30 Paper Weavings in 30 Days

I recently completed a 30 day online class run by Helen Hiebert called Weaving Through Winter. The class had a very open structure, Helen did a 30 minute video introduction each week on a theme and workshop participants could take the concept and run with it. We posted pictures of what we made and offered comments and suggestions to each other. It was a wonderful daily practice and meditation. If you want to see all 30 of my pieces check out my Instagram posts at @gina_pisello. I will show you my favorites below and tell you a bit about what inspired them.

Enjoy!

This is one of the last pieces I made in class. I was inspired by weaver Kay Sekimachi and light streaming onto the red paper before sunset.

This weaving went through several stages before becoming the piece at the bottom. I tried folding an origami bowl with it, but the shape and size of the weave was wrong for this particular origami piece. I would like to try again with a different weaving pattern.

I wove abaca paper strips together then folded it into a Tomoko Fuse spiral. I love the way this turned out.

A simple weave around a silhouette.

I didn't know what to weave on this day but found inspiration in torn paper torsos I made years ago that sit framed on my desk. This one was hard to weave, but I really like the results.

This is a Danish heart basket, commonly made at Christmas time. I used folded paper and wove a love letter with a Japanese paper bag for this simple weaving. There are many more designs for this if you search Pinterest.

One week of the course was about weaving shapes. I wanted to do a simple circle and the tension of the weaving caused this to curve nicely off the page.

I experimented with hexagonal weaving trying to work out the formula for doing so. Turns out quilters have a way of doing this called triaxial weaving. I liked building this out from the center, but want to try doing it the "right" way sometime soon.

The completed hexagon weaving.

Another hexagon weaving.

I remembered that Claire Van Vliet and Hedi Kyle invented ways to weave books together in the excellent book Woven and Interlocking Book Structures. This one is my favorite with its crossing shapes and locking structures. I created the pages with eco-dyed paper.

This was an early weaving from the class. I wanted to explore strips that were angled. I like the optical illusion of it.

This is one of the later weavings. I cut warp strips around the leaves on the eco-dyed paper. Then I cut weft strips one at a time to bend around the leaves. I wanted to enhance this central image. 

The Art of the Fold

Hedi Kyle

was my favorite book artist before I even knew her name. I learned several of her structures early on in my book making career and loved them for their versatility. You can imagine how excited I was when I heard she was writing a book with her daughter Ulla Warchol that I could peruse at my leisure. I was also hoping there would be new structures to try. The book arrived on October 2 and I got busy making samples and experimenting with structures right away. I was enthralled by the easy to follow diagrams and the paper suggestions as well as information on changing dimensions. Below are pictures of samples I made using my stash of papers and book cloth.

Enjoy!

My samples so far from this amazing book!

My variation on the tree fold introduces a long leaf followed by a short one and then a long one. That way half of the leaves (pages) are hidden from view. The possibilities for a book are endless.

The same book open.

The Blizzard Box invented by Bill Hanscom and Hedi Kyle. I also make a square version (in blue).

The Blizzard boxes nested and holding some of my sea glass.

The Star Box is very satisfying to make as Hedi's dimensions give you a perfectly nested box and cover all in one.

Three variations of the School Book Wrapper, 2 with pleats and one without. I used book cloth to make these as it is sturdy and folds nicely around journal inserts.

This structure was new to me and I loved playing with the pop-up. I ended up creating a shape that I could fold into cranes.

I love the simplicity and creativity of this book. The triangle structure is unusual, but it fits so nicely into the covers. I can't wait to use it for an actual artist's book.

Another simple, but effective book structure is this Pocket Accordion with Separate Cover. I had fun coming up with the cat closure.

The Crown Greeting Card is lovely and easy to make.

I have made many Blizzard Books over the years; it was one of the first Hedi Kyle structures I learned. I never thought to create this kind of structure though. Thank goodness for Hedi and this book!

The Telescoping Ziggurat was a new structure to me and I enjoyed folding it and creating two pieces from one structure by cutting the very long strip of paper on the diagonal so that it rises up like a tower.

