Books Spring Concentration
March 5 – April 28, 2023 (8 Weeks)
Alex McClay
Form, Content, Book
In this workshop we’ll create meaningful and moving works of art by making books that merge form and content. We’ll begin by covering a plethora of bookbinding techniques, including one-page books, zines, pamphlet stitch, coptic stitch, drum leaf binding, case binding, and box-making. At the same time, we’ll practice creative exercises that will evoke your artistic voice and encourage content development. Then we’ll spend some time in the letterpress studio getting that content onto paper. You’ll learn to set type, make polymer plates, pressure print, and collagraph print, all while planning carefully for the book form. We’ll put it all together back in the books studio. Demonstrations, presentations, discussions, meditations, and exercises will enrich the workshop experience. Students will leave with a collection of handbound artists’ books and a working knowledge of bookbinding and letterpress printing. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: University of Cincinnati (OH), University of Georgia (GA); residencies: Tiger Lily Press (OH), Penland Core Fellowship (NC); exhibitions: Weston Art Gallery (OH), ArtSpace (NC), Haggerty Gallery (TX), Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking (GA).
