Last two shows of 2018!

Posted on December 7, 2018 by sproutspress

Join me this weekend for my last two shows of 2018! I’d love to see you, if you can make it to either one.

On Saturday it’s the Kidicarus Holiday Craft Show! Here you can find a curated line up of vendors with all sorts of handmade wares. From pottery, to jewellery, to handbound books!

And on Sunday it’s the Bound Book Arts Fair! Held at the gorgeous Arts & Letters Club, plan to dig deep into book and paper arts at this show and find letterpress, bookbinding, book arts, paper marbling, screenprinting, relief printing and more!

DETAILS:

Handmade Holiday Craft Show (hosted by Kidicarus)

When: Saturday December 8 2018, 11am – 7pm
Where:Church of St Stephen-in-the-field, 365 College St, Toronto

For more information, please go here.

Bound Book Arts Fair
When: Sunday December 9, 2018 11am – 5pm
Where: Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm St., Toronto (near Yonge & Dundas)

For more information, please go here.

Hope to see you there!

Wordless Wednesday 15.08.18

Image

Ex Libris!

Posted on March 22, 2018 by sproutspress

I’m so excited for a NEW workshop!! It’s a bit different than my usual classes, but every bit as fun and rewarding.

Learn how to design, create, and print your own Ex Libris bookplate! In this workshop students will learn basic relief printing techniques, using 3″ x 3″ softoleum blocks and lino cutting tools. Simple designs will be encouraged for beginners. Then students will print their blocks in a small edition of 10, in one colour, creating the perfect adornment for their book collection!

When: Sunday March 25, 2018. 10am – 5pm
Where: Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, 180 Shaw St., Unit 102, Toronto.

For more information & to register, please go here.

Wunderkammer Show: Last Weekend!

Posted on May 25, 2017 by sproutspress

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the opening of our team’s first gallery show, Wunderkammer: Cabinet of Curiosity. It’s a curated selection of science-based art and craft, it’s a really fun show!

If you weren’t able to join us for the opening and haven’t popped in to take a look at the amazing work by local artists and artisans, this is the last call. Show closes May 28th, which is this sunday.

Show hours are:
Tuesdays: 11 am – 4 pm
Wednesdays through Sundays: noon to 6 pm
The Toronto Etsy Street Team Gallery, 906 Queen St W

Wunderkammer Show

Posted on May 18, 2017 by sproutspress

Image: Ele Willoughby

This past saturday was the opening for the group show I’m in: Wunderkammer: The Cabinet of Curiosity. It was curated by the Captain of the Toronto Etsy Street Team and all pieces included are of a science/nature theme. I’m so proud to have one of my artists books (and paintings!) alongside so many other talented makers. Scroll through the photos for a quick sampling of the work on display.

Image: Ele Willoughby

If you weren’t able to make the opening, don’t worry! The show runs from now till May 28 at The Toronto Etsy Street Team Gallery, 906 Queen St West, Toronto

Show hours are:
Tuesdays: 11 am – 4 pm
Wednesdays through Sundays: noon to 6 pm

For more information and to see the website, go here.

A Bookbinding Workshop at a Print Museum

Posted on April 22, 2016 by sproutspress

Just a couple of days ago I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop alongside these fine fellows at Mackenzie House Museum here in Toronto. It was a combination bookbinding & printmaking class, geared at learning traditional techniques and using analogue tools and equipment. It was great fun, everyone left with a unique journal they handbound and then printed themselves!

The entire month of April is Print Month over at Mackenzie House! There are more printmaking events happening at the museum, see their website for details.

To see a list of Sprouts Press’ upcoming bookbinding workshops go here.

Exciting New Bookbinding Workshop!

Posted on April 12, 2016 by sproutspress

Exciting things are happening at Sprouts Press! April 20, next wednesday, I’ll be teaching a workshop at the gorgeous Mackenzie House here in Toronto!

Mackenzie House is a 19th-century row house museum dedicated to historic politician & publisher William Lyon Mackenzie. They have a few working presses, that are very old (1850’s), and still used regularly. In this workshop, we’ll be hand binding soft cover books, then using one of the historic presses to print the covers!!

When: Wednesday April 20, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Where: Mackenzie House, 82 Bond Street, Toronto
Cost: $45, materials included

To register, please call the museum at 416-392-6915.
For more information please visit the museum’s website here.

Last Chance for the Giveaway!!

Posted on August 17, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 314/365
It’s the last day to enter my Instagram Giveaway!! You could win both prizes in the photo: The Medium Journal with Ocean ribbon bookmark, and a set of handprinted Ex Libris bookplates in matching grey!!

Head over for details and how to play, find me at: @sproutspress.

Painted Notebooks

Posted on July 20, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 286/365

Today I’m reflecting on one of my favourite projects to date; the painted journeys journal!These journals are a combination of painting, printmaking and bookbinding. I’ve written about the joys of creating in multiples and mixing mediums before on this post, but I haven’t talked about all three series together.

It all started with the set of pink journals in the bottom left corner, these were my first foray into this series. It was a lovely afternoon of painting, printing and then bookbinding. After they all found new homes (excepting the one I saved for myself as a photo prop) I wanted more! Then the blue series happened! This time, I made a different shape and size, and used the off cuts to make cute little mini books, which is all I have left of this series. Lastly, the most recent are the Journeys Journals in brown. Inspired by a not-so-Canadian winter that left my snow boots more muddy than icy. I plan to write a more detailed account of these books, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can take a look at the Journeys Journal in the Artist’s Books section of my Etsy shop, there are a couple left.

I’ve enjoyed working on these books as they develop in slightly different directions with each series. I switched up the binding for the blue series, but went back to the Japanese Stab Binding for the Journeys Journals. I really appreciate the construction of the matchbook cover and the geometric shapes created by the stitching.

An Artists Book

Posted on April 23, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 198/365

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about my feature in Uppercase magazine. Today I’m going to talk about the piece that made it happen, an artist’s book titled “O2”.

O2 is an artist’s book about oxygen. While it is not in-depth, scientifically, it is colourful, enjoyable and beautiful.This project started as a drawing study of the beautiful cell formations of oxygen-producing organisms and their structures. This triggered a curiosity about their function and history, which in turn led to the creation of this artists’ book from accumulated images and information.

This piece is also a labour of love, created entirely by hand. All the paper is my own handmade paper, made exclusively for this project. All images are my own, which I transferred and hand relief-printed. I also wrote all the text, based on my research, which I then screenprinted. And finally, I hand bound each book, completing this project and turning the prints into an art object, an artist’s book.

Hand printed in a limited edition of 9 books, there are only a couple of copies left. To read more, see them in my Etsy shop here.