Mica Book

Making a book with mica pages presents some challenges. If you use natural mica, you can't glue or tape it as the top layer will simply pull away and leave the rest of the mica sheet unattached.  There is also the issue of binding a single piece of mica without a center crease to sew into. One solution is to use Keith Smith's Sewing Single Sheets method, but I don't like sewing if I can fold instead. So, to make my book I used Beauty in Use's slot binding method shown in Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner's  Woven and Interlocking Book Structures. The pages vary in size and width, with the bound edge and bottom squared up. This gives the book an irregular top and fore edge, which I like.

Hope you enjoy!

-Gina

Preparing the binding strip.

Mica ready to have the corners cut.

In the middle of adding the mica to the binding. This method uses slits cut into the paper as well as the corners of each page. They go in opposite directions and make a perfect fit when bound.

The finished book. I love this kind of mica with red, blue and black inclusions. It looks like ancient writing or a secret star map.

A top view of the book.

The end.

Four Corner Map Fold

I was reviewing my folder of prototypes the other day and came across a structure I created a few months ago and forgot about. I am making some samples for a friend and thought this one would be interesting to share. Instead of just sharing with her I decided to share it with all of you as well.

Below are pictures of the structure being folded as well as the crease pattern for folding it yourself. One piece of advice, fold before making the 8 cuts. It is easier that way.

Enjoy!

Diagonal and linear folds completed.

Collapsed model ready to fold in the corners.

Folding the corners to prepare to inside reverse fold them.

Beginning to collapse the model with all the folds present.

(Outside of model)

Inside of model with all the folds properly creased.

One way of displaying the piece.

 I like the way the four inside corners form the star in the center.

Folding the model closed.

Crease pattern for this structure.

Thoughts on Teaching

I have been a teacher for many years. I was once a science and art teacher at a school for the deaf in Massachusetts. I taught art classes at my kids elementary school and more recently book arts classes in San Diego and Tacoma have been my focus. It is always a learning experience to teach a group of people a new concept. I am looking forward to more of these experiences.

Here are some pictures of my student's hands folding paper in our Road to Spring workshop from Saturday's class at the Art Lounge on 101.  I just love expressive hands folding paper.

Enjoy!

Teaching at Art Lounge on 101

For those of you in the San Diego area, I will be teaching an origami book structure I invented called " The Road to Spring" on September 17 at Art Lounge on 101. Here is the flier for the class and the books that were inspired by this structure.

Enjoy,

Gina

Example made with rectangular sections.

The Road to Spring, my first book made with this structure.

Companion Star, shown with the "pages" removed.

As Deep Can Be closed.

Sample book with flattened points so it can stand up.

Spiral Atlas, variation on the basic structure.

Time and Place

San Diego Book Arts is holding a member show this fall at a traditional art gallery with lots of wall space and not much room for standing works like traditional artist's books. That means they are asking members to come up with "books" that can hang on the walls. I have been trying out various ideas for this show and here is my latest attempt. I call it Time and Place since it represents the fall night sky constellations imposed onto a folded paper structure.

I hope you like the results. I feel like it still needs something more, but here is the work so far.

-Gina

I printed a map of the northern hemisphere's fall constellations onto graph paper.

Next, I scaled up the map using a bigger sheet of graph paper that had the same divisions. Each square on the smaller sheet represents a 3 x 3 square on the larger paper.

I folded the 18 x 24 sheet of paper into a chevron pattern then flattened it, placed the graph paper drawing over it and punched holes using a Japanese screw punch. I used 5 sizes to represent different star magnitudes (from 1mm to 3mm).

Here's a closeup of the paper with the stars punched.

I like the idea of shaping the piece with this bend in the middle to suggest the curvature of space-time.

Tiny Book Necklaces II

In a previous post I showed you several tiny book necklaces that I made last year before attending FOBA (Focus on Book Arts). I recently made a Hedi Kyle inspired one for my class with her and yesterday I got truly nuts and made one based on my latest structure; the Spiral Atlas. They both required some creative folding (using tools when my fingers were too large) and patience. Below are pictures of both and step outs of the spiral atlas.
Enjoy!

-Gina

Hedi Kyle inspired diagonal pocket folder. 

Made from 1 5/8 x 2.5 inch paper. (3/4 x 1/2 inches closed).

Folder open showing diagonal pockets and golden lining.

Spiral Atlas book necklace. 

The largest section is 1 inch and the smallest is 1/2 inch.

When folded they are half that size!

