a bookstore. But if a viewer wants to read it as a library, that’s fine too.
 
AK:
I would have loved to see a stationery store! Would it be a stretch to describe the piece as a wonderful slice of Americana? The town seems so friendly, and civilized. And, of course, so postal.
 
AA:
It’s certainly idealized – it doesn’t feel frenetic. Chris’s stories and his longer forms of graphic novels tend to have a certain melancholy feeling. This pane is surprisingly upbeat in a Chris Ware world. I love that you can follow the mail carrier so easily along her route on each stamp.

AK:
Well, I think this pane of stamps is the perfect philatelic vehicle—oops, an inevitable pun—to celebrate 250 years of mail delivery. And I love that the first stamp, at the upper left, is a hive or a hub of postal activity. I see four USPS workers in addition to the mail carrier setting out for the day, two USPS trucks, and a couple of rolling carts. 

AA:
And don’t overlook the statue atop the pedestal. Does it remind you of anyone?

 
AK:
Well, is it commemorating the wild ride of Paul Revere? I know it’s not the headless horseman from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow—which is a stamp I love.
 
AA:
No, the statue is a nod to the Pony Express, and the design references an earlier stamp. And above that, a customer is coming up to the Post Office with an armful of Priority Mail boxes. There are so many postal details to discover.
 
Last words from Alyson:
And to help us discover them, the back of the pane includes some clues in bold type. The text concludes, “...and the joy of reading a greeting never grows old; opening the mailbox to find your note or card can make a friend’s day.” As you might imagine, I am sending Antonio a thank-you note for our chat. Because he is a new Cambridge Imprint enthusiast, I have made him a pair of envelopes using two of my favourite patterns. Selecting the stamp was no challenge: it had to be the Post Office!

Ta-dah!

May we recommend our MORE Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit almost overflowing with Alyson & Bari’s hand-folding inspirations? Although a beautiful readymade envelope is nothing to scoff at, and you’ll find an international assortment here.

Toastily & postally, Alyson & Bari