Many writers and artists keep notebooks where ideas go to die. But what if the notebook was the goal? We’ll investigate what it means to commit to a notebook as an object, activity, and space all of its own, and not a tool for some project that never materializes.

Make your own hardback book! We'll fold signatures, sew text blocks, create covers, and case in the text blocks. These take extra time and attention, but they're worth it. 

In this three-hour introduction to all things Gelli Plate Printing you’ll go through the exploratory process of inking, printing, and layering to make your own unique pieces, which you can use for covers or endpages or appreciate just as they are. 

All experience levels welcome and encouraged.

In this workshop we’ll create beautiful paper ornaments by repurposing old book pages and colorful papers. They make ideal holiday decorations or gifts. All levels of experience welcome and appreciated.

Create a book where each page reflects an experience! The pages are made using artifacts collected during a trip, museum visit, or other small or large adventure.  Your book might include

• Maps of places you’ve been or dream of visiting
• Brochures or postcards from trips or events
• Photos or copies of photos of people, places, or significant moments
• Receipts/tickets from restaurants, movies, travel, etc.
• Fabric swatches, pressed flowers, newspaper clippings

The materials used will determine the book’s shape and binding. 

Explore the power of combing mark-making, colorfields and thread on paper while considering the history and function of sewing and the role thread plays in our lives.

We’ll create a basic sampler of thread forms on paper, and practice poking holes on paper, preventing our thread from knotting, and layering threads to create new structures. Then we’ll explore colorfields and mark-making, expanding our projects into more complex patterns.

We will experiment with meditative acts of repetition and hope to find solace in a new visual language that threads us together.

Open to both beginners and experienced artists with an open mind and willingness to explore.

Vanessa Filley is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Evanston, IL. She is interested in the energetic threads that orient and connect us, ground us in place and time yet tether us to our ancestral past and future, the lines that bring us home. Her work includes large scale sculptural installations, tiny embroidery pieces, poems, photographs, and drawings in watercolor, pinprick and thread. Filley was voted one of Photolucida’s Top 50 in 2018 and has shown work nationally and internationally including the Sonoma County Museum of Art, Berlin Photography Week, the Lishui International Photography Festival, FOCUS PhotoLA, Stricoff Gallery, Galerie Joseph Turene, Western Michigan University, Vivid Art Gallery, Arbor3Arts, The Affordable Art Fair, The Nashville Public Library, the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, the US Consulate General in Saudi Arabia, Door County Contemporary and the inaugural Cosmic Geometries show at Secrist Beach in 2024.

In this class, we'll work on a single book with round back binding. Elegant and eye-catching, this book will be a favorite on your shelf! 

This class is best suited for people who have taken two or more bookbinding classes. Please reach out if you have any questions!

Description coming soon!