Get Your Social Justice On: Online Zine Class

Happening Saturday, August 22, 2020, 2:30pm – 5pm, sign up via Eventbrite.

Pissed off about the world, angry about politics, frustrated by what’s become “normal,” suffering from your own anxiety when SIP?

Make a zine or two! Or a lot and give them out at the next protest! Mail them to your friends! Keep them to yourself! Say what you want to say — it’s like journaling with images and words but public!

Learn how to make two structures from Hedi Kyle’s The Art of the Foldfrom a single sheet of paper. I’ll send you four sheets of tabloid (11" x 17") paper, template for pop-up, and a bone folder by snail mail; you provide the mark making materials (rubber stamps, pens, paints, cut outs, label maker, etc) and a theme around social justice. It doesn’t have to be an issue surrounding Covid 19, but it can be. Then we’ll ZOOM it up.

This is a free class. Because I'm sending the supplies through First Class Mail, sign ups will be cut off by August 13 at midnight. Thank you to College Book Art Association Rising Together Micro Grant Program for funding and Broad Room for hosting! Your zines and photos of the workshop will be posted on social media and to the CBAA Rising Together Zine Archive.

Limited to 10 people.

Artist Book: To vote as we work

For the 100th year of women’s right to vote in the United States, I’m working on a book of working class suffragist women in the United States and Great Britain. I’ve decided to focus on twelve, because that folds nicely into an accordion book. I am printing them as small postcards, because that’s what I can print on my Kelsey Excelsior. I didn’t want to focus on the more famous ones, like Emmaline Pankhurst or Susan B. Anthony.

They have a punk rock feel to them, because I’m limited by the Kelsey for the quality of print. I kind of like that though. I feel like my work is usually precise, but working within my tools, I have to accept an uneven spread of ink and spots that don’t print exactly as I’d like. I’m learning to let perfection go!

Many of the women belong to either a union or a socialist political party, as well as a suffrage organization. Two of my favorite are Augusta Lewis, who founded the Women’s Typographical Union No. 1 in New York City, and Frances Nacke Noel, who was an important member of Los Angeles Women’s Trade Union League. I’m from a suburb of Los Angeles, and my parents still live there. The other women are Alice Hawkins, Annie Arniel, Annie Kenney, Helga Estby, Janet McCallum, Leonora Cohen, Mary Gawthorpe, Rose Winslow, Selina Cooper, and Theresa Malkiel.

Inspiration: Freedom, a Fable: A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times, with Illustrations

Something That Inspires Me

I first saw this book in Washington DC at The Book as Art artist's book show at the National Museum for Women in the Arts. Paper cuts and pop ups are dear to me as a book artist. Walker is using ideas of silhouettes, minstrel shows, and the artwork of the 18th and 19th century to tell a tale of a woman slave who is freed but still faces discrimination based on her race and gender, showing the stereotypes and ongoing racial conflicts. So truly, the woman's freedom was a fable; something that is so relevant to this time in history.

Freedom, a Fable: A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times, with Illustrations

Inspiration: Kara Walker

Someone Who Inspires Me

Kara Walker came to my attention with her book, Freedom, a Fable, which was in a show at the National Museum for Women in the Arts. I love her work, especially the way it draws on her rich knowledge of art history and African-American history. Her work says something whether you know about art history or African-American history. Her work draws on historical artifacts in squirm-ily uncomfortable ways, but in a way that gets you (at least me) thinking about the world.

Kara Walker website

Deconstructed Artichoke Press' Upcoming Events

2nd Annual Rancho Cordova Arts Members Show: "Roaring in the 20s," July 9-25, Rancho Cordova, CA; Opening July 9, 5:30-8:00; Opening reception will be in-person with masks on July 9, 5:30-8:00 or you can see the show throughout the month, no appointment necessary.

15th Annual Sac Open Studio, virtual tour, Saturday-Sunday, September 12-13

C O N T E N T  a Juried Artist Book Exhibit, co-juried by me and Adele Shaw. If you’re a book artist (or know of one who this would be a fit for), you can enter here by November 30, 2020; Exhibition dates January 8 - February 1, 2021; The Artery, Davis, CA

Budgeting for Book Arts via San Francisco Center for the Book

Budgeting for Book Arts, online class, Tuesday Jul 7, 2020, 4pm – 5pm, sign up via San Francisco Center for the Book

You’re working on the best project ever! But you’ve run out of paper, and you forgot to include the cost of book board. Or maybe you’re trying to price your project, or apply for a grant. Having a budget to track costs will save time and give you a plan for how to spend your money. I'm teaching a class on how to budget a book arts edition. It’s helpful to have a project in mind for this class. And you’ll get a spreadsheet to use over and over again.

Come take the class with me! It’ll be so fun!