Courtly lovers are those who read a book so gingerly that its spine will not crack; they cherish their books, coddle and protect them. In their view, the use of anything other than a proper bookmark to keep one’s place is an unforgivable offense. The body of the book – covers, spine, pages – is as valuable as the thoughts, facts and adventures within.

Those whose love is carnal will consume a book’s contents and willingly sacrifice the physical form in pursuit of the words inside. Thomas Jefferson, for example, dismembered a priceless first edition of Plutarch’s works in Greek, then interleaved its pages with those translated into English. Some in Fadiman’s own family, she divulges, fall into this category. Her father would tear chapters out of a book he was reading to render it lighter for air travel. Fadiman says this about her family’s penchant for devouring books:

“To us, a book’s words were holy, but the paper, cloth, cardboard, glue, thread, and ink that contained them were a mere vessel, and it was no sacrilege to treat them as wantonly as desire and pragmatism dictated. Hard use was a sign not of disrespect but of intimacy.”

Now what of this third category of book love, the one not mentioned in Ann Fadiman’s essay? There are those who look upon a book in its traditional form and recognize it as a vehicle for creative expression. These are book lovers who fearlessly dive between the pages and slice through bindings; cut away at text; put brush, pen, chalk and glue to page. There may be some folding, burning, and outright dismantling and reconstruction. (Breathe deep, you courtly lovers, I can sense your panic.) The idea is to transform the familiar form and its contents, rather than destroy them in the process. The end result is a work of art, an homage to the book. Altered book artists love books in such a manner, and Jennifer Erin Hughes is among them.

Jennifer is a printmaker, book artist, and a teacher at the Eliot School. On January 7th, six of us gathered on the second floor of the yellow schoolhouse for an afternoon of instruction on book manipulation in Jennifer’s“Altered Books” workshop. Though not a totally new experience for me (there was a minor bit of book dismantling going on in last November’s Collage Workshop), I confess I’ve had a tendency for courtly book love for much of my life. I allow myself exceptions, and mark and dog-ear textbooks, manuals or grocery store paperbacks (you know the ones) with less guilt. But I can’t fully shake my reverence for printed and bound text, and taking this class was a way for me to challenge my own perceptions and explore new avenues of creativity.

At the start of class, we watched as Jennifer deftly dismantled both hardcover and paperback books. She described different types of bindings and why they are used. She showed us how to cut through layers of pages, discussed her preference for certain tools and  archival materials, and gave us wide range of suggestions for manipulation and transformation. We looked at examples of work by other book artists. With our primer complete, we were free to experiment and manipulate books we had brought to class, or those Jennifer provided for us, with a multitude of supplies and tools.

As with any class of this kind, a big part of the learning experience happened in the dialog among the participants. People tend to question and contemplate together, not only talking about process but also about each other’s lives, and no doubt this verbal exploration is as important as the physical one.

I was glad to have two of my former classmates from November’s Collage Workshop with me in Altered Books, including Boston collage and assemblage artist Amy Hitchcock, who also teaches at the Eliot School (her upcoming Winter Assemblage with Found Objects class is already full, but keep an eye out for her in our Spring/Summer catalog, due out at the end of February.)

Amy Hitchcock's creation from the Altered Books Workshop

Heather finished not one, but TWO projects!

Jennifer’s class was informative and fun. What of my reservations about this process of altering books? In the end I was able to shed some of my inhibitions–and, after all, isn’t that a sign of true love?

Jennifer has more classes coming up this winter. Learn bookbinding techniques in February’s class Do-Si-Do & French Doors, and March’s Case Binding Workshop.

Visit Jennifer Erin Hughes’s web site here.

Here are some interesting book-art links to check out:

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have seen our link to this article on the mysterious paper sculptures that appeared in libraries in Scotland recently. Very intriguing, and elegant examples of altered book art.

The Boston Atheneum is currently featuring an exhibit called Artists Books: Books by Artists that runs through March 3rd, 2012.

~ Kelly Knight

We peeked out from the office in back of the wood shop now and then as the students took the plugs of raw wood and began to transform them.

The sawdust smelled sweet as it filled the air.

