It’s been quite a year! Let's wrangle some of the craziness into a scary little book.

Learn how to create a “haunted village” using an accordion book structure with some playful pop-ups. This format is ideal for incorporating Halloween or Dia de los Muertos imagery which can be added with collage, stamping, ink, paint and cut outs. Make it as scary, funny, political or dystopian as you like!

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: 

- magazines/postcards/paper ephemera for collage

- any fun art supplies you like to use: decorative scissors, gel pens, etc.

About the Instructor: Stephanie Jucker (she/her) is an exhibiting artist who uses mixed media and printing techniques in her paintings, books, and art installations. Originally from London where she earned her BFA, Stephanie has an MFA from Syracuse in painting, printmaking, and ceramics. With 25 years of teaching experience, she currently runs art classes at College of Marin, Kala, and Art Works Downtown in San Rafael.

In this introductory class, students will gain a basic understanding of the history, techniques, tools and styles of European marbling.

Students will get hands-on experience of all aspects of Western marbling techniques from paper priming and preparatory mixing of water medium and paints, to the creation of classical patterns. Specific attention will be given to learning how to obtain particular designs using a diverse array of rakes and combs. Students will have ample time for experimentation with guidance from the instructor and will leave with a sampling of papers they've marbled themselves.  

*Please note that paper marbling is a wet process and papers made in the workshop may not be dry at the end of class. Students may return to SFCB after the workshop to retrieve any papers left to dry at the of the day or request mailed returns. 

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. Please wear comfortable shoes for standing that you don't mind getting wet.

About the Instructor: Pietro Accardi (he/him) owned a Bookbindery in Turin (Italy) for 12 years. He worked for Turin’s main Library, Municipal Archives, and University Libraries restoring and binding documents and books. He also runs his own paper marbling and decorative box making business. Now he lives near Lake Tahoe with wife, cats and a studio. He is currently working for the library of special collections of University of Reno doing restoration work and teaches workshops.

Handmade boxes are not only lovely, they are also quite useful and can be used to store a range of objects, not just books.

Using hard board and marbled fabric, the instructor will walk students through the basics of creating decorative boxes. Expanding on these primary box building skills, students will learn about more complex functions by adding a hatch-top and bottom drawer.

This particular structure also features rounded corners, giving a pleasing twist to the standard pointed corner. Everyone will leave with a multi-purpose box that is ready to use.

Students will select their marbled fabric from a selection marbled by Pietro.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. 

About the Instructor: Pietro Accardi (he/him) owned a Bookbindery in Turin (Italy) for 12 years. He worked for Turin’s main Library, Municipal Archives, and University Libraries restoring and binding documents and books. He also runs his own paper marbling and decorative box making business. Now he lives near Lake Tahoe with wife, cats and a studio. He is currently working for the library of special collections of University of Reno doing restoration work and teaches workshops.

For centuries, traditional Vietnamese papermaking communities have depended on various plant materials local to their region for making handmade paper for spiritual and utilitarian uses. Handmade paper was a way of life connecting ancestral and ecological knowledge together.

While papermaking is still practiced in Vietnam, the history of colonization, war, and rapid industrialization have changed the landscape of traditional practices. Vietnamese papermaking is only practiced within a few communities and is quickly disappearing from generation to generation.

In this workshop, participants will learn traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques using the liềm seo (bamboo woven screen) and khung seo (two-part wooden frame) to make paper. We will work with dó (pronounced zaw), a perennial tree shrub growing in only Northern Vietnam specifically used for traditional handmade paper unique for its lustrous sheen and durability.

We will work in various sizes—9 x 12’’ and 12 x 18’’—and everyone will have a chance to build their own unique library sample of dó paper. Instruction will cover fiber preparation, hand beating, sheet formation, pressing, drying using traditional equipment, and demos of bark manipulation like bark lace and making thread. Expect to gain knowledge on traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques and its history to craft related artforms while also expanding your own papermaking studio practice.

Four 50% scholarships are available for people of the Vietnamese diaspora. Please fill out our scholarship application form; tell us a bit about you and how this class would impact you and/or your art practice. Selected recipients will be notified by September 15. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to bring:
All tools and materials will be provided.

About the Instructor:
Veronica Y Pham works primarily in papermaking and fiber arts in her studio practice. Her work focuses on traditional craft specific to Vietnamese and Chinese histories to connect ideas of process, knowledge through generational labor, and questions of identity.

The materials in her work often become environmental investigations containing a visual and kinetic language, repeated based on interlacements, linear elements and ecological spatial relationships. Pham continues to work with traditional and contemporary papermakers in Vietnam with a focus on collaborative projects and research. Her favorite materials to work with are milkweed and hemp. 

The artistic possibilities found in nature are endless. In this course students will explore different organic techniques like onion and iron solutions to turn found pieces of flora into prints on paper. Each technique will have different results and with instructor guidance students will study the use of mordants, baths, steaming and simmering with lots of leaves, flowers, and other plant parts.

At the end of the first day, each student will have created a stack of eco prints full of artistic potential. Leaving the prints to dry overnight, on the second day the instructor will demonstrate how to use these prints to create simple books, boxes, cards and other paper art. Students will leave with a useful handout and numerous eco-printed goodies to share with family and friends.

