NSCAD Library Artist's Book Collection

Our group recently visited the library at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to see their collection of artist's books. The NSCAD library has a large collection of artist's books by many local artists dating back to the 1970s when the concept of artist's books was just emerging. The collection includes a wide range of items showing how broadly the category can be interpreted which, of course, led to some great discussion around the long-debated question: What is an artist's book anyway? We had an opportunity to see a variety of chap books, book art objects, art books, exhibition catalogues, moveable books, as well as fine press books and other related items. Of particular interest to us were the two CBBAG collections, the "Millenium in a Box" (2000) and the "Book Arts Mosaic" (2005). The "Millennium in a Box" contains the work of 35 artists from across Canada. Each artist's piece was created as an edition of 50 and then one of each is included in the boxes that are held at libraries across the country. In similar fashion, the "Book Arts Mosaic" box includes twenty-six works by thirty-three artists across Canada. The pieces included in these collections are predominantly book art objects but there are also examples of chap books, collections of prints, handbound journals, etc., and the various items showcase many book art techniques and materials. A range of bookbinding structures can be found here, including this example of a tunnel book by Ann Stinner and an unusal lectern structure made by Karen and Geoffrey Hewett. There is an example of a miniature binding by Robert Wu and a set of prints by the Ottawa Press Gang. Also, an accordion with handmade paper and calligraphy by Cathryn Miller and a pamphlet with hand lettering by Triha Klus. These are obviously just a few of the dozens of items included. If you have an opportunity to examine these collections you will also find examples of scrolls, Japanese bindings, a cuneiform tablet, handmade paper with special watermarks, resin casting, letterpress prints, woodblock prints, shibori, paper marbling, paste papers, lino cut printing, calligraphy, xylography, wax resist, as well as a bit of traditional bookbinding and fine binding. Both collections are featured on the CBBAG website with some additional information about the items as well as lists of the libraries where the collections can be found. Thank you to Rebecca Young at the NSCAD library for providing access to these collections!

"Just Have Fun!": A Letterpress Workshop with Woodshed Press

    It was a gloomy, rain-drenched Sunday when an intrepid group of NSBAG members gathered at the Halifax Central Library where our regular meeting room had been transformed into a makeshift letterpress studio by Katie Prescott of Woodshed Press.  

Katie brought her Showcard Press, a broad assortment of movable type and oddball vintage cuts, and an impressive variety of materials to print on.  The Showcard Press was manufactured in the mid-twentieth century,  originally designed for easy set-up, and was most often used in shops and schools for the quick printing of display materials; one of our members, who had worked at Eaton's, remembered the Showcard Press in use at the store.  In this, its second life, it was the ideal introductory press for those of us who ventured out in the pouring rain to try out some old school printing.  

"Just have fun!", Katie encouraged us.  And Katie is a letterpress printer who does just that, using found materials and ephemera to create art out of ingenious iterations of the printed word.  With her work as inspiration and her generous encouragement--including encouraging us to make beautiful mistakes-- we printed our names, Mother's Day messages, pithy sayings and wry observations on maps, old sheet music, playing cards, library cards--really, on any paper product that would take up that ancient rubber-based ink.  

As a bonus, and in keeping with the day's commitment to the history of printing, there was also a typewriter to noodle around on while we waited our turn with the press.

We all got to print a few things for ourselves (and our mums) and whiled away the afternoon immersed in type and words and ink and paper.  What bettter to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon?  Thanks, Katie!

Card Exchange 2026

Several of our group members agreed to participate in our third card exchange. Each participant made a full set of cards so they could give one to each of the other participants. This exchange has no specific guidelines and everyone is free to employ whatever book arts or paper arts skills they like to use. The results include a wide range of techniques including letterpress, painting, illustration, eco printing, collage, pop-ups, stamping, paper cutting, and more.

Check out all the cards below, you can click the photos to make them larger. Some of our participants created an edition with twelve cards that are all the same and some participants made twelve unique cards, in which case only a few are shown here.

