"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.