The Paper and Book Intensive is annually hosted at the Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuk, Michigan. The intensive is two weeks long, with the first week consisting of two classes, one taught in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. The second week involves one all-day class that revolves around a more complex curriculum. 

 

Week 1: 

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Bone Tool Making with Shanna Leino 

 

In this course, elk bone blanks were shaped into the desired tool. A small hatchet was used to get the rough size and shape of the tool, followed by the use of a farrier rasp, moving down to finer files. Decorative work was done using a jewelers saw, Dremel tool, and flex shaft. To add color, acrylic paint was used to tint 5-minute epoxy. To finish, tools were sanded with wood sandpaper (in increasing grit) and then polished with steel wool. 

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Vietnamese Paper Making with Veronica Pham 

 

In this course, we used traditional Vietnamese paper making techniques to pull full sheets of paper. The primary fiber used in the class was dó (pronounced zaw). The outer skin of the fiber was soaked, peeled, and cooked overnight. The fibers were macerated with a mallet and then the paper pulp was formed using formation aid. Using a liém seo (woven bamboo screen) and khung seo (two part wooden frame), the sheets were formed and then dried. Other sheets of paper were made using corn, lily, mescanthus, and rye fibers. 

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Week 2: 

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From Meteora to Michigan: Understanding Greek Bindings with Kyle Clark 

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In this course a Greek binding was constructed based on the manuscripts housed in the University of Michigan Libraries. The textblock consisted of 33 sections of yellow manila drawing paper. The wooden boards were shaped, and five holes were drilled along the spine edge for sewing. Five holes were drilled at the head and tail of both boards for the endband tie downs. The textblock was sewn in two parts, with the first half of the text sewn onto the front board, and the second half sewn onto the back board. The two halves were sewn together, and then pressed under weight, forcing the gatherings into a round. This process is called bi-axial sewing. The fore edge of the book was plowed, and the endbands were sewn. The book was fully covered in unpared goat skin, and leather straps and bone pin furniture were constructed. On the final day, the book was finished - furniture was installed and the boards were tooled. 

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