Spring Time Online Learning Workshops

 I have a few online learning opportunities coming up that I want to share.

First up is my workshop with Making Zen. I will be amongst a stellar line-up of teachers that will be sharing projects and techniques with the Making Zen Audience. Making Zen is a 5-day online creative workshop retreat that runs from May 26th - 30th. It is free to sign-up and there is a VIP option that you will want to look into that gives learners some enticing benefits. Click here or on any of the links above for more information and to register for free.

My workshop will be Book + Bag: A Traveling Kit. The workshop runs about 30 minutes and in it we will create a sketchbook kit for your upcoming travels, or daily wanderings, that can hold books, pens, pencils, brushed, and a small watercolor palette. The workshop includes demonstrations on how to bind a pamphlet book, a ledger book, and how to hand sew a Japanese tsunobukuro style bag that will keep your supplies organized for your creative adventures. 

Also, upcoming are two June Zoom workshops!

On June 7th I will teach my popular French Stitch Cracker Box Book workshop. I love this binding for its flexible exposed sewing spine and it's use of recycled and reclaimed materials. 

Click here for more information and to register.

And, on June 14th I will be teaching the Exploding Picture Box! This clever box is based on a Victorian paper box that has 28 surfaces where pictures, words, and illustrations can be placed.  It is like a little book or photo album in a box… that explodes! Small objects can also be placed at the center as an extra surprise.

Click here for more information and to register.

And, as always I have online classes on Creativebug - click here to go to my page.

Spring is a great time to get creative!

2025 Workshops...so far...

 Thought I would round up the workshops I have scheduled so far in 2025.  Online and In-person. Hope you will join me for some!

Here they are:

Decorative Longstitch Binding (Zoom)

Wishi Washi Studio (virtual)

Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, 1:00 - 5:00 Pacific

Decorative Longstitch 

Origami Travel Notebook (Zoom)

Wishi Washi Studio (virtual)

Saturday, March 1st, 2025, 1:00 - 3:00 Pacific

Origami Travel Notebook 

Stitched Photo Collage (In-Person)

ASIF Studios, Grass Valley, CA

Saturday, March 15th, 1:00 - 5:00, 2025

Stitched Photo Collage

Art and Soul Retreat (In-Person)

Art and Soul, Portland, OR

Stitched Photo Collage

Mending as Utility and Embellishment

Print and Stitch: Stencil Printing and Embroidery on Fabric

March 22-24th, 2025

Print and Stitch

French Stitch Cracker Box Book (In-Person)

Wolf Craft School and Collective, Nevada City, CA

Sunday, March 30th, 1:00 - 4:00, 2025

French Stitch Cracker Box Book

Shape, Pattern, Color: Hand Stitched Sampler Books (In-Person)

Work of Heart Studio, San Jose, CA

April 26th and 27th, 10:00 - 4:00, 2025

Shape, Pattern, Color: Hand-Stitched Sampler Book

The Studio Coat: Hand-Stitched Garment (In-Person)

Wolf Craft School and Collective, Nevada City, CA

May 16th - 18th, 2025

The Studio Coat at Wolf Craft

The Studio Coat: Indigo Dyed and Hand-Stitched (In-Person)

Botanical Colors, Seattle, WA

July 24th - 27th, 2025

The Studio Coat at Botanical Colors

Looking forward to seeing some of you out there!

And, remember, I always have online workshops on Creativebug, 24/7!

In-Person and Zoom workshops - 2022

 Boy, oh boy, am I a liar. In my last post (date 12/2/20) I promised I would post soon. Oh well. Best laid plans. These last two years have been...A...LOT!

But, here we are and I want to let you know where I'm going to be teaching in the next 6 months - both in-person and zoom.

I will be adding to this list so check back with my "In-person and Zoom Workshops" page where I am being really good about updating my workshop engagements and dates.

Here's what I have so far (click on workshop title for more info.):

Two fun and accessible workshops that I am offering via Zoom through Wishi Washi Studio:

 

Exploding Picture Box (Zoom)

February 5, 2022

1-3:00 PST

 

 

Origami Travel Notebook (Zoom)

February 12, 2022

1-3:00 PST

 

And, here are some In-person workshops that I have scheduled:

 

 

Stitch, Mend, Print, Make (In-person)

April 21 - 23rd, 2022, 10-4:00 daily

Ephemera Paducah, Paducah, KY 

Exploring a Sense of Place with Books, Textiles, and Objects

June 12 - 26, 2022

International Center for the Arts, Monte Costello, Italy

Hope to see some of you out there and remember that I have classes on Creativebug 24/7.

 

 

 

 

Tokyo and Urawa, 2017

I've just returned from Japan where I gave talks at the Urawa Art Museum and at Blue and White in Tokyo, and I wanted to give a quick report.

Shinjuku, Tokyo

I traveled to Japan to see the exhibit, MUSUBU, that I co-curated and to give a talk. Read more about MUSUBU in my previous post.

The exhibit space in the Urawa Art Museum was beautiful and the show was thoughtfully installed. We had a good size crowd that first day and visitors seemed genuinely interested in the work.