Spiral atlas: I used tracing paper colored with alcohol ink. It measures 1 x 3 3/4 with each section scored and folded in half. Scores are at 1, 7/8, 3/4, 5/8, and 1/2 inch.

Trim off 1/8 inch from each square from left to right, skipping the 1 inch square.

Diagonal fold each square to form an X.

Cut a notch at the fold between squares equal to 1/4 their length at the top and bottom. This makes it possible to fold in the points after the next step.

Collapse each square into a water bomb base along the X folds and center folds. The structure should look like the one below.

Fold in the points on left and right. Unfold and inside reverse fold them to make the shape below.

The book when folded measures less than 2 inches.

Cut squares the same sizes as above (1, 7/8, 3/4, 5/8, and 1/2 inch). Fold them into Hungarian map folds so they nest inside the base structure.

Carefully place inserts in each section and fold down the center points to "lock" them in place. Use a thin scoring tool to help move paper where it needs to go. To form the spiral shape seen in the necklace, glue together the first and last sections by forming a circle. I attached a wire hook using glue, put on a jump ring and threaded a chain through it.

As Deep Can Be

Last week I shared a new variation on my accordion book; The Road to Spring. Since then I have been working on an artist's book based on the variation. I used beautiful marbled paper from Crepaldi of Brazil and some sea green handmade paper from a local art store. I wanted some kind of subtle visual content so I carved rubber erasers into segments of a river. They can be turned and combined in a number of ways. I stamped them with VersaMark ink which is clear but leaves a watermark effect. To make the lines stand out a bit more, I used a white gel pen to highlight them. Below are pictures of the finished book.

San Diego Book Arts is holding their annual member show this fall at the James Allen Rose Gallery at Francis Parker School. Since the gallery space is set up for wall display,  we were asked to come up with book structures that can hang on the wall. I think this new book will do nicely.

Enjoy.

-Gina

Carved erasers and their stamped images.

As Deep Can Be by Gina Pisello 2016

Closeup showing stamped and inked lines.

Closed book.

Open in a spiral.

Spiral Atlases: playing with The Road to Spring book structure

I like to play with paper. I also like to invent new structures and then stretch, shrink, or change their folding patterns. Below are pictures showing two variations of my book

The Road to Spring

. The squares that form the base of the structure changed size from 4 inches down to 2 inches instead of staying the same size in the original version. I made a prototype on Wednesday with the squares centered and decreasing by 1/2 inch (see diagram 1). This made a very interesting model and got me thinking about other ways to have a graduated structure (see diagram 2). I hope you like the surprising results as much as I do. Here are my newest creations: Spiral Atlases (thanks Mom for the name).

Enjoy,

-Gina

Diagram of first variation.

Diagram of second variation.

Spiral Atlas #2 showing crease pattern. 

Note the notches cut where the squares meet.

#2 with creases collapsed.

#2 Side view.

Spiral Atlas #2 folded into Turkish map folds in each section.

#1 and #2 with finished Turkish map folded sections.

#1 with Hungarian map fold inserts. 

I used tracing paper hoping the marbling would still show.

#2 with gelatin printed paper inserts.

Spiral Atlas #2 finished.

Spiral Atlas #1 finished.

Oxford Blues: A Cut Paper Project

I have just finished a six week class with Bhavna Mehta called Cuts and Links. There are more ways to cut paper than I realized when I started. Bhavna challenged us to make a final project using the techniques we learned in the class. Here is mine. It is based on a map of Oxford England from 1758. I used elephant hide paper which cuts beautifully and folds well even when most of the paper is removed.
Enjoy.

-Gina

Oxford Blues, four views

Teaching in Tacoma

I was privileged to teach The Road to Spring to nine Puget Sound Book Artists last weekend in Tacoma, WA. We spent 3 hours together creating folded map books from Strathmore charcoal paper. I really enjoyed sharing this structure I invented from the Turkish map fold and the Hungarian map fold. Pictured below are the participants (with the exception of MalPina) and their work.

