Groundworks Art Lab

In our two-day class, students will prepare decorative cover paper on day one. On day two students will spend the day printing a broadside which will be cut, folded, and sewn into a small book. Covers will be folded and created with the decorative paper we created on the first day of the class. No experience is required, but do bring a sense of creativity and collaboration!

Konnyaku is made from a root vegetable in Asia that has been used culinarily since the 6th century CE. It can also be used as a paper sizing and strengthening agent; the paper is often crumpled and kneaded to make a strong, flexible, and durable product. The result is known as momigami.

On the first day, we invite participants to experiment with konnyaku paste on various papers. We will provide lokta (a sturdy colorful paper from Nepal that is versatile for many art projects) and brown, paper grocery bags, both of which make lovely momigami. 

Participants are welcome to bring papers that they would like to try with momigami. Ideally, the paper would be fairly heavy - similar to a brown paper bag - and not sized.

We will provide the prepared konnyaku paste which we will brush onto papers and allow to dry, We will also experiment with painting ink onto the paper before applying the paste. The crumpling and working of the paper multiple times results in a sturdy and super flexible material akin to cloth fabric.

While our momigami dries, we will begin to design and create the content for the broadside that will be printed on the second day.

On the second day, we will print fourteen pages of content on an oversize sheet of Arches Text Wove paper. The oversize paper will then be cut and folded using an intricate combination of meander accordion folding and pamphlet stitch binding to make a multi-page book. 

Collectively the participants will choose two ink colors and a theme for the book. Each participant will get to select cuts (images) for a page or two and set a few lines of appropriate text. Collectively we will write a colophon and print the momigami cover sheets with the colophon and a title.

We'll break for lunch. 

16+

The Book Arts League is a Colorado-based community of individuals who share an interest in letterpress printing, calligraphy, and bookbinding.

https://www.bookartsleague.org/