	Sally Crawford An edition of note cards made with natural dyed papers each with a handmade envelope made from a variety of original eco-printed papers.
	Marilynn Rudi An edition of cards featuring collage, stamping, and hand-lettering on the outside and a pop-up honeycomb heart on the inside.
	Barbara Dugas An edition of tri-fold cards featuring a telephone collage with mixed media elements and stamping.
	Heather Loney A set of cards featuring her own intricately hand-cut illustrations.
	Tarika Stitt An edition of handmade cards featuring painting and illustration paired with handmade envelopes.
	Larry Colwell An edition of cards featuring an underwater fishbone collage.
	Rhynn Winstead A set of cards each featuring an original ink and watercolour illustration exploring Little Red Riding Hood imagery.
	Rhonda Miller An edition of cards featuring hand-cut flora on the outside and a pop-up garden on the inside with foil-printed text.
	Julie Rosvall An edition of cards blind debossed with knit lace patterns and letterpress printed with an Ellen Glasgow quotation.
	Mallory Kinley A set of twelve unique cards each featuring an original watercolour illustration.
	Anna Roberts A set of twelve unique cards featuring a variety of found images and collage elements.
	Stephanie Morley An edition of letterpress postcards ready to send out to our local government representatives to protest recent funding cuts to arts and culture programs.
	Katie Prescott A shiny gold edition featuring found library cards overprinted with letterpress text.

Making Origami Things

At our first meeting of 2026, we got together to do some origami. We had a few different origami projects ready to share so everyone who attended was able to try all of them. Marilynn was teaching the very practical masu box with lid. Stephanie was teaching a fun origami star. Rhonda was teaching the little origami book and the iris flower and Heather was teaching the fancy little dragon. It was a nice mix of techniques and everyone had a wonderful variety of finished items. Have a look at some of the results!




Thank you to those teaching and to everyone who came out to participate!

"As Above, So Below" work by James MacSwain

Currently on display at Hermes Gallery in Halifax, is a solo exhibition of work by local artist, James MacSwain who passed away two months ago.

James MacSwain was active in the Halifax art scene since the 1970s and was well-known for his queer and art-culture activism which he expressed through short films and stop-frame animations. As an extension of his work with moving images, he collaged dynamic static images, not only as 2D collages, but also in the form of tunnel books and star books which can be viewed up and down, side to side, or round and round.
His colour palette is bold and his choice of imagery is rich. Combined with his use of structures like shadow boxes and star books and even some of his own marbled papers, James MacSwain's work is both a joyful and thoughtful visual experience.

The exhibit, "As Above, So Below" will be on display until December 21, 2025. Hermes Gallery is located at 5682 North Street in Halifax and is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (12pm-6pm). More information can be found on the Hermes Gallery website.

Making Miniature Books

We had a fun time today making a batch of miniature books! Joe Landry and Katherine Victoria Taylor put together some great kits and brought all the necessary tools, glue, and materials so that everyone could go home with a finished little book ornament. Thank you Joe and Katherine!


We started out with this little kit, complete with candy cane. It included some beautiful chiyogami paper, blank pages for the textblock, boards, spine linings, and thread. In the end, everyone had a fancy little book suitable to be used as a holiday ornament. Great job, everybody!

Book Swap 2025

Keeping with our November tradition, a group of NSBAG participants gathered once again to swap handmade books. In this swap, everyone creates a handbound blank book and brings it to the meeting. The books are all wrapped in brown paper so we can't see the books right away. The packages are each assigned a number, then the participants each draw a number and receive the corresponding package. Finally, we open the packages and marvel at each other's wonderful work! As always, there was a wide range of techniques and materials and creativity in the books this year.

Have a closer look at each book:

Sally Crawford made her book with a variety of her own eco-dyed papers bound using a traditional Japanese sewing.

Larry Colwell made a traditional case binding, quarter cloth with marbled paper.

Tarika Stitt's book is a traditional codex with faux leather, handmade paper, hand-sewn endbands, and customized painted endpapers.

Mallory Kinley made a hardcover longstitch binding with her original watercolour illustrations for the pastedowns.

Heather Loney made a book using the Criss Cross Binding (also known as Secret Belgian Binding) technique with custom book cloth on the covers.

Rhynn Winstead made a book with custom linen bookcloth, decorative paper, hand-sewn endbands, and her original kitikate relief prints for the pastedowns.

Joe Landry's book is a Rubow millimetre binding with brown leather and marbled paper.

Stephanie Morley's book is a German case binding in full cloth with elephant paper endsheets.

Emily Brown made a full cloth case binding with embossed design and custom endpapers, design inspired by the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Marilynn Rudi bound a journal using the reverse piano hinge binding technique with a mixture of decorative papers.

Rhonda Miller's book is a Rubow millimetre binding with purple goatskin leather and her original hand-marbled paper.