Toothpick art

In paper engineering you have to have plenty of finger dexterity and patience. The same thing goes for this art form I've been recently looking into: toothpick modeling!

Check out this model of San Francisco built by a grocery store produce manager, Scott Weaver.



Or these toothpick versions of famous buildings and towers built by Stan Munro:



Wow!

Shelby

AZ Pride

This was my first Pop up book, ‘Creatures of the desert world’. It shows all sorts of plants and animals of the Sonoran desert, where I'm from.


This is what it looks like:


And here is what it looks like at night:


The last page of the pop-up book is the best; it shows all the animals that come out at night. I don’t have a picture of it so you will just have to buy it on Amazon.com or something.
It’s a National Geographic book. The Illustrator and paper engineer are not named - this happens sometimes, because life is not fair and neither is publishing. Anyway, I think the paper engineer did a first rate job.

Simon

French Rock Rocks!

If your ear has been near the radio lately, you've probably heard Phoenix's new album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'. Or you've heard some of the many mixes and mash ups that are floating around the internet. Really, Phoenix has created an incredible album (dare I say, yet again) and if you haven't checked them out already click here to their website-->

http://www.wearephoenix.com/

Keep rocking, internet world.

Jess

A Castle on the Ocean

A friend of mine came across this while surfing the Web and thought I’d like it. He knows I like paper craft (as anyone one the blog has figured out) and he knows I like castles (as my first pop-up book can attest) – so the combination of these is a sure fire favorite. I was stunned at the level of complexity and sophistication achieved in this tour de force of paper craft. Check out some of the amazing photos at Tokyobling’s blog as well as get some info on the exhibition. A young art student named Wataru Itou spent FOUR years working on this project to complete a degree at a Tokyo art university.

A few more images can be found at the main Japanese website for the Uminohotaru gallery.

Also, I was able to find an article on the paper craft castle here. Since I don’t read Japanese, I had to rely on Google translate to get the gist of the story but it looks like the sprawling town (complete with a castle, construction cranes and moving train) was displayed in a student exhibition earlier this year. At the end of the show, this labor of love was to be burned to the ground! At the last minute, the owner of the gallery rescued it from the flames and found an exhibition space in the underwater Uminohotaru gallery off the coast of Tokyo.

So glad to see this work of art survive to enchant future audiences. Including me.

- Kyle

Thomases

I was picking up the pieces of today’s headlines on the New York Times.com when I came across an article about Thomas Jefferson, the late great inventor, statesman and renaissance man from the time of our country’s founding. 

 
http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/time-wastes-too-fast/

It’s a cool article in an interesting format - you should read it if you get a chance.
It got me thinking....we have had a lot of important Thomases in American history.  But which Thomas is the greatest?
Talk amongst yourselves.


(while I couldn’t find a good preexisting debate on the subject I did find one about T2 and Tesla.) 

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/thomas-edison-versus-nikola-tesla-who-is-more-productive.html

 Enjoy.

Simon

You Do, We Do, Who Do, Yudu?

Kyle-- I too have gone pro.

Pro silk screen printing that is! I'm counting down the days till my Yudu arrives! Yes, a Yudu. It's like the Easy Bake Oven for silk screen printing. The next Gocco. It's going to be AWESOME! I came across it over a printing website I frequent, watched the video and fell in love. Soon my days (when I'm not at work of course) will be filled with printing mini posters, clothing, bags, notebooks, you name it! And soon you all can find those master pieces at my etsy store: http://www.jesstice.etsy.com

To learn more about Yudu:
http://www.whatdoyudu.com/

Till then I'm going to keep checking the tracking number!

Jess

Cowboys and Musketeers

To follow Kyle’s “animation in a book” theme, this week I have two stop-motion animations using books to show. The first one is a fun cowboy/western themed animation by a student at the Glasgow School of Art.



That video reminded my of a short clip a friend of mine (Alisa Stern) once made: a stop-motion animation using an old copy of the Three Musketeers. Even though it’s short, it’s sweet!



- Shelby

One Lucky Duckie

Just by chance, I came across the trailer for a wonderful animated short that is making waves in the film festival circuit. The Happy Duckling is an eight minute animated adventure set in a pop-up book world.  It follows a young boy as he navigates his way through a pop-up book world as he evades a curious duck.

It is reported that the film was produced by a talented and dedicated team of students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Arts and Design and Abertay University in England. The Happy Duckling was written and directed by Gili Dolev in 2008 and features original music by Mick Cooke of Belle and Sebastian fame.

This is some of the slickest computer representation of pop-ups that I have seen, and I hope to one day get to see the entire feature.  Looks like my best chance would be to view it at SIGGRAPH in August.  Fellow paper engineer, Matthew Shlian, took part in this conference last year and spoke very highly of its ability to showcase cutting edge collaborations of art and technology.

Even if I don’t make it to New Orleans for the film festival, I hope that these young animators will continue to dazzle us with their fun, inventive storytelling and computer craft.  Maybe one day we will be able to see a whole pop-up world unfold on the big screen.

