Session Two/June 9-13

Dolph Smith
Bookmaking

All Levels
Studio
5 Day class (9am-4pm)
Tuition: $275
Materials: $30

Master bookmaker, Dolph Smith, brings humor and whimsy to this class. Initially, class emphasis will be on a clear understanding of the traditional multi-sectioned binding. Next, the emphasis will shift to thinking of the book as a small, kinetic sculpture. Students will make covers and text blocks with moving parts. The goal will be to allow moving parts to be in concert with pop-up. Attention to the front and back covers will be a strong part of the content, with the book block left for future work. The books will be built of wood, cooper, leather, found and made parts, and finished with milk paint, graphite, veneers, and imagination! There will also be experiments with etching glass. Students should complete 2-3 finished books, but just as importantly, will take home some unfinished works in progress. Dolph will encourage and help develop student ideas from all areas - including left field!

Dolph Smith, from Ripley, Tennessee, has a B.F.A. from Memphis College of Art, and in 1983 founded "The Flying Vat", a studio for teaching paper and book arts at the college. From 1985-1986, he was the director of "The New School" of Continuing Education and "The Saturday School for Children". In 1995, he was elected Professor Emeritus and in 2004 received a Doctorate of Fine Arts honorary degree. Also in 2004, he was profiled in "The Penland Book of Handmade Books", and was a member of their faculty in the late 1990's. In 2006, Dolph taught a Master's Class at ESSA titled "The Book as a Hand Held Kinetic Object". In October, 2006, Dolph had a major retrospective at Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, Arkansas, sponsored by the Rocky Smith Foundation in which "Dolph Smith Day" was declared. Dolph is presently working from a studio called Tennarkippi on Hurricane Hill in western Tennessee.