In this three hour workshop, students are guided through the basics of creating faux postage (a.k.a “artistamps”) using a variety of different techniques. Students begin the workshop studying examples, gathering both inspiration and know-how; then students spend time creating their own perforated stamp sheets!

By the end of the workshop, everyone will have a completed sheet of self-created artistamps and the skills to use SFCB’s Rossbach perforator, available for rent.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to Bring:
Any small size "mark-making" tools that you like to use – smaller is better, as students will be creating postage stamp size work. (Be sure to keep this in mind when selecting your tools!) Examples of mark making tools would be: rubber stamps, pen & ink, graphite pencil, felt pen, colored pencil, etc.

About the Instructor:
Jennie Hinchcliff (she/her) has been teaching classes in bookbinding and related arts since 2001. Her bookworks can be seen in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art's Special Collection, the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, and the Stadtbibliothek zu Berlin (among others). She is a co-author of "Good Mail Day: A Primer for Eye-Popping Post" which explores the infinite possibilities of correspondence art and produces the podcast “Senders Receive”, interviewing postal moderns and long time Networkers.

Jennie is the Director of Exhibitions and Artist Programs at SFCB.

Hand lettering for all levels! Join us for this innovative and welcoming approach to hand lettering with the talented Billy Ola Hutchinson.

This three session crash course in calligraphy will provide students with the building blocks necessary to continue their calligraphy practice on their own. Each of the three evenings will focus on a different hand: Billy's informal take on Gothic, Italic, and Copperplate. Students will learn foundational techniques such as pen position, how individual letters relate to one another, and how to rule out lines for alignment. They'll also learn hacks for how to avoid ruling out entirely!

Students will complete the course with an understanding of basic penmanship and letter formation, as well as the processes, materials, and layout techniques used in calligraphy. Most materials will be supplied.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to bring:

• Mechanical pencil
• Ultra Fine Point Sharpie, preferably in red but any color will do
• C-Thru® B-85; 2" x 18" 8ths Graph Beveled Ruler in Inches

About the Instructor:
Billy Ola Hutchinson’s passion for lettering began in pre-school with the assistance of Mommy Billie. Billy and Billie spent hours shaping letterforms day in and day out. Later in life, Little Billy parlayed that lettering passion into a calligraphic profession, creating a petit line of stationery, penning custom lettering for clients, designing a line of porcelain for San Francisco's luxury speciality store, Gump’s and of course as an instructor at SFCB—taking students through those first steps Little Billy took with Big Billie. Billy's lettering has been featured in magazines, wedding invitations, place cards, monograms, and brand identities.

Buttonhole books come with personality on the spine and cover. Set your glue aside – these easy-to-learn non-adhesive bindings are great for writing and sketching in.

Students in this workshop will examine various examples of this binding structure and make their own buttonhole journal, using various decorative papers and cover cutouts.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to Bring:
All tools and materials will be provided

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. After its sale, she worked as a production and design consultant with many identity and music production companies, as well as new startups. While living in Tequisquiapan, she became involved with the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group and taught small communities to become self-sustaining. Now in her 80s and living in San Francisco, she is engaged in many volunteer activities. She was past President of Friends of Calligraphy and has been a Master Educator for the Macy’s Fashion Incubator San Francisco. To find out more about Dorothy's work, visit her blog at 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!)
• 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.

It’s been quite a year and here’s an opportunity to wrangle some of the craziness into a scary little book!

Find out 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!

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.

This class will cover the basics of papermaking, including sheet forming, couching, and drying. Students will learn to use a household blender to make pulp from paper scraps and then form new sheets using a traditional mold and deckle. The class will also experiment with “botanical inclusions” (flower petals and other organic materials) to add color and texture to the paper. Students will complete the class with a stack of newly couched paper and the knowledge required to make their own paper at home.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to Bring:
All tools and materials will be provided

About the Instructor:
As a composer and visual artist, Gino Robair (he/him) uses handmade paper and letterpress printing to create unique musical scores. He has an MA and MFA from Mills College and is currently working towards a PhD in Performance Studies at the University of California, Davis, developing performative models for improvised papermaking.

Fabric books are wonderfully tactile and durable but often challenging to create: not every bookmaking structure works well with textiles.

In this workshop, Jody will introduce a number of structures that do work well and she will talk about the benefits and challenges of making books out of fabric. Structures that students will create are the Japanese ledger and side sewn, pamphlet book, slot book, and accordion book. In addition, surface design techniques will be demonstrated to embellish and create content for your books including stenciling, mending and embroidery.

Numerous examples of textile books will be on hand to examine. Fabric books can be used as functional objects such as sampler books or needle books, as well as beautifully textural artists’ books. Re-used textiles as book pages and covers are encouraged in this workshop.

Required Materials to Bring:

• Fabric that you want to work with. Medium weight natural fabrics strongly recommended: cotton and/or linen. Reclaimed fabric is encouraged (old clothing, table cloth, etc.) Old denim works great! If you bring the equivalent of 1 yard of fabric or more that should be enough to make all the book structures. You can bring solids or prints but if you want to stencil print you may want to consider some solids.
• A variety of threads: machine, sashiko, embroidery, etc. (instructor will also have some to share)

Required Tools:

• Needles to fit your threads
• Pins
• Sharp scissors
• Rotary cutter
• Straight edge ruler or quilting ruler
• Pencil or pen and notebook for note taking
• Awl (also available at SFCB)
• Cutting mat (also available at SFCB)
• X-acto knife (also available at SFCB)

Prerequisite:
None

About the Instructor:
Jody Alexander (she/her) is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Santa Cruz and Penn Valley, California. She combines textiles, paper, found items and imagery to create books, objects, wall pieces, garments, and installations. Her current work is inspired by the art of repair, reuse, and imagery and stories encountered in her travels and everyday.

Her work appears in a number of publications including Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artist, 500 Handmade Books, and 1000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art. Jody was an artist in residence at the Santa Cruz Resource Recovery Facility in 2019, and is the 2015 recipient of the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from U.C.L.A., and a Master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons College, Boston, MA.

Jody teaches and exhibits nationally and internationally.

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.