- Kyle

Above and beyondWORDS

The book artist/curator/indefatigable promoter, Ed Hutchins sent me a catalog to his latest book arts exhibition.  “beyondWORDS:BookFest 2009” will run June 11-29 at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences Gallery with an opening reception slated for Sunday, June 14, from 5-7pm.  According to the press kit, the show features 55 handmade books that “illustrate how words can be presented in re-imagined and re-created ways, and how, in some cases, the message can be delivered without words at all.”  Ed Hutchins and his co-curator Carolyn Chadwick assembled an international group of book artists that approach dimensional books from very different directions.  A quick scan of the full color catalog revealed a few familiar names to this site.  Emily Martin, Shawn Sheehy and Rand Huebsch all have interesting pieces on display.

 

There are many other beautiful and unorthodox book forms in this exhibit and I hope to make it out to see them in person. (Besides, how could I possibly pass up a visit to the gallery’s hometown of Loveladies, NJ?)

- Kyle

Calling all Craftsmen

The wonderful Carol Barton just shared news of an upcoming pop-up exhibit in the ‘Sunshine State’ this Fall. Florida Craftsmen is a non-profit organization that has been supporting Florida’s fine craft artists for the past fifty-three years. Elizabeth Kozlowski, of the Florida Craftsmen Gallery, was kind enough to provide a call for entries form and the information is reproduced below.



Call to Artists

Exhibition: Scissors: Pop-Up
A national juried and invitational exhibition of original movable books. Curated in collaboration with: Margaret Miller, Director, USF Contemporary Art Museum and Graphic Studio

Dates: September 18 – October 31, 2009

Submission requirements and fees: Artists must submit a minimum of 3 digital images of the book for review including 1 detail in jpeg format on a CD. Files should be no larger than 8 x 12 inches at 300 dpi resolution.

If selected, the actual book will be on exhibit at Florida Craftsmen, Inc.

The entry may be one-of-a-kind, or created and published in an edition but cannot be a trade edition (i.e. produced commercially by a publishing house for sale nationally or internationally).

The submission fee is $10.00.

Deadlines:
Digital File Samples on a CD due to FC August 10, 2009
Acceptance Letters out August 21, 2009
Books due to FC September 8, 2009
Work available for pick up November 2, 2009

Shipping: At the artists expense
Insurance: In-house insurance provided by Florida Craftsmen, Inc.

Additionally, on September 12, 2009, from 10 am to noon, there is a free panel discussion that is open to the public called: “History Of Pop-Ups” moderated by Jennifer Sheehan, Ph.D, University of North Texas

Looks like this exhibition is open to everyone (not just Florida residents) so get cutting and submit some pop-up wonders to be showcased in St. Petersburg!

- Kyle

Stings Away

I think the photo says most of it. I'm pretty afraid of jellyfish, and after reading an article about jellyfish taking over the oceans... well... I'm not too happy about that. Gotta get my swim time in now while they're still planning the Take Over the World scheme.

Read more if you dare:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/slideshows/monster-jellyfish.html

And I wouldn't google 'giant jellyfish' if I were you!
Yikes!
Jess

Awkward? more like Awesome!

I recently came across a great blog titled "Awkward Family Photos" and thought I'd pass it along. People send in strange and awkward (obviously) photos of (their own?) families and the blog's writers post several new pictures every day. The results: hilarious!

The captions really enhance the experience. You'll have to go to the site to find the caption for the photo above!

-Shelby

Going Pro

After years of wringing my hands and saving pennies I finally took the plunge and bought myself a CraftRobo Pro cutting plotter from Graphtec. The CraftRobo Pro is like a large printer but instead of an ink cartridge there is a small swiveling blade that will contour cut the die lines I create in Adobe Illustrator. Goodbye scissors and broken X-acto blades. I was suspicious when Shawn Sheehy began using one a few years ago. Later, I was jealous to learn that Sam Ita has been using the Pro to create his latest book. I finally gave in and bought my own.


Now that “Baby Signs” is in bookstores I have been working on a new pop-up idea. This new design requires such precise and complex cutting that I was ruining my eyes and wrists trying to create the multiple versions of each pop-up! It was time to embrace technology. I have played around with the small desktop CraftRobo before but found that it would only cut a few small pieces at a time. I needed something a little more heavy duty. I needed to go Pro.

- Kyle

I Can't Eat Those?

Jonathan Ro-Schofield aka Jonny Cardboard, does really incredible sculptures out of cardboard! Some have been in window displays for Tiffanys, Guggenheim Museum, and Hermes (to name a few).

Even these cakes are mouth watering! Man, I'd totally eat them!

Check out more of his work here:
http://jonnycardboard.com/sculptures/sculptures.htm

jess

Dogs...acting like people!

Some Muscovites are getting special attention for taking the subway. The stray dogs of Moscow are riding the train from the burbs into the city each day for better pickings. Then they ride back home at night to their respective homes and shanty towns. It's amazing.



http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2372125.ece

Simon

Scrapper from just scraps...

Hello all -

I've been in and out of the office for the past month - on book tours, a little island vacation and even the opening of our new traveling pop-up exhibit with the National Center for Children's Literature. Here we are teaching a bunch of up-and-coming pop-up artists in Abilene.