Enjoy,

Gina

Deb, Don, Kathy and Mary

Carole, Michelle, Lynn and Kathy

Sometimes I'm Jagged on the Inside

I have a new accordion folded sculpture to share with you today. A few days ago I was wondering what the

Turkish Map Fold

would look like if I used rectangular paper instead of square paper to fold it. Then I got to thinking about the fold for the insert I used in

The Road to Spring

 and

Companion Star

. Could it also be folded with rectangular paper? The answer is yes, and it makes a very interesting asymmetrical shape. Next I wondered if there was a way to fold this new shape from an accordion folded sheet of paper so that the parts would be connected to each other. This was tricky and took some fiddling, but in the end I was able to create the sculpture you see below. Later in the day a name came to me and it is the title of this blog post.

Here are some pictures showing the folding process. Enjoy!

-Gina

Finished piece.

Single folded unit.

I taped together several single units to figure out where I needed to cut the accordion and make a continuous folded sculpture.

Step 1: accordion fold then fold diagonals. Then cut the paper as shown.

Step 2: Collapse the paper along the diagonals.

Step 3: Fold in the triangle sides. Notice how one side has a small triangle and the other side is larger, but they don't overlap. This creates the asymmetrical look.

Step 4: All the triangle sides are creased. Now just inside reverse fold all of them to create the final shape.

Variations on a Theme

My recent post The Road to Spring was pretty popular and I have been working on some variations on this book and structure ever since. The newest one is a story about my dad and his love of the night sky. I have also played with the bottom of the structure adding a sink fold so that the book can stand upright. Other variations include making smaller books and making it with 4 or 6 pages. I hope you like the pictures below and enjoy Companion Star. The first line of the story is: "Dad, like Plato, thought that every soul had a companion star to which it returned after death..."

I hope you enjoy these variations on a theme and create your own version as well.

-Gina

Companion Star , by Gina Pisello.

Companion Star has 4 pages instead of the 5 in The Road to Spring.

Bottom of the book.

Companion Star with the star pages removed to reveal the story.

Closeup of the text pages.

Top of 4 page variation.

Side view of 4 page variation showing flat base.

Bottom of 4 page variation showing sink folds. The inner blue pages have corresponding sink folds too.

University of South Dakota Altered Book Show: Bound & Unbound III

Today's post is all about altered books. I love making and seeing altered books. It's a way to recycle old books that no one reads anymore and it is amazing to see how many ways people can alter a book. I hope you check out the Bound & Unbound digital exhibit. Be prepared to be inspired.

Here are my two entries in the show.

-Gina

Alternative : Topographic carving in an old German book. The beach rock matches the marbled endpapers perfectly and adds some weight to the piece.

Stone Mountain, GA : Topographic carving of Stone Mountain, GA showing both positive and negative elevations. The sedimentary rock happened to be almost the same shape as the base of the mountian.

The Road to Spring

I made a new book this week using techniques learned in Jill Berry's class (Intimate Atlas) and from fellow origami enthusiast Kathy Linsley's variations on the Turkish Map Fold. I call it The Road to Spring. It is a story about my childhood family's trip every spring from New York to Birmingham, AL where we visited our maternal grandparents. We often drove from lingering winter into spring weather and I was always fascinated to watch the snow melt away and the flowers appear on the two day drive. I hope you like the structure I created and the pictures of my process.

-Gina

List of supplies:
Higgins Indigo ink- watered down
Tim Holtz Ranger dye inks: mown lawn, peacock feathers, broken glass, brushed corduroy, antique linen, and mustard seed
Tim Holtz Distress Markers in the same colors as above
Arches Text Wove paper- 5 x 25 1/4 inches

The Road to Spring by Gina Pisello

Dripping ink to make a quick road map.

Coloring the background with Distress Inks.

Cutting and folding the paper into 5 pages.

The next step in the Turkish Map Fold (the water bomb base).

Finally all 5 pages are folded into the standard Turkish Map Fold.

These 5 pages, also 5 x 5 inches, contain our route south as well as the story of our trip.

I folded these pages into a complimentary form that Kathy Linsley invented so that they nest inside of the Turkish Map fold. She modified the Turkish fold as well with an extra fold on the center seam.

The finished book from the top. It made this nice circular form when it was done.

Tiny Book Necklaces

Tiny origami crane book measuring 1 x 3/4 inches. Folded from tracing paper colored with alcohol inks.

I started making book necklaces back in 2004 when I was working at a craft fair and wanted something to do during down time. I made hardcover, maze fold books like the one below and sold them at the fair. Later I made coordinating books and boxes to sell as well. 

