Teaching Altered Books at Into The heArt Retreat

A few people have asked when I’ll be teaching another altered book workshop. At the moment, I only have one scheduled for this fall but I’m hoping to have something lined up for late spring.

Altered book workshop - Student work
View more student work from past altered book workshops.

In September I’ll be teaching a full day workshop at Into the heArt, an upcoming art retreat in Maple Ridge, BC. This is a good excuse to take time away from daily life and immerse yourself in a few days of creative exploration. If you’re familiar with the ArtFest (now retired) in Port Townsend, this is along the same lines.

Check out the full list of classes and instructors, and further details about the retreat on the Creative Finds web site.

Opus In-Store Demo: Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques

This coming Saturday, I will be on location at Opus Art Supplies Hastings location giving an in-store demo of paper cutting techniques. The demo is FREE but you must register by phone (604‑678‑5889) to reserve a spot as space is limited.

Paper cut designs

Untitled

Full details about the demo can be found on the Opus website.

Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques
Opus Downtown
Date: Saturday, February 16th, 2013
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Location: 207 West Hastings Street

Altered Book Workshop at Crofton House School

Last week I taught my first altered book workshop to the under thirteen set, when I was invited as a guest artist at Crofton House School. I worked with two back-to-back groups of grade 7 girls with twenty kids in each class. We began with a presentation of a selection of my altered book work and then I moved on to a demo of techniques.

It was amazing to see all the girls get right down to work on their books with very little hesitation. The photos will give you a sense of the wonderful creative chaos that took place.

Crofton House Workshop-3

Crofton House Workshop

Crofton House Workshop-2

Crofton House Workshop-4

I’d only worked with adults in previous classes, so it was an interesting experience to observe how easily these young people tapped into their creativity and how much harder it can be for an adult, especially if they’ve lost touch with their creative side. I could see that the girls didn’t have the hesitation or fears about making a mistake that people tend to develop as they grow older.

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Crofton House Workshop-7

Crofton House Workshop-6

Our workshop together was just the beginning of their altered book unit in art class, so much of what is pictured here is a work-in-progress. There was some very interesting work happening in the classroom, and I’m looking forward to seeing the end results in a few weeks.

Crofton House Workshop-9

Crofton House Workshop-8

Thank you to Kerry Harding for the invitation to share my work and knowledge with her grade 7 art classes, and to Crofton House School for hosting me.

Introduction to Altered Books Workshop at Blim – Fall Session

Coming up in September I’ll be teaching another altered book workshop at Blim. The session is three hours long and I try to pack in as much information as I can to get people inspired about working with books.

Please view the set of photos on Flickr of work created by students in previous classes.

Vancouver Maker Faire

For further details and to register for the class, please visit the Blim website.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim
Date: Saturday, September 22nd, 2012
Time: 2 to 5pm
Cost: $74.80 ($65 + tax + $2 service charge)
Location: 115 Pender St. E, Vancouver

A Fruitful Experience at Vancouver Maker Faire

I’m exhausted today after spending the last few days sharing my work and talking with people at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire. This year I had two tables set up, one to display my work, and a second as an activity table with books for people to work on.

Vancouver Maker Faire

Vancouver Maker Faire

I taught a few people how to make paper flowers on the first day, then switched to encouraging book page folding on Sunday. By the end of it there were four books on the go that became collaborative projects with pages folded by many different people. A few people started their own book and took it home with them to complete.

Vancouver Maker Faire-2

I really loved seeing parents sitting down with their kids to try different things with the books or pages, like this little girl and her father. I showed them my new favorite paper cutting technique and they made a tiny lantern from a book page.

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Vancouver Maker Faire-5

A few kids did origami with the scraps of book pages. I was really impressed with the paper crane folded by a young girl, as it’s a fairly complex set of folds that I find difficult to do. She made it look easy.

Vancouver Maker Faire-4

Vancouver Maker Faire

Vancouver Maker Faire-7

These final four photos are the collaborative altered books folded by many hands. They’re a wonderful mishmash of different folds, cuts, and sometimes crunched up pages. The books I had on hand were a donation from the librarians at Bull Housser, as they’ve been in the process of decommissioning some of their law books.

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Vancouver Maker Faire-8

Vancouver Maker Faire-9

Vancouver Maker Faire-10

I love being part of Maker Faire because it feels like a celebration of community and creativity that breaks down the silos. I will definitely continue to be a part of this event every year, and look forward to watching it grow.

A HUGE thank you to Boris, Monique, and James for their support and assistance in running my booth over the weekend.

Transforming Books into Visual Art – In Store Demo

Coming this Saturday June 2nd I will be demonstrating my altered book making techniques at a FREE in store demo at the Hastings Street location of Opus Art Supplies. If you’ve been meaning to take one of my workshops this is a good opportunity to have a crash course in transforming old books into art »

Book bursts

I will have a limited number of books available for people to work with during the demo. Please feel free to bring your own books if there is something specific you’d like to learn.

Transforming Books into Visual Art with Rachael Ashe
Date: Saturday June 2nd, 2012
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Location: Opus Downtown, 100-207 West Hastings Street

Guest Workshop at Blim – Spring Session

Blim has invited me to teach another introduction to altered books workshop, coming up at the end of April.

To get an idea of some of the work you can make in this class, check out the set on Flickr of work made by students from previous workshops.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work

For further details and to register for the class, please visit the Blim website.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim
Date: Saturday, April 28th, 2012
Time: 2 to 5pm
Cost: $74.80 ($65 + tax + $2 service charge)
Location: 115 Pender St. E, Vancouver

Meet Your Makers at Museum of Vancouver Maker Faire Showcase

The Vancouver Mini Maker Faire is kicking off this year’s event with an information session and meet and greet at the Museum of Vancouver. It’s happening this Thursday, March 15th between 5pm to 9:30pm. It’ll be a fun evening of sharing ideas, getting inspired, and meeting one on one with an interesting cross section of Makers. The event is open to the public and is a great opportunity to learn more about what Maker Faire is all about.

I will be there with a display of my work, as well as demonstrating some of the techniques I use to create altered books. Bring a book with you and I’d be happy to get you started on making your own altered book project.

Maker Faire @ MOV Poster

The 2012 Mini Maker Faire is happening at the PNE this year on the weekend of June 23rd and 24th. The organizers are now accepting applications for participants, which you can find here.

Vancouver Maker Faire @ MOV
Date: Thursday March 15th, 2012
Time: 5pm to 9:30pm
Location: Museum of Vancouver
1100 Chestnut Street

Altered Book Workshop at Blim

It was terrific to get back to teaching altered book workshops over the weekend. This time the class was hosted by Blim, an awesome multi-purpose creative space in Chinatown. It was fully booked with eight people in attendance, and once again everyone made really interesting work.

I love sharing what I do, and it’s inspiring for me to see people walk away at the end of class feeling excited about what they’ve just learned. Below are photos of some of the amazing work made by participants in the class.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work
Altered Book Workshop at Blim - Student Work

At the moment I’m working on booking more classes for the upcoming months, and have been asked by Blim to teach the class again. Stay tuned to the blog or my mailing list for details.

Guest Workshop at Blim

In February I will be sharing my book altering techniques as a guest teacher at Blim. The workshop is a short introduction to making altered books, with a focus on paper folding.

To get an idea of some of the work you can make in this class, check out the set on Flickr of work made by students from previous workshops.

Altered book workshop - Student work

For further details and to register for the class, please visit the Blim website.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim
Date: Saturday, February 25th, 2012
Time: 2 to 5pm
Cost: $74.80 ($65 + tax + $2 service charge)
Location: 115 Pender St. E, Vancouver