Update from Meeting February 3rd

In order to give our meetings some structure, we have decided that at every alternate meeting a theme will be set, with the idea that people will then produce a ‘book’ (in a very broad sense) or plans for a book or just some ideas around that theme, for general perusal and discussion two meetings later. The theme chosen at yesterday’s meeting was ‘Time’ – plenty of scope there. In between those themed meetings, the plan is to have meetings geared more towards broadening our skills – for instance, it is in the pipeline to have a presentation at some point on how to use the risograph we have loitering on the premises, and to have a general, everyone-pitch-in meeting on embossing and debossing. More ideas are welcome!

March’s meeting will be geared to preparing for the Leeds book fair. Therefore could anyone who would like to show (and sell?) any of their books at the fair please ensure that the books are brought to the HBP from Thursday 25th February, and by Wednesday 3rd March (the date of the next meeting) at the very latest, with business cards if you wish and a price list. Owing to limited space, we might have to restrict the size of books displayed in order to show a wide range of work. The idea is to charge participants £10, but obviously we need to cover our costs, so it might possibly be a few pounds more than this. If we have a financial surplus, it will go into a ‘pot’ to cover any incidental expenses and to pay for any visiting speakers. We would also be delighted if any interested members feel that they could volunteer to help out on the stall on the Friday or the Saturday – please let us know or turn up at the next meeting.

We now have a sponsorship link with bookmaking suppliers Ratchfords (details on the HBP website). As a result of this, we shall begin to stock bookmaking products for purchase, such as greyboard, ribbon, needles and bookcloth – we will build up supplies as the year progresses. Although plans are in their infancy at the moment, there are moves afoot to set up a joint artist residency between Ratchfords and the HBP. Also Ratchfords would like to arrange a display of our artists’ books later in the year. More info on both these plans from Sean later…

Meanwhile Sean would like to set up a display of book arts work here at the studio as soon as possible – it can only run until the first week of April, so the sooner you bring your little gems in for everyone to admire, the longer they will be on show for. Please do bring your books in for display – we want to demonstrate the breadth of our skills so far, and encourage others to join us.