I decided to make some new mini book necklaces to wear each day of FOBA.  I got to work last month and made the books shown below. They are each approximately 1 inch tall and 3/4 inch wide. The crane book at the top of this post is my favorite and the hardest one to make.  I got lots of positive comments on the necklaces at Focus on Book Arts and I hope you like them too.

Envelope fold pocket book with glassine covers.

Inside of this book showing pockets with handmade marble paper inside.

Hedi Kyle Blizzard fold book made from vintage map.

Map book open.

FOBA and Other Trips

I have not posted in a while and now I have a back log of posts to write. So... I will try to work backwards from the present and catch you up on what has been happening in my corner of the paper and book arts worlds.

First up is my trip to FOBA (Focus on Book Arts). I attended this wonderful event for the first time in late June and had a great experience. The conference was well organized, full of enthusiastic participants and overflowing with great teachers. I met so many book artists that I hope I will be able to stay in touch with. My class was taught by Jill Berry and you can see pictures below of the book we made. The class was called An Intimate Atlas and it was all that and more! Thanks Jill for a wonderful class.

While I was in Portland for FOBA there was also a talk by Hedi Kyle, a person I greatly admire and have never met before.  I did get to introduce myself to her briefly and thank her for all the inspiration she has provided over the years. I also attended the artists' reception at 23 Sandy Gallery and got to see all the lovely books up close. I met several of the other artists in the show and we bonded over our love of Hedi's structures. There was even a table of her (Hedi's) sample books at the show that we could touch and try to figure out. All in all it was a wonderful trip and an experience I will remember for many years.

Enjoy the pictures of my FOBA experience.

-Gina

An Intimate Atlas - book designed by Jill Berry and executed by me.

Page 1 "My Head"

Pages 3 and 4 shown folded into their turkish map fold shapes.

Pages 3-4 closed up and encased in their black paper gate fold binding.

The back of one map page showing the random lines we made using dripped walnut ink. Color was added with Twinkling H2O's and watercolor.

Hedi Kyle sample of a map accordion folded and fishbone folded at the same time! Amazing structure.

Hedi Kyle Map book closed showing her belt fold closure. You can find directions for this closure in Preservation Enclosures by Hedi Kyle

Me with my book Lost River at 23 Sandy Gallery.

News

I want to share some good news along with some links today. As you know if you follow this blog, I was juried into the Hello Hedi show at 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, OR. The show opened yesterday and I am excited to share the online catalog with you here. I will be attending the artists' reception on Friday June 26 and hope to meet Hedi Kyle, who will be attending. I am also in Portland that week attending the Focus on Book Arts Conference and taking Jill Berry's class An Intimate Atlas. I can't wait for both of these events and when I am back home I will be sure to blog about the experiences. If any of you are attending either event I hope to see you there.

The other thing I want to mention is that I will be teaching a two hour workshop next weekend. I will show students how to fold Hedi Kyle's Pocket Book. It is similar to her Blizzard Fold book, but creates an expandable structure that can hold bulky items. Here is a link to my blog showing how to fold the structure. I also taught this class at Puget Sound Book Arts in April and it went very well. I hope my students will be inspired to use the structure to create their own artist books.

Pocket Book for mini workshop

Here are the books I have in the Hello Hedi show. One has already sold which I am very happy about. Enjoy.

-Gina

Three Fold Night (sold)

Lost River

Mixed Media Book Covers

Today's post is a blast from my past. I was recently visiting my mom and she showed me a set of collaged vintage book covers I made her several years ago. I had forgotten about them, but was inspired to make myself a set. Mine are wrapped in a packet and contain poems about birds. Please see pictures below for materials and the finished project that was inspired by an article from Somerset Studio called Poetic Packet Collages.

This post is also inspired by Mixed Media World challenge #3. I used vintage book covers, stamps, maps, and images from old dress patterns to make the covers. Enjoy, I'm off to the studio to make more!

-Gina

Finished Packet

Contents of the packet; front and back covers with collage elements and poems on tracing paper.

Component 1: Vintage dress pattern images.

Component 2: Vintage book covers.

Component 3: Maps, marbled paper, etc.

Component 4: Vintage stamps and samples of marbled paper.

Component 5:Tracing paper with topographic lines in pencil to add depth to the packet wrapper.