After I had made travel plans I was invited by Amy Katoh to give a talk at her iconic Tokyo shop, Blue and White. 

Such a beautifully curated shop that celebrates items handmade, hand dyed, and hand stitched in Japan.

I was only in Tokyo a week but packed quite a bit in. If you would like to see more photos please go on over to my Instagram account or my Facebook business page. 

Nezu Museum, Tokyo

Arigatou Gozaimasu to everyone who made our stay in Japan a fabulous one!

Later this week I re-pack my bags as I head to Taos, New Mexico to co-teach with Diane Ericson at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house. More on that when I return, or follow along on Instagram!

MUSUBU: Urawa

Over three years ago book artist Hisako Nakazawa asked me if I would help her with an idea for an exhibit that would involve members of the Tokyo Bookbinding Club and book artists residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. I immediately said "yes."

In those last 3 years the project has evolved, waxed, waned, and stalled before it became reality. Now, this idea has finally come to fruition. About a year ago the Tokyo Bookbinding Club secured a place on the exhibit calendar at the Urawa Art Museum, just outside of Tokyo, for the first leg of the exhibit. Hisako and I set about inviting Bay Area book artists to participate in the exhibit and the Tokyo Bookbinding Club queried their members, as well.

[PRAYER]: Memories of 4/16,2016 Kumamoto Earthquake by Hisako Nakazawa

The result is an exhibit entitled MUSUBU: Tokyo: California: Urawa. Twenty-four members of the Tokyo Bookbinding Club are exhibiting and 21 book artists that reside, or have strong ties, in the San Francisco Bay Area are participating.

Boro Vessel: Topsy Turvy, Inside Out and Outside In by Jody Alexander

When choosing the artists to represent the United States we looked for artists who were active members of the book arts community in the San Francisco Bay Area who created pieces that incorporate innovative book structures with strong content, possess solid craftsmanship, and a creative use of materials. Each artist also actively exhibits in the San Francisco Bay Area, and many exhibit nationally and internationally. They are also professors and teachers of the book arts at local colleges, universities, and art centers. In a sense it is a "dream team!" If you are familiar with the book arts world you will see what I mean when you read this list of participating US artists:

Rhiannon Alpers, Elizabeth Boyne, Macy Chadwick, Lucy Childs, Marie Dern and Danielle Giudici Wallis, Casey Gardner, Alisa Golden, Jennie Hinchcliff, Charles Hobson, Lisa Kokin, Bryan Kring, Hedi Kyle, Howard Munson, Penny Nii, Felicia Rice, Judith Serebrin, Larry Van Velzer and Peggy Gotthold of Foolscap Press, Katherine Venturelli, Kenneth Wilkes, and co-curators Hisako Nakazawa and Jody Alexander.

The ALICE B. TOKLAS COOK BOOK ”／ALICE B. TOKLAS by Keiko Fujii

Members of the Tokyo Bookbinding Club who are participating are:

Yoko Bato, Keiko Fujii, Michiko Fujita, Sinki Fukuda, Mari Hatano, Fumiko Ichida, Masumi Inayama, Junko Inque, Hisako Kawashima, Rie Kondo, Yukari Kunii, Ikuko Nakajima, Hiroko Nakano, Amu Nakao, Eiko Nakao, Kunie Ogoshi, Maki Sato, Katsuyuko Sawada, Ariko Shibata, Keiko Suzuki, Yoko Taguchi, Hiroe Takahashi, Akiko Tsumura, Maya Yamashita.

Hisako Nakazawa, the brainchild of the exhibit, is one of the founding members of the Tokyo Bookbinding Club, and she currently lives in California. She was interested in having the book artists living in these different parts of the world, that also have very active book arts communities, share their work with one another. Keiko Fujii is a member of the Tokyo Bookbinding Club and is also a co-curator of the exhibit along with Akiko Takiguchi who is a curator at the Urawa Art Museum.

    Seven Wonders of Honjyo by Akiko Tsumura

Hisako's husband helped us come up with the title for the exhibit: MUSUBU. Musubu means to tie, to connect, or to be bound by friendship. We thought this was the perfect word to represent an exhibit of bookmakers and bookbinders who are forming connections through their artwork.

I will be traveling to Tokyo in September and giving a talk at the Urawa Art Museum on September 12th, and am very much looking forward to seeing the exhibit.

Here is information about the exhibit:

Musubu: Book and Art: Tokyo: California: Urawa

Urawa Art Museum, Urawa-ku, Saitama, Japan

September 12th - 24th, 2017

Artist/Curator Talk by Jody Alexander, with Howard Munson and Kenneth Wilkes on Tuesday, September 12th from 3:00 - 4:30

Our very exciting news is that the exhibit has secured a US venue at the American Bookbinder's Museum in San Francisco, CA, in April/May 2018.

If there are any Tokyo readers out there I hope that you will try to make it to the Urawa Art Museum to see this exhibit. And, I'll be sure to share information about the San Francisco show as that date approaches.