Upcoming Workshop on Traditional French Pochoir with Kitty Maryatt

In February, North Bennet Street School will be hosting the exhibit Drop Dead Gorgeous: Fine Bindings of La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation. In conjunction with this exhibit, NEGBW is hosting a workshop with Kitty Maryatt on the technique of traditional French pochoir.

 

Kitty Maryatt of Two Hands Press has been researching the production of La Prose du Transsibérien since 2012. She studied pochoir with Atelier Coloris in Ploubazlenac, France. In 2018, she debuted a new edition of 150 copies, which faithfully incorporates techniques and methods used in the original.

What: Traditional French Pochoir Workshop
Where: North Bennet Street School, Boston, MA
When: February 29 – March 1
Register here

The word pochoir in French simply means stencil, which has been done by every culture since mankind blew iron oxide around their hands onto cave walls. As the French are known to do, they developed particularly sophisticated stencil techniques in the early twentieth century. This workshop will introduce the basics of printing multiples through such stencils. The steps involve the following: trace the imagery that you want to reproduce, develop a registration system, identify and separate the colors, cut aluminum plates by hand, mix gouache colors, prime the French pochoir brush and apply the liquid in a swirling fashion.

Demonstrations of tracing images and cutting the plates will be shown first. Participants will trace one color from the image and cut an aluminum plate. The instructor will bring a pre-designed image with plates already cut so that participants can immediately learn the brush techniques. The six colors will be applied as the group makes an edition of the image. Then we will look at the images brought in by participants and discover which images are appropriate to reproduce in this way, including printing a base image.

Next, participants will select or create an image to be reproduced and go through the steps to make an edition of that image. Since this is an introduction, the focus will be on problem-solving and experiencing the joy of vibrant and true color. Additional techniques used on La Prose du Transsibérien will be highlighted and demonstrated.

For more information click here: https://gbw.formstack.com/forms/negbw_introduction_to_traditional_french_pochoir

Workshop: Italian Tacketed Stationery Bindings with Katherine Beaty

Workshop: Italian Tacketed Stationery Bindings with Katherine Beaty

During this workshop, we will explore the structure of early Italian tacketed stationery bindings based on the Medici family account book collection at Harvard Business School’s Baker Library. From the 14th through the 19th centuries, tacketed stationery books were used for day, letter, and account books. These books were designed for daily use and had to live up to the task. In this 2-day workshop, we will construct the most common style of tacketed stationery binding: a limp vellum binding with laced overbands and a fore-edge flap. The textblock will be sewn over split thongs, which will lace through the front cover and be secured under the overbands. The cover will be reinforced with stiff leather overbands, secured to the cover with decorative alum tawed lacings. During this workshop, we will discuss terminology, binding variations, and examine images from the Medici collection.

Participants should have previous bookbinding experience, and be comfortable using paper, parchment, and leather.

When: Saturday – Sunday, November 18th and 19th
Where: Third Year Studios, 369 Congress Street, Floor 6, Boston, MA 02210

Cost: $125 for GBW members, $175 for non-members

Additional materials fee of $65 due to Katherine on the first day of the workshop.

Katherine Beaty is a rare book conservator in the Weissman Preservation Center, Harvard Library’s special collection conservation facility, where she has worked for the past 10 years. Prior to her appointment at Harvard, Katherine interned at the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Harry Ransom Center. Katherine received an MA in art conservation with a specialization book from the Art Conservation department at Buffalo State College. She has taught workshops for the North Bennett Street School, for local chapters of the Guild of Bookworkers in New England and New York, and presented at the Guild of Bookworkers Standards of Excellence. Katherine has spent the last four years working on collections of early Italian account books at Harvard Business School’s Baker Library.

The workshop will be accompanied by a lecture given by Katherine: Tackets, Overbands, Lacings and Buckles: early Italian stationery bindings of Harvard’s Baker Library. The lecture will be open to the public.

Friday, November 17th. Location and time TBD.

Any questions regarding the workshop can be directed to Kate Levy at newgbwprograms@gmail.com.

For registration click here: https://gbw.formstack.com/forms/italian_tacketed_stationery_bindings_with_katherine_beaty