Bonnie Stahlecker Longings

Mary Lou Sherman, Jen Grove and I drove to Indianapolis recently for a talk by artist friend, Bonnie Stahlecker about her wall sculptures exhibit, Longings. The exhibit is great and will be up through today if you are in the area. It is at Gallery 924 at the Arts Council of Indiana on Pennsylvania Street.

In the photo above, I am with Sharon Turrini and Mary Lou Sherman. (Jen took the photo.)
I am so glad we went to hear Bonnie speak about her works and her transition from books to these sculptures. In addition to the talk, in the vestibule we were able to view a very nice video showing some of her process. The pieces on display were all a part of her Protection series. She researched words and actions and feelings people have across the world and across time about protection. The result is a very symbolic and very thoughtful body of work that filled the gallery walls beautifully.
Jen took this photo of Bonnie at the start of her talk. She is holding a small book she made and telling that usually in book exhibits we can only see front and back covers and spine or one opened pair of pages. This led to her wanting to create more sculptural works. She now translates her love of the book and its leather, fibers, printing and papers in a whole new way.

Please click on the link near the top of this post to see more of Bonnie's fascinating works. Bonnie also makes and teaches (often in her Blue Lizard Studio) how to make wonderful book forms, both traditional and non-traditional. She may be teaching how to make leather bound books at Jen's Lettersong Studio/Gallery in September.



By Jan Hurst

Artsy Days With Friends

Where does inspiration come from? For me, it can come from almost anywhere, a passage in a book, a FaceBook post, a seen-by-no-one-but-me image in a floor tile, a museum visit, paging through art books, workshops, and especially fun days exploring with art-minded friends. Here are a few photos from recent and not so recent friend fun days. Rob, Laura, Steve and I went to Nashville IN for a joint birthday/anniversary outing in March. These photos from a general store feed my artful soul.

A trip to Indianapolis and Carmel IN with two calligrapher friends was fun and full. In Carmel I got these photos of Doris Sisk, Jen Grove and myself along with a few locals.

Here's Jen thinking about the day's news while Doris 'reflects'.

Jen and I trying to help Grandma shop.

Jen had a little brush with the law.

A few years ago my friend Donna Hacker joined me in the NuLu district of Louisville for a trolley hop where we had these photobooth photos made.

That photo memory resides on my 'new' antique library drawers. I'd love to have a wall-full of these!

And today I had another great art day...at Gaye Medbury's annual art sale for friends. Here are Pat (Artkerfuffle) Pleacher, Gaye Medbury, Diana Hutchison and Connie Newbanks...all wonderful artists/calligraphers, and I'm proud to say, my friends.

Well, La Dee Da!

I love art. Even more, I love my friends.

Handmade Leather Journals and Jen Stones

A couple of weeks ago I took a leather journal workshop in Carmel Indiana with a few of my good calligraphy friends. (See earlier post.)

Last Saturday two friends came to my studio where we made another journal. This Saturday I am traveling to Nashville TN to take a long-awaited workshop with the fabulous calligrapher, Carl Rohrs - someone I've wanted to study with for many years, and next Saturday my friends are returning to my studio to make another leather bound journal. These art-filled Saturdays are beginning to be a nice habit!

Here are photos of the journals I made these past couple of weeks.

From the top:

This is an inner pocket page and the liner page in the rust colored journal, created from a yard sale suede skirt. The rust one was made to incorporate a seam in the skirt.

This photo shows the 'long stitch in slotted spine' detail of both journals. The blue one also has decorative leather pieces on the spine.

The blue journal I made in Carmel has a pencil slot. I deleted that from the newer one because the liner ripped a little around the slots.

While searching for these photos I ran across one of my favorite handmade books, created following an Annie Cicale workshop. It is made with watercolor paper, all hand painted and hand lettered with friendship quotes with a bit of collage on the cover. It was a favorite with judges at the Kentucky State Fair one year too - it won the blue ribbon!

Jen Grove was one of the friends who participated in both leather journal workshops. She came bearing gifts of her lovely painted glass stones, which I have dubbed "Jen Stones". Simply beautiful!

I will hopefully have some brush lettering from the Nashville workshop to post next week (and then maybe yet another leather journal.) I am scouring thrift shops for discarded leather garments! If you plan to clean out your closet and discard any leather or suede, please give me a call. : )

My First Repurposed Leather Journal

Look what I made!!!

Closed

Open

Spine

Fun inserts

Pencil/pen slots and map lining

Two friends and I drove up to Carmel for a workshop with fabulous bookbinder Bonnie Stahlecker. Our goal was to create handmade travel journals with repurposed leather covers. Our modus operandi was to have fun doing it. Both accomplished!

Jen Grove, Doris Sisk and I joined four other calligraphy friends (Ellen Simon, Kathy Laporte, Pat Ward, Pam Weaver) and a new friend named Jean Ann at Nature's Karma for the workshop. It was great to see lovely Jane Farr, who came by for a few minutes to say 'hello'.

I will be posting photos to my wedding blog in a few weeks of two very large wedding letters (as vows) I did for a sweet couple. They met me at Nature's Karma to pick up the letters I'd done for their upcoming wedding in Ireland. Their reactions were more than I could have hoped for. Meeting them was as much fun as the workshop. "Perfection" was one of the words they used upon seeing their letters, but their smiles and appreciation were the perfection to me.

We also had the opportunity to visit a few of Carmel's lovely galleries, where we saw fellow calligraphers Erika Woods and Yves Leterme's exciting work and met Susan Mauck, an excellent portrait artist. We had an early supper in Carmel before heading for home, tired but happy - each of us with a beautiful new handmade book to enjoy. Jen, Doris and I had so much fun we plan to get together in two weeks to make more books!.

If you get a chance to take a workshop from Bonnie Stahlecker, do it! She is excellent at her craft, and is always well-organized, gracious and very helpful.