Photo by Paul Stebner
“It’s too nice to use.” Book artist Chad Alice Hagen gets this freighted compliment a lot.
“I have heard the refrain many times,” Hagen comments. “I often wonder about the social roots of not wanting to ‘mess up’ a handcrafted book” — especially when the earliest examples of handmade journals “came from necessity and daily use,” she points out.
So she created a workshop with landscape painter Jane Voorhees, hoping to encourage bookmaking students to make that first mark in their creations. Hagen and Voorhees will collaborate on “Paper and Pencil,” a two-day workshop in bookmaking and sketching. After a day of bookbinding led by textile expert Hagen, participants will break in their books with their own sketches of Bullington Gardens under the instruction of Voorhees.
“Jane and I have been discussing teaching a combined sketchbook-and-drawing class for a while,” Hagen says. Both have taught previously at Bullington Gardens, along with leading classes out of their respective studios throughout the year. Because of the limited availability of seats, they hope to repeat this workshop as the warmer weather gains hold.
Hagen will teach the first day while emphasizing the use of materials from local shops or recycled sources — paper, board, and various textures for covers. She’ll provide a large selection of watercolor and multimedia paper, as well as tools for the next day’s sketching class.
Voorhees shares her fellow instructor’s goals. “Making a mark in a new handmade book is often a daunting task,” she says. Through discussion of various sketching techniques, she’ll prepare the participants to take the first step to christen their newly made books.
Photo by Paul Stebner
Hagen has been practicing hand-felted wool, resist dyeing, and rug weaving for 40 years and teaching bookbinding for almost 12. She holds classes out of her West Asheville studio in the specifics of wool felt making, as well as hand-dyed scarf felting. She’s also written three books on felt making.
Voorhees uses watercolor and pastel to depict the endless outdoor moods of Western North Carolina. Her original paintings are sold at Woolworth Walk in Asheville and at Miya Gallery in Weaverville, and her upcoming classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School include “The Art of Sketching” and “Beginning Watercolor.”
With access to the early-spring flowers of Bullington Gardens and the surrounding newly thawed landscape, participating artists can capture anything from daffodil closeups to distant views. By the end of the second day, they will have crafted, sketched in, and shared their own books.
“It’s essential for the creative mind to play,” Voorhees says. “Our sketchbooks are like our artistic playground — a great place to experiment, play, and practice.”
“Paper & Pencil: Make a Sketchbook and Get Out and Draw!” happens Tuesday, March 26, and Wednesday, March 27, from 9:30am-4:30pm. $120 + $25 materials fee. Limited to 10 participants. Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville. For more information, see bullingtongardens.org.