San Francisco Center for the Book

SFCB is thrilled to welcome visiting instructor Anne Covell.

The Japanese Bookmaking Intensive is designed to give students the unique opportunity to learn three distinct Japanese crafts: Paper patterning and book cover decoration, hand bookbinding, and 2-flap portfolio boxmaking.

Each day we will build upon skills learned in previous sessions to create a body of work that is considerate of the resources, materials, and aesthetics that define Japanese bookmaking.

Students can expect to leave this workshop with a collection of hand bound books housed in a custom built Japanese portfolio, as well as a stack of luscious hand dyed decorative papers to use for further exploration.

On the first day of the workshop, we will begin by learning several traditional methods for decorating Japanese washi paper including brush and dip dyeing with natural dyes common to Japan such as kakishibu (persimmon tannin), clove, and indigo, as well as burnishing and embossing techniques using cut stone and wood blocks. We will also experiment with shibori, a manual resist dyeing technique for creating patterns in cloth and paper that dates to the 8th century, as well as momigami, a folding and crumpling technique (also known as kneaded paper) that strengthens the paper and gives it an appearance similar to leather. We will then use our handmade decorative papers to create laminated cover papers for our bindings. Students will have the opportunity to work from blocks carved with traditional Japanese patterns to emboss their papers for historical effect.

On the second day, we will use these materials to bind a selection of traditional Japanese books: the account binding (Daifuku chō), multi-section binding (Retchōsō), and stab binding (Yotsume Toji). Additionally, we will also create an accordion (Orihon) with pockets to house a selection of the paper samples we create.

On the final day, we will create a two-flap Japanese wraparound case with bone clasp closures to house our books and to tie together the work we produced into an elegant, finished product.

The available scholarships for this workshop have been awarded.

Prerequisite:
Ideally, students will have some bookbinding/making experience. This class will be physically demanding and intensive.

Tools/Materials to bring:
Bookbinder's toolkit including: bonefolder, awl, glue brush, 4 bookbinder's needles or tapestry needles with a small eye, X-Acto or scalpel with extra blades, sharp scissors, ruler, pencil. Please wear clothes that can get messy; aprons are available.

About the Instructor:
Anne Covell is a book artist, edition bookbinder, and hand papermaker. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book where she was the recipient of an Iowa Arts Fellowship, and an MA in Library and Information Science & Graduate Certificate in Book Studies from the University of Iowa where she was a Robert A. Olsen Fellow in Special Collections. She studied Asian and Western papermaking techniques with Timothy Barrett, and has taught for numerous educational institutions including the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory, Penland School of Craft, and the University of Georgia study abroad program in Cortona, Italy, among others. Her work has been exhibited internationally and can be seen in an expanding list of private collections, special collections libraries, and museums worldwide. Covell lives and works out of her home studio in La Mesa, California.