Student Book Arts Competition

 The 8^th Annual UCF Student Book Arts Competition is drawing to a close. The entries have been received and judged, the winners announced, and the exhibit that will run for the month of February is up. This is the third year I’ve coordinated and judged the competition and I am pleased to say it is getting better and better. We’ve gone from four entries my first year to nine and in general the quality has risen as well. This year had so many quality entries that we opened up a second place position.

Matthew Gregor’s The Trap House Rules was awarded a well-deserved first place. Using woodcuts and screenprints, this book illustrates the experience of a drug addict visiting the trap house. The poem inside is well written and full of dark humor, and the grungy style throughout the book adds to the reader’s experience.

Second place was awarded to Second Skin by Alesha Hassard. This book’s fine craftsmanship, tasteful reproductions of the artist’s original delicate drawings and marbled paper, and insightful poems concerning mortality would not allow this work to go unrecognized. Alesha is now a two-time winner of the Student Book Arts Competition.

None of this would have been possible without the help of our fantastic judges. Joining me were Jean Gould, Dawn Rosendahl, and EllenKnudson. This was the first time I’ve worked with Ellen Knudson, and I sincerely hope she’s willing to continue her involvement with this competition. I found her judging to be extremely well thought out and her judge’s comments to be insightful and eloquently written. I was also excited to include Dawn Rosendahl as a judge since we were both Artists-in-Action at the Maitland Art Center.

To see all the entries, please visit the facebook album.

Removing Tape from a Dust Jacket

Another sad story of a well meaning collector trying to protect their books... with scotch tape. For the love of all that is good in this world, never "fix" your books with tape!

There are many books in our collection of Archimedes Patti's research materials. Many of those books have dust jackets and most of those dust jackets have been taped onto their respective books. This book especially won (lost?) the tape lottery. Every fold or scuff or scrape has been taped over. Even the back of the jacket had extra paper taped to it.

It took my microspatula, alcohol, a tacking iron, and all the patience I could muster to lift all of this tape, but in the end the tape was beat and the dust jacket got a new archival form of protection.

A whole new layer of terror

Grady Kimsey at the Crealdé School of Art

Last week I wrapped up the catalog design for the next installment at the Crealdé School of Art titled Grady Kimsey: The Mind's Eye. The catalog is now in hands of Lawton printers, who always do an excellent job.

The opening reception is Jan 17th, 7pm-9pm and I encourage everyone who can to go. Grady's work is truly a joy to look at and I can't wait to experience his pieces in person. In this series, he incorporates sculpture and painting together in a way that makes them inseparable. The paintings sitting behind the sculptures are more than just a backdrop; they are an integral part of the design. Neither sculpture nor painting is complete without the other.

Grady's whimsical art plus the fantastic photographs by Randall Smith made this catalog a dream to work on. Not to mention the laid back pow-wows at Grady's house with curator Henry Sinn and art dealer Kim Sumner where it all came together. This has definitely been the most enjoyable design job I've worked on to date. 

The Frame-up System - Japanese Tissue Repair

 I dedicate this post to how awesome Japanese tissue paper is. The cover of this leftist pamphlet from our Van Sickle collection was in taters (luckily no one had tried to tape it back together yet). After removing the rusty staples I was left with a gnarled cover in two, almost three, separate pieces. I carefully unfolded everything that was bunched together then mended all the tears from the back with Japanese tissue paper and wheat paste. The before and after results are below.



Before



After

Coming Home at SFSC

Last Thursday (Oct 17th) was the artist program for Coming Home 2: SFSC Alumni Exhibit. My sincere condolences to anyone who missed it. It was great to see my former classmates and their newest work. Everyone's presentations and art work were so different it made for a very engaging afternoon. Crystal Martinez and Chase Smith were two of my fellow alumnus. Crystal is working on Roy Lichtenstein inspired recreations from comic books and Chase explained the programming magic behind his video DNA. I represented printmaking and bookbinding with the Swinging Diptych linocut and the book Old Friends. I love going back to SFSC- I took my first printmaking class there with Mollie Doctrow!

If you are interested in seeing the exhibit, it will be up until October 31st.

DO NOT tape Faust into your Library book!

I don't care how cool and appropriate that nice leather book would look in your play, just don't do it. I'm lookin' at you, Gretchen! You may have been saved in the end, but who was there to save this book? Not you. It took me an entire hour to meticulously lift the scotch tape with an alcohol dipped micro spatula. Luckily the pages on this 1957 volume are clay coated which made the tape removal much easier than it could have been. Still, there is nothing to be done about the staining that has already set in from the adhesive.

Maitland Rotary Art Festival Judging

Caitlin Hudson, one of last year's winners

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of judging the high school art at the Maitland Rotary Art Festival for the second year in a row. I'm kicking myself now because I didn't take my camera and I really wish I had some photos to share. Tell you what, Seminole and Orange county have some talented kiddos! After judging I suggested that next year include some more placement opportunities because there were so many pieces of art that I wish I could have given an award to.