Twined Bindings

I jumped at the chance when my friend, Jan, invited me to join her in a bookbinding class at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts. The class, Twined Bindings, taught by Oregon artist Roberta Lavadour, would teach us how to combine twining (generally a basketmaking or weaving technique) with the creation of a book. Roberta is an excellent instructor and over the two days of class, not only taught us how to make her twined binding (she originated the design), but also taught us her shortcuts and secrets to creating books. The books you see above are the students' completed projects (mine is on the end on the right). Roberta paced the class instruction so that almost all of us were able to complete a book by the end of the class. Check our Roberta's website and view her OPB video feature from Oregon Artbeat for more information on this fabulous book artist.




The Oregon College of Arts and Crafts is set in a wooded area in north Portland. The campus is filled with workshops and studios, as well as a heavenly gift store filled with original art of both student and local artists. The campus if fun and funky as evidenced by this small sapling near the parking lot that had been completed wrapped with red yarn as an installation project. By the time you leave the campus, your head is spinning with ideas for future art creations.

Prior to going to the Book Arts class, I visited the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. Each year the Festival sponsors three events: a main exhibition (this year focused on modern mosaics), an open show where artists from throughout the area can submit three pieces of both two and three dementional works for judging and sale and an art faire. Hundreds of artists participate in the open show event and it takes quite a while to explore the art. The mosaic show was incredible. Not just the mosaics that graced the walls of ancient Greece and Rome, but funky, edgy uses of ceramic, glass and natural material that took your breath away. I toured the booths at the artist faire and spoke to several of the vendors and came away with, of course, a few bird prints. Unfortunately photography was not allowed for any reason at the show and I was unable to bring back photos to share of the event, although one of the booth artists let me photograph her simple arrangement of a goldfinch nest on a silver platter.

Later in the week, I attended work-related training in Ridgefield, WA and came across these barn swallow nests (if you look closely you will see two tiny heads peeping out of the nests) and a killdeer who would play injured to draw me away from its nest right up until I pointed the camera in her direction, at which time she stopped her drama and looked at me as if to say, "you didn't really think I would let you photograph my bad side, did you?"

Wishing you all a wonderful Fourth of July!!!!