The 9th Annual Rocky Mountain Book Festival was held at The Ritchie Center at the University of Denver, Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, 2002. Participation by the Book Arts League in the popular demonstration area was coordinated by Emily Epstein. Tom Parson, Ray Tomasso, Yunn Pann, Alicia Bailey, and other area book artists participated.

Home is Where the Book Is

Julie Seko taught a spring letterpress class in three evening sessions, with seven students, on the theme, "Home." The class briefly covered typesetting and letterpress printing with the Eaves type, some collage techniques, and in the last class, held in the art room at the Lafayette Public Library, bound the flag book structure that lay on its side and had little houses and quotes about home. "It seemed like folks liked the class," said Julie. "A modest class, but I wanted to do something before Eaves went into storage."

How to Fix Books

Carey Peck, noted book and bible restorer, taught a May 4, 2002, book repair class for the BAL. Subjects included glues, paper tears, finding the grain and how to "tip in" a page. Carey regaled the group with cautionary tales and practical tips. "Don't ever take a book apart in front of a client," she warned, before she told a tale of an evangelist with an elephant hide bible who thought she was destroying his best and most precious book. Don't have a bone folder? Carey might suggest firm pressure on the wide bottom of a plastic spoon. There was also a lively discussion of wheat paste recipes. Carey prefers a smaller batch with a dash of oil of cinnamon or oil of cloves used as a preservative.

—Nan Wigington

Just Peachy!

The Book Arts League joined other peach-crazed Boulder County residents Saturday, August 17, 2002, at Lafayette's annual fruit fest, crafts fair and antiques extravaganza. Kay Moller, Tom Parson and Julie Seko manned the League's table under the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission tent to dispense info about the BAL, small printed bijoux, and to provide festivalgoers a chance to get ink on their hands.

Tom (shown at right with Kay Moller) brought a proof press and large assortment of old-fashioned cuts from which passerby could choose and print on the spot. As usual, the printing activity was an interactive highlight of the crafts fair, and proved as popular as always with kids of all ages.

Sewing the Coptic Binding

Jeff Becker taught Sewing the Coptic Binding at the Lafayette Art Center, September 21, 2002. Seven people from Golden, Boulder, Niwot. Denver, Arvada and Montrose made a twelve section, 196 page, 10 x 6 1/2 inch book.

Steps included: Gluing the cover paper and paste downs to the cover boards tearing the paper and folding it into sections, making the template and punching holes in the sections and the covers, and finally, sewing the book.

Though the class was scheduled to last three and a half hours, it took longer than expected. Next time it wll be scheduled for four and a half hours. Attendees were: Patricia Cuttriss, Nancy Warnke, Deborah Horner, Brenda Gallagher, Christine Hurley, Gail Watson, and Ann-Marie Fleming.

Another Moving Experience

The League moved Eaves Press from the Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts the weekend of July 27—28, 2002. Volunteers packed the tons of BAL's type, equipment and the two presses that were in the RMCMA studio, then hauled them down one flight of stairs and up another to a waiting rental truck.

Chief engineer and crew foreman Rob Slentz constructed a sturdy ramp and a capstan device to allow the heavy presses to be safely lowered down the first flight of stairs before being winched up another ramp to the waiting truck. Eaves Press will be stored while the League pursues plans for a new, larger, and more stable location.

Louise Padden and Evert Brown kept the workers supplied with abundant food and cooling drinks throughout the day-long move. Nancy Warnke also brought food for an appreciative crew.

The League enjoyed its stay at RMCMA, and we hope to have Eaves operating again soon in larger quarters. There are exciting prospects for a new, long-term studio, but there are also many challenges to be met. BAL will need the continued support of book artists and letterpress enthusiasts more than ever.

Helping out with the move were: David Ashley, Jeff Becker, Linda Bevard, Evert Brown, J.K. Emery, Emily Epstein, Chris Hurley, Norma Johnson, Kay Moller, Earl Noe, Louise Padden, Tom Parson, Julie Seko, Rob Slentz, Chris Torrence, Mia Torrence, Nancy Warnke, Gail Watson, Nan Wigington, and Gigi Yang.

PHOTOS--> Above: President Julie Seko removes the Eaves press sign from the door at RMCMA. Below, left: (L-R) Tom Parson, Nan Wigington (partly hidden), Rob Slentz (bending over), Unidentified Weird Guy, Linda Bevard, Julie Seko, and Chris Torrence escort the S&L Old Style Gordon from the truck. Below, right: Rob Slentz operates the winch. Bottom: Linda Bevard, J.K. Emery, Chris Torrence (in truck), Nan Wigington, Norma Johnson, and Kay Moller carry equipment into our storage space. Top three photos by Evert Brown, bottom photo by Gigi Yang.

The paste paper method of making beautiful decorated papers was developed over two centuries ago primarily for use in bookbinding. Jeff Becker, local bookbinder, led an enthusiastic BAL-sponsored class of eight in exploring techniques that lend a contemporary feel to this traditional paper craft. The resulting papers can be used in a variety of projects.

Said paste-paperer Nan Wigington, "Frederick Nietzsche, chaos and dancing stars were all topics in this class. With a delicious assortment of paints and two heaping bowls of wheat paste, Jeff helped his students to large servings of experimentation and play. Broken popsicle sticks, wind up toys and elliptical bottle tops were all used to help make patterns in the paste!"

Jeff's class, which was filled, met in June at the Lafayette Art Center in the Lafayette Public Library. Jeff and the BAL thank the Lafayette Art Center for the generous use of their studio space. RIGHT: (L-R) Jeff Becker, Janet Kiyota, Alan Warner. BELOW: A variety of tools can be used to control the effect. Lisa DeYoung (L) and MaryLu Lee (R) experiment with the brayer. Photos by Nan Wigington.