At first there were some sharp nicks as one student’s chisel and then another’s caught the wood the wrong way. But it seemed as if students got the knack pretty quickly and then there was a steady whir from each workbench. Ken roamed from bench to bench checking, correcting, giving tips and teaching.

The finished pieces are just lovely. One student’s goblet will become a gift for her parents’ 60th wedding anniversary this weekend.

I was really fortunate to have the opportunity last Sunday to participate in workshop at the Eliot School entitled Collage: The Art of Collaboration. For those who may not have read the workshop description on our web site, this class was taught by members of Team Tolstoy, a group of artists who embarked, over a year ago, on a collaborative project creating collages out of every page of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. It was inspiring to hear about this project, how it came to be; how each of the team members have approached this endeavor creatively, and how they have been impacted and influenced by the process. If you’d like to learn more about the “War and Peace Project”, including opportunities to view the project in person, visit Team Tolstoy’s blog.

There were 8 of us in Sunday’s workshop, including a couple of Eliot School instructors. We each came to class with varying levels of creative experience, but all of us with enthusiasm and curiosity about the process.

When I walked into the classroom I was immediately struck with a familiar sensation of delight and anticipation – the long wooden work table in the center of the room was heaped with with an intriguing assortment of supplies and ephemera: paints, glue, twine, stamps, scissors, pens and pencils of various sorts, and stacks upon stacks of magazines, books, plain and fancy papers, catalogs, and more. There is a childlike sense of play that comes with diving into a new stash of art supplies, and I had it in spades on Sunday. Propelled by the invitation to freely create with minimal restrictions, we all dove in head first and the tidy stacks of supplies were quickly transformed into a chaotic mass stretching from one end of the table to the other (a true indication of creative inspiration!).

Our instructors (Lynn, Emma, Lucy and Adrienne) explained our project for the afternoon: we would each be assigned a stanza from the poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens, and would interpret that stanza visually through our collages. The only rule was that at least some of the words of the poem be visible in our finished collage.

This experience was all about learning to manipulate a variety of materials, and exploring ways of translating the written word into visual expression. The experience was as challenging and as playful as each of us chose to make it. The opportunity to meet this wonderful group of women and work closely with them for 3 hours, to hear snippets their own life stories and bond with them over our group project really enriched the experience for me.

At the end of the class, we laid all of our collages out on the table in the order of our corresponding stanzas, and read the poem aloud. Viewed in this manner, it was fascinating to observe that we each approached the project from a different perspective and that while each individual collage was very different, they really came together to form a cohesive whole – an effective representation of this beautiful poem.

I walked out of the workshop on Sunday regretting that the time had passed so quickly, but also inspired to continue to explore this medium on my own, and so grateful to have had the time to spend with this amazing group of people. Thanks to the Eliot School, my classmates and Team Tolstoy!

~ Kelly Knight

They took home go-carts, amazing mobiles, cardboard portraits and photo portraits, altered photographs and photo albums, cardboard houses, pencil holders, 3-D collages, indefinable and wonderful pieces of art – and a lot of skills and connections with new friends and old.

Week 3 is underway, with wooden mini-racing cars, pincushions and pillows, giant animals, a painted town, and other painting and drawing as well.

We’ve moved our photos to our Facebook page. You can watch the Summer Program unfold before your eyes as we continue to upload photos each week.

Has your child enjoyed the Summer Weeks so far? Give us a good review on yelp.com.

Boston Magazine sent a photographer this morning. Look for the Eliot School among great kids’ programs in the August issue.

And in a free moment, please contact Governor Patrick and urge him to keep the Mass. Cultural Facilities Fund in this year’s state budget. This great fund pays for building improvements at cultural organizations across the state. Click here to find out more.

Bid on gifts from Dec. 1 (6am) to Dec. 7 (8pm EST).

We’ve donated an exciting new workshop: Burning Art & Design onto Wood, with talented pyrography artist Cecilia Galluccio. Starting bid: only $30, a third of the $90 list price!

Here’s the direct link.

Other items include gift cards (as good as cash), sporting events, performing arts tickets, collectors’ items and more.

It’s another idea from Eliot School student, supporter, and Beth Israel Deaconess CEO, Paul Levy.