I am very happy to be home - so I can work! I am, as always, a bit behind schedule on my latest project, a massive pop-up encyclopedia celebrating the heroes (and villains) of the DC Comics Universe! Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman head up the book, along with everyone from the Justice League.

So, as some of you may know, I am a big fan of two things - Transformers and paper-craft. Here is a link to an AMAZING paper model of the Decepticon construction engineer, named Scrapper (actually he's a Constructicon - but I thought I'd go easy on you newbie Trans-fans out there). The model actually transforms into a construction payloader and is a dead ringer for the 80's animated version of the character.


Astounding. If I had some free time, I'd be building and transforming it right now.

- Matthew

Be a BEA fan

This weekend thousands of book lovers will descend upon New York for the 2009 BookExpo America at the Javits Center. Over 500 authors and illustrators will take up residence among 1500+ exhibitors sharing the latest titles in the book business. BookExpo America (BEA) is always a good time, but can be a bit overwhelming for the first time visitor as the cavernous Javits Center can swallow tour groups whole. Check the comprehensive website for the BEA to plan which publishers booths or author signings you want to attend. Also, many exhibitors give away free copies of books so be sure to bring a tote bag to stash your swag!


If you are there on Sunday, be sure to stop by booth #734 between 11 AM to noon to catch Matthew Reinhart promoting his wonderful Nursery Rhymes pop-up book due out in September. The art above is a little sneak peek at some of the colorful characters brought to life in this three-dimensional version of your favorite childhood rhymes. Matthew will be signing at the First Book booth, which is an amazing nonprofit organization dedicated to getting new books in the hands of children in need. So far First Book has delivered over 60 million new books to young readers in communities across the U.S. and Canada.

So if you cannot make it to BEA this year, consider supporting First Book with the money you would have spend on the trip, and remember to visit www.robertsabuda.com soon to see more Nursery Rhymes images.

- Kyle

Congratulations Studio and MoMA!

This past week we were notified by the Museum of Modern Art that one of our Holiday cards had won a LOUIE award! Once a year the Greeting Card Association meets with a panel of judges and look through hundreds of cards to find a card to fit within one of the 58 categories. The LOUIE award is named after Louis Prang, who was a German lithographer that is given credit for introducing color printing for cards in the U.S. around 1861.


This year our pop-up Music Box card won the category 'Creatively Finished'!

-Jess

Check out more information on the Greeting Card Association and LOUIE awards here:
http://www.greetingcard.org

My New Friend, Freddy

The other evening I was wandering aimlessly around the Strand, when I came across something new (to me) in the children's book section. It seemed to combine my current interest in automatons with old children's books - some of my favorite things!The book, titled "The Clockwork Twin", is part of a series written by Walter R. Brooks between 1927 and 1958. The series is about a group of talking animals, especially one in particular: Freddy the Pig. Apparently, these books started going out of print in the 60s, but they've been resurfacing again in recent years - hoorah!

I enjoyed this book quite a lot - it was full of mystery and wonder, good friendships, and sly humor. I've also just finished reading another in the series: "Freddy Goes Camping" and found it just as entertaining.

Freddy has a fan club! Check it out at http://www.friendsoffreddy.org.

-Shelby

Plane's Eye View

Photographer Alex MacLean shows us a view of the world from high up in a plane. He takes mundane things like a parking lot and abstracts them into something beautiful. I really like it because it breaks down our daily lives into utilitarian land distribution - how much space we spend on what.

http://www.alexmaclean.com/

Enjoy,
Simon

Natural Fashion

Yesterday while window shopping I came across a really fantastic photo book, Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa by Hans Silvester. The photos are of the tribes people from the Surma and Mursi tribes in the Omo Valley. Mainly documenting their body art and 'fashions'. Stringing flowers together and making vails and head pieces. They sometimes use horns as hats, paint their faces in a graphic styles. It's really beautiful to see the ingenuity of the tribes' body decorations. Check out a few more photos on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Fashion-Tribal-Decoration-Africa/dp/0500288054/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243000471&sr=1-1

Definitely a good coffee table book... and it'll look great on my shelf!
Jess

Wizards of Pop

Next Thursday, May 28th marks the opening of “Wizards of Pop” at the NCCIL in Abilene, Texas. Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart worked with The National Center for Children's Illustrated to produce a pop-up exhibition centered around some of their most well known titles. Giant life-size pops from Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz and Dinosaurs will share space with framed original art. There will even be a four-foot tiger from Jungle Book ready to pounce on any unsuspecting visitors. Now you don’t get that in any old art exhibit!

The opening events are as follows:

Thursday, May 28 - 6:30 pm - "Paper Boys"
FREE community Gallery Talk with Sabuda and Reinhart

Friday, May 29 - 6:30 pm - "Pop Culture"
An evening with Sabuda and Reinhart. Check for tickets: http://www.nccil.org/store/Event_tickets.htm

Saturday, May 30 - 10:00 am - "Magical World of Popups"
FREE Children's Workshop with Sabuda and Reinhart

The exhibition will be traveling to other museums and libraries over the next few years, so if you can’t come to Texas; the pop-up may come to you!

- Kyle