Prerequisite: None

Tools/Materials to bring: Fresh or pressed plants/botanicals. The instructor will send an email a week before class with instructions.

About the Instructor: Dorothy Yuki (she/her) studied to be something other than an artist. She began as a fashion designer immediately after college but soon she became a partner of a manufacturing company, In Good Company, from 1965-1976. She designed and manufactured kitchen soft goods and linens. Later, as a production and design consultant, she worked with many identity and music production companies, as well as new startups.

Now in her 80s and living in San Francisco, she is engaged in many volunteer activities, Ruth’s Table, Artseed, SCRAP-SF, San Francisco Center for the Book, and FabMo. She also mentored at Bay High School in their Senior Program. She was past President of Friends of Calligraphy and has been a Master Educator for the Macy’s Fashion Incubator San Francisco.

She still has the time to 'do art’ and has worked on projects for MMOCA, Flax Art and Design, Kalligraphia, Ruth’s Table, FabMo and SCRAP-SF. She is a recipient of Honorable Mentions for her artwork at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art Altered Book Show 2014 and 2015. To find out more about Dorothy's work, visit her blog www.dotsrainbow.com

Revive your manual pasta maker by learning how to use it to create small drypoint prints. This technique uses the pressure that normally rolls out the pasta dough to print artwork.

Students will learn how to use different materials to create a plate including milk cartons, Tetra Paks, and Akua plate material. They'll learn how to ink up the plate, add packing to the pasta maker for the perfect impression, and pull prints to make a small edition.

The small-format prints created in class will be up to 4” by 6”. Prints will be made using a drypoint needle and a cutting knife and will be printed on Rives BFK paper with different kind of inks. The materials fee includes a drypoint needle, chipboard & felts as well as printing paper that students will be able to take home to continue making prints on their own pasta machines.

*The pasta machine does not get any ink on it, so using it for pasta AND printing is perfectly fine. Oil based etching ink will be used during class; the instructor will demonstrate how easy it is to clean up without any heavy cleaning solution.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring:

- Hand-crank pasta maker if you have one - only the basic maker is needed, we do not need the cutting or ravioli parts!

- Empty milk cartons and/or Tetra Paks for printing (Tetra Pak is a type of packaging used for store-bought soups, broth, nut milks, etc. Google it for examples.)

- Ideas for small prints - come with sketches

About the Instructor: Bettina Pauly (she/her) lives in San Francisco and works as both a book artist and a letterpress printer with Kim Vanderheiden at Painted Tongue Studios, Oakland, California. She loves books and boxes both as physical objects and as containers of meaning. She is interested in a variety of folded, sewn and woven structures in which she can incorporate her printing.

Learn how to create a unique artist’s book using textiles, stitching, inks and collage.

We will start by adhering a patchwork of fabrics and paper ephemera to freezer paper. When dry the resulting strip of material is peeled off the freezer paper and folded into an accordion. This can then be embellished with hand stitching, stamping, and ink painting.

Simple sewing and embroidery techniques will be demonstrated. The final fold out book will be attached to a textile cover that can also be decorated with these mixed media techniques.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: All tools and materials are provided. You may bring fabric scraps and other ephemera if you wish.

About the Instructor: Stephanie Jucker (she/her) is an exhibiting artist who uses mixed media and printing techniques in her paintings, books, and art installations. Originally from London where she earned her BFA, Stephanie has an MFA from Syracuse in painting, printmaking, and ceramics. With 25 years of teaching experience, she currently runs art classes at College of Marin, Kala, and Art Works Downtown in San Rafael.

This is a single session online workshop.

Gelli plate transfers are a fun way to incorporate found imagery into your prints. A cross between an image transfer and a print, it is an opportunity for unexpected results.

In this one evening online class, we will start by discussing the basics of gelli plate printing related to transfers. The instructor will demo a number of techniques in the first half of the session. The remainder of the session will be time to work with opportunities or troubleshooting, questions, and experimenting. 

Online workshops are recorded; video links will be emailed to registered students after each session, and recordings will be available for eight weeks after the final class meeting.

Prerequisite:
None, though Gelli Plate printmaking experience is very helpful.

Materials to Bring:

- Gelli plate or homemade gelatin plate, 5x7" or what you have (smaller is easier to work with, but accommodations can be made for larger plates.

- 1 brayer

- Acrylic paint: (whatever you have works, though if you are buying it I recommend Liquitex basics) , in black and 2 pale or bright colors (white, yellow, pink, orange, light blue etc).

- Tray for water

- Rags

- Paper: drawing paper or printmaking paper (about 10 sheets, slightly larger than your plate)

- A variety of high contrast magazine images, can be in color or black and white. I recommend using multiple sources.

- Weight ( a large book is perfect)

- Pencil

Optional: 

- Photocopies and printed materials: images from clip art books, text etc.

- Fan or blow dryer

About the Instructor:

Hope Amico (they/them) is a visual artist, writer and educator who believes we could all use a creative practice. Through classes, collage meetups and the Keep Writing postcard project, they are excited to share ways we can work together and support each other creatively. Co-founder of the New Orleans Collage Collective and previously known as gutwrench press, they relocated to Portland, OR in 2020. They teach online and in-person through the MCBA, SFCB and privately through their own studio.