Creemore students learn the art of bookmaking

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Creemore students are used to getting knowledge from books but in the past few weeks they have been learning how to make books.
During the annual Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society’s Artists in the School program at Nottawasaga and Creemore Public School, students in Grades 4-8 were led through a series of bookbinding workshops by local artists Liz Eakins and Jordan Eveland.
Eveland, an active youth arts educator in the community, has been a regular with the Artists in the School program, introducing students to many different mediums and styles of art over the years. She said with Eakins coming on board for the first time they decided to dip into her expertise as a paper artist.
Each grade had their own spin on the eight-page book but they all began by learning a traditional form of bookbinding. After preparing the pages, they punched holes and bound them book with hand stitching, using the tools of the trade.
Grade 4 students were asked to listen to different types of music and paint how the music made them feel. The gestural paintings in acrylic resulted in abstract work, accented with contour line drawings taking note of patterns and repetition, that would become the pages of their books.
The Grade 5/6 class used ink on printed paper, like maps and sheet music, to create mixed media pieces on which they printed designs using handmade print blocks.
Grade 6/7 students started with watercolour paper and paints for the foundation of their mixed media collages using Japanese paper, dyed paper towels and other scraps.
Members of the graduating Grade 8 class made a memory book that could be used as an autograph book. The cover was hand painted but the inside pages were left blank. Students had a choice of beautiful Japanese paper for the pages and also learned how to make fold-out pages and hand-made envelopes. Those students each made a small painting to exchange with a friend, and tuck into the envelope.
Students were enthusiastically adding the final touches to their books when we visited the Grade 6/7 classroom on April 9. They said they thoroughly enjoyed the three-week project. When asked what they will do with their books they said they may keep them for themselves or give them away as gifts.
The community will have two chances to see the finished books. They will be on display at Curiosity House Books April 19-21 and 26-28 and they will also be hung for the Spring Social at Station on the Green on May 25.
PHAHS is a volunteer run community organization that funds arts and heritage programming in the community. Events including the Spring Social and last year’s Dias de los Muertos, plus membership fees, are fundraising initiatives for programs like Artists in the School.
Both Eveland and Eakins teach workshops through The Bay School of Art. Eveland is also teaching at summer art camps with Imaginarium Adventures in Art.

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