Our first card exchange

A group of our members agreed to participate in a card exchange! Everyone was asked to make an edition of 11 handmade cards so that each participant would have a full set, i.e. one card made by each participant. Folks were encouraged to make anything they fancied using their array of book and paper arts skills. The results were wonderful and wide-ranging.

As shown below, the final cards included many techniques such as origami, pop-ups, collage, flexagons, fancy folds, and lino prints. Most participants created an edition of cards that were all the same; however, some participants made 11 entirely different cards and in those cases only a few of their cards are shown here.

	Emily Brown An edition of cards made using a hand-carved lino block print with added watercolour and ink.
	Jessie Bruce A set of cards each with a unique layout featuring a combination of illustration and collage.
	Larry Colwell An edition featuring the Turkish map fold made with a hardcover case for the outer card.
	Sally Crawford A set of cards featuring original eco printed botanical papers.
	Barb Dugas A variety of cards made with combinations of collage, stamping, and folding.
	Alaina Harper An edition of cards featuring a bedazzled pop-up Christmas tree.
	Heather Loney An edition of cards featuring handcut roses on the front and pop-up roses inside with origami leaves.
	Rhonda Miller An edition of flexagon cards printed with a quote from Joni Mitchell's song The Circle Game, with gold foil lettering and rubber stamp patterns.
	Stephanie Morley An edition of letterpress cards printed on her Craftsman Superior tabletop press, featuring a line from Benjamin Franklin's Aplogy for Printers, 1731.
	Odyssean Press An edition of cards featuring 'The Magician,' an original relief print, hand-carved and printed as an edition of 11.
	Marilynn Rudi Origami kite cards collaged with string and cloud prints. Each card also has a coordinating envelope.
	Rhynn Winstead An edition of cards featuring an original daffodil lino print on handmade paper.

Postcrossing and Mail Art

At our meeting this week, Marilynn Rudi gave a lovely presentation about her involvement with the Postcrossing project and how, for her, that has extended into the realm of other paper arts like mail art and collage. She explained how she got involved and how it all works and probably sparked some interest in a few of our members! Postcrossing is free and open to anyone who enjoys sending and receiving mail.

Marilynn joined Postcrossing a couple of years ago and has sent and received over 200 postcards. She has received postcards from about 40 countries. Also, Marilynn has since become further involved with other mail exchanges that include elaborate mail art featuring collage, hand lettering, painting, and other elements. Many examples of her postcards and mail art were on hand for members to admire. Thank you, Marilynn, for sharing with us!

Canada's first gallery dedicated to collage and assemblage

Paper art aficionados can take pride in Halifax having the distinction of being home to Canada's first gallery dedicated exclusively to collage and assemblage. Operating since January 2023, Cuts & Paste Gallery is the vision of collage artist and proprietor Rhonda Barrett. The bright, open compact space is located behind the Halifax Armories near the Halifax Commons.

Barrett learned that many galleries shied away from exhibiting collage created by fellow artists. This reluctance on the part of gallery owners provided the impetus for Barrett to create an artist-focused venue exclusively devoted to collage and assemblage.


The collage works on display incorporate printed ephemera, photographs, magazine and newspaper cut outs. The collage styles are diverse and include tidy studies, thoughtful landscapes and colourful abstract art.

Assemblage art allows artists to "trash recycle," incorporating items that were previously trashed on the side of the road. This includes, but is not limited to, street signs, posters, pieces of wood, and trophy portions. Assemblage works on display have a rough, almost crude texture but still incorporate balanced design.

Assemblage and collage can take many forms. For example, on display at the Gallery was a tunnel book created by James MacSwain of the Halifax-based Manual Training Collective. Comprised of miniature photographs, viewing MacSwain's tunnel book is like wandering in a museum gallery filled with classic Greek and Roman statues.

A recent show entitled Put A Lid On It was dedicated to collage and assemblage art incorporating jar lids. It explores what the expression "to put a lid on it" means to both the artist and the viewer.

An upcoming show called NOMNOM will feature "collage and assemblage works that use or employ food imagery, packaging, preparation utensils or similar for an upcoming show to coincide with the annual Nocturne - Art at Night event... October 14, 2023." Local collage and assembly artists whose work is featured at the Gallery include Peter Krause, Gavin Snow, Fraya McDougall as well as Rhonda Barrett.

Word of Barrett's Cuts & Paste Gallery has spread far beyond the borders of Halifax Regional Municipality, with internationally-based artists expressing interest and support.

Barrett hosts collage workshops at Cuts & Paste Gallery and artists are invited to use the facilities and the gallery's collage resources for a modest fee.


Cuts & Paste Gallery is found at Suite 101, 5663 Cornwallis Street, Halifax (enter from the door in the parking lot.) Open Tuesday to Saturday, 12 - 6 pm; Closed Sunday and Monday. You can also find them online at www.cutandpastegallery.com or on Instagram @cutsandpastegallery.

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Review by Charles Salmon

Nocturne "Legacy": printing, collage, and origami

Nocturne, Halifax's October contemporary arts festival, is now in its 15th year. This year's theme of "Legacy," featured installations of particular interest to book and paper arts enthusiasts.

Outside the Dawson Print Shop on the Granville Mall, Katherine Taylor, a NSCAD book arts and letterpress instructor, was running a "hands on" demonstration of a table top printing press. This family-friendly exhibit let people experience making a colour pressure print. Based on Ms. Taylor's Ukrainian legacy, she had the word "Family" carved using Cyrillic letters, into a lino block. It was then printed on a base print of an intricate flower pattern, reminiscent of paper filigree. The chipboard base print pressure plate was cut using a Cricut machine, which can reproduce and cut most paper material and almost any pattern that is uploaded to a computer. The design possibilities for cards, posters, end plates and text blocks is virtually limitless.

The Legacy theme continued over at Inkwell letterpress studio on South Park Street, with another interactive print/paper activity. Billed as "Mind your Ps and Qs," prints of common English language phrases originating from the print industry, were created on a 1921 cast iron printing press that uses carbon negative ink made from algae. Like the Dawson Print shop, each participant went home with a print.

On Lower Water Street, the Halifax Collage Collective created a large, paper-based mural collage. Participants were asked to comb through paper-based materials and ephemera like old magazines, journals, drawings, printed material, etc., and select items that they felt contributed to their personal legacy. Using scissors, glue and drawing materials, a paper-based collage was created that encouraged participants to reflect on their personal legacy.

At the Chase Gallery (located in the NS Archives, on the Dalhousie University campus), a group show based on identity called "I Am What I Am," featured works using materials ranging from acrylic, paint and fabric to metal, found objects and paper mâché. Among those featured, was Miya Turnbull, a Japanese Canadian artist living in Nova Scotia whose art practice is informed by Japanese paper work. Among Ms. Turnbull's works was a series of Origami Self Portraits (of crane, frog, heart, box and butterfly) created from colour photographic prints incorporating the artist's eyes and lips. This original approach in utilizing deconstructed facial features in origami was both mesmerizing and unsettling.

While Nocturne is over, "I Am What I Am" continues until Oct. 29th, 2022.

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Review by Charles Salmon