Full course description:

We will examine the book from the ancient scroll to the book as an art form and will have fun challenging the conventional concept of “bookness!”

You know the feeling you get when arriving in a place where you know you belong, or perhaps have been in another time? Our stories are built on such powerful places.

Using the rich imagery found inside the château, in the gardens, at the beach and in town, forage images and concepts and create a book (or several books) with found objects, paper and textiles. Your book might explore your experience here and now at La Napoule, or you may create a book based on another place-memory or voyage of discovery.

You will learn several folded book structures, experiment with various tools and mark making techniques (try making tools from natural plants and objects around us), lettering, and ways of thinking about what writing is. We’ll play with surrealistic automatic writing, asemic writing, alternate alphabets and ways of “saying.” Try your hand at ekphrastic writing - responding to works of art, architecture, and even music around Mandelieu la Napoule.

We’ll take a field trip to the world-renowned Fondation Maeght in Nice to see their one of a kind collection of artists’ books.

Materials: fine paper, found paper, ephemera, found objects, natural materials, photographs. Artists will be given a list of items to bring to use in their projects (if desired.)

Experience level for all classes: Zero to Infinity. Any level of artistic experience is welcome. You do not have to have ever held a paintbrush, or you may be a professional Artist with a capital “A.” You will apply your deep wisdom to the projects. You will go off on tangents. You will not believe what you will create.