Start with an idea and a piece of paper, and you have the beginning of a book. Fold the paper in half. Then draw or write or create secret code or mark with musical symbols. It’s your idea, so express it in your own unique way.
Colored paper adds pizzazz! Don’t forget that paper has two sides. Be sure to remember the name of the author and illustrator.
Stories can be told in many ways, and the tale might change each time. Young children often like to make audio recordings of stories. Adults who want to help might also write down the words.
You’ll find a million ways to embellish and add to your books. Check back and we’ll look at a few of them here.
Frank Deichmeister admires the vintage presses at Tribune Showprint.
Last fall I zoomed to an era long before smart phones and social media with a visit to Tribune Showprint. It’s a workshop full of printing presses dating as far back as 1878. Known for years as the printer of the Benton County Tribune, the shop also made posters for store windows and outdoor advertising. As we admired the presses in operation, owner Kim Miller told the story of how she and her husband moved machines from Fowler, Indiana, to their current location in Muncie — all overnight to preserve the reputation as the oldest continuously operating print shop in the country.
Kim Miller impresses Elaine Vidal with tales of the historic print shop. Posters for recent events line the walls.
An antique press at the Book Arts Collaborative
At the studio of the Book Arts Collaborative next door, we admired books and letterpress cards designed by local artists and students from Ball State University.
I learned that before the invention of modern duplicating machines or carbon paper, clerks used special copy presses. The clerk placed an original document — with the ink still wet — against a sheet of thin onionskin paper. When pressed together, the papers printed a mirror image! The text on the copy could be read from the back when held up to the light from a window.
Student finishing hand sewn book
On returning home, I focused on ideas for design sessions with teens. I pulled out my copies of Creative Bookbinding by Pauline Johnson and Cover to Cover by Shereen LaPlantz and tested techniques for decorating papers and sewing hard covers. The students, under the direction of Erika Lucas, completed their projects in March. I stitched two books then and plan to sew again this week.
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On April 21 and 22, 2017, the Collaborative and Tribune Showprint will host Interrobang, a festival celebrating the craft and the art of the book.
Samples of hard cover books designed for lessons with teens | copyright Liz Macklin 2017
Pattern, texture, color, and a project with beautiful surprises! This month twenty-three students at Yorktown High School created designs for book covers. I joined them as a guest artist, collaborating with artist and educator, Erika Lucas. With Erika, the students experimented with watercolor painting and carving and printing stamps. I brought materials for marbling papers.
There are some tricks to successful marbling. A good way to start is with shaving cream. It’s easy to squirt the cream onto a flat surface, spread it, and then gently drop or splatter ink on top. Drawing ever-so-lightly with the tip of a skewer or plastic spoon, the students made swirls and patterns in the colors. They placed a paper on top of each design and pressed softly to make contact everywhere. Then, lifting up, gently scraping the cream from the paper, and rinsing revealed a bright image!
Swirling Designs on a Paper Marbled With Acrylic Ink on Shaving Cream
The students went on to explore more traditional techniques. Once again, a light-as-a-feather touch led to success — swirling patterns of color.
Red, Black & Yellow Marbled Paper | copyright Liz Macklin 2017
A sunny afternoon and we couldn’t resist drawing outside.
I looked in my bookshelf and pulled out a copy of Nature Drawing by Clare Walker Leslie. Beyond the front door we sketched blue skies, puffy clouds, cherry trees and architecture — inspiration all around us.
Drawings by students at Carlin Springs Elementary School
Dancers | watercolor – inverted digital image – edited January 29, 2016 | copyright Liz Macklin 2015
Dancing. In my dreams. Last month I broke my femur. Thank goodness the surgeon put it back together. Now I’m painting and thinking about dancing. Maybe in the spring.
One of my favorite fairy tales is The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. I have A Little Golden Book published in 1954. The story is retold by Jane Werner with pictures by Sheilah Beckett. I love the colorful dresses, the trees studded with leaves of silver, gold and diamonds, and the mystery of it all. Where do the princesses disappear to in the night?
What is your favorite fairy tale?
A Little Golden Book: The Twelve Dancing Princesses, published by Simon and Schuster, New York, 1954
Spring? Not quite yet. This month I’ve painted with a new group of artists – talented teens from Arlington County. On a sunny Saturday we packed up our watercolors and met at Long Branch Nature Center.
There’s still snow in the shadows, but the park naturalists are thinking ahead to spring planting. The center sponsors an annual native plant sale with a deadline for placing orders on April 4, 2014. See the center’s web site for more information and full color photos of bluebells, cardinal flowers, coneflowers, wild geraniums and other flowers. I’m thinking about green shoots and blossoms now. How about you?
Leaves on Green | monoprint | copyright Liz Macklin 2012
How to enjoy a moment of relaxation and fun at noon? I spent an hour today with the staff of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. First we sampled a delicious assortment of salads by artist and chef Nevin Bossart. Then we experimented with printmaking. I brought the paints and colored papers, as well as a collection of leaves and flowers — maple, sweetgum, peony, yarrow and lavender. Part of the fun was seeing all the amazing creations. I met nurses, chaplains, interns and clinicians, and we chatted about art, color, techniques, day-to-day activities and the scrumptious food! Everyone celebrated with cake and bid farewell to a staff member who is moving overseas. The event, a monthly feature of “Caring for the Caregivers, ” is sponsored by Lombardi’s Arts and Humanities Program under the direction of Nancy Morgan.
Bird | embroidered and hand dyed silk inspired by Egyptian jewelry | copyright Liz Macklin 2011
Shops open in Cairo today. May peace, religious freedom and respect for individual rights prevail in Egypt, in the United States and throughout the world!
Who can resist browsing through galleries with elaborately decorated coffins, mummified ibis, bronze cobras, linen baboons and gold amulets inlaid with stones in brilliant blues? Egypt, your antiquities provided inspiration for me time and time again.
I send my gratitude to the young people standing guard at the Egyptian Museum. When its website reopens, visit the collection. Until then, take a virtual tour of the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Two of my favorite books for children include
ABC: Egyptian Art from The Brooklyn Museum by Florence Cassen Mayers, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1988
Aida, the story of an Ethiopian princess who falls in love with an Egyptian warrior, as told in the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, retold by Leontyne Price and illustrated by the award winning artists, Leo and Diane Dillon, Harcourt Brace and Company, 1990
Join literary honoree Rosemary Wells, creator of favorite picture book characters Max and Ruby, at the reception and benefit auction for The Reading Connection!
Thursday, March 11th — 6:30 pm — Arlington, Virginia
My blue shibori silk chiffon scarf will be available at auction — along with books by Ms. Wells and many other items! Tickets are available online.
Patience! Unraveling cocoons takes time! On September 26th, I spent the day exploring the world of silkworms. The teacher, fiber artist Renate Maile Moskowitz, arrived with a car full of cocoons, fabrics, dyes, silk hankies and even a box of hungry caterpillars. She was as friendly and vivacious as her supplies were intriguing. We spent the day degumming, finger spinning, stretching, dyeing and embossing silk.
Renate Maile Moskowitz teaches “The Secrets of Silk” at the Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia.
Liz Macklin -- Writer & Illustrator 