Ever wanted to learn book making? No, this is not about placing bets - though the students who pass through Nadine Wong's Art Escape Studio will bet you'll have a good time.
The 600 square foot studio in Halfmoon Bay is a place to work on the paper arts: books, collage, stamping, greeting cards and albums, put together with paper, ink, paints, rubber stamps, memorabilia and found objects. The workshops that Wong offers tend to attract repeat customers who have never crafted before rather than serious artists.
"For those who are not artists, it's their opportunity to create," she says. Some items on display at Wong's studio during a recent open house are definitely artistic, particularly the haiku greeting cards by Kathy Guthrie using Japanese papers and various hand lettering styles. They could be shown at a gallery. But it is the book arts that are intriguing.
"Book arts are my passion," Wong says, "making and altering them." She has been involved in some form of paper arts since 1993, first as a stamper, prompted by her sister, Debbie Carrubba, a designer and demonstrator for a stamp-related company in the States.
"I've always worked with my hands and taught how to do it - flowers, clay, leather, making sushi," she says. "Presentation is everything. A book, a card, your sushi, should be presented well." Wong has since evolved as a mixed media artist.
"I cannot stay away from my studio," she says. "I've studied with a whole new era of mixed media artists and continue to attend symposiums, workshops and conventions."
She can build a journal from its foundation to final product, starting with the covers, adding a spine and sewing pages into the book. One of Wong's non-traditional favourites is the star book. The hand made book is held shut with ribbons and when it opens, the pages fan into a star pattern with each page decorated by a story or keepsakes. Wong is busy right now making a memory album for her mother that will tell her story. After cutting a niche out of the book and gluing the surrounding pages together, one section makes a hiding place for a little gold nugget that her mom once panned.
One of the most interesting ideas on the paper arts market is the concept of altered books. Take a well worn, hard cover book of any description - possibly those Reader's Digest condensed books - then change it to suit. Lelainia Lloyd, a Vancouver altered art artist, will be teaching how to change your books during a workshop on Jan. 28. Lloyd has created a model book, one that acts as a manual for further altering. The book is turned upside down and recovered with a faux polished metal technique of her own design. The pages within have been embellished with interesting elements: pop ups, silhouette cuts, hand tinting, personal photos and memorabilia. Lloyd also teaches artists' trading cards, making little works of art, a phenomenon that has picked up speed among local artists and has been traded at the Arts Centre. The Art of Trading workshop (about artist trading cards) offered on Jan. 27 or 29 is still available.
Wong offers a one-day workshop in recipe book making on Jan. 21, while basic stamping classes are offered on Mondays of every month starting Jan. 16.
After you have taken the prerequisite Stamping 101, novice crafters are invited to drop in to the studio for a fee every Wednesday afternoon or evening. Tools and supplies are available. You bring your own project materials and work at your own pace. Sign up by phoning 604-885-5979 or www.artescapestudio.com.
