Bookbinding Class with Kristen Watson

Some women get their sisters cards for birthdays, clothing, even art supplies. I've been blessed with all those things from mine! And on top of all of that, my sister-in-law surprised me with tickets to two amazing art classes this month -- a 5-hour bookbinding class and Part 2 of the creature-drawing class that I've been dying to take, at Artists' Medium (next weekend)!

I've spent every weekend this month with one of my best friends, making art, laughing, driving in snowstorms, laughing until we cried, listening to serial killer podcasts, and dining at (sometimes fancy) restaurants (by accident). Age 32 feels a lot like 22 with this lady in my life!

The bookbinding class this weekend was phenomenal. Kristen gave us the choice of spending more time on the design and creative part (painting/illustrating covers) which would have meant making fewer books (3) versus a pretty intensive schedule focused more on binding processes but making more books (4).

As much as I love design, I wanted to get good use out of our bookbinding time. We all agreed that we wanted to create 4 books in 5 hours. Kristen said she would move us right along, and she did! I was so impressed with her time management skills. I am the type of artist (and apparently bookbinder now) who has her head stuck in the clouds, who has no concept of time when it comes to art. Kristen kindly guided us along, so that we got the most out of this incredible class.

We painted our covers and completed: a perfect-bound book, a ribbon-tied concertina book, a saddle-stitched portfolio-style book, and a Japanese-style (Asa-no-ha Toji) stitched book.

Yep! All that in 5 hours! I was so pleased with the final results. Since I've gotten home, I've gone a little crazy making the accordion, concertina books. I can't stop!

This was the second class I took with Kristen, and I highly recommend checking out any of her classes (here). She is patient and respectful of everyone's learning speeds. She skillfully offers one-on-one instruction while leading the entire class, to keep everyone on task. I can't wait to take another class with her in the future!