Hand Bound Travel Journal
Presented by: Irina Kitaeva
Materials: All materials and kit for the class will be provided by the instructor.
Choice of 2 sizes will be offered: regular (8½ x4¾) and passport size (5¼ x 3¾) Class Description
In this workshop we will explore the creative world of handmade books, with a special focus on bookbinding techniques.Together we will look at different approaches to bookmaking and learn how simple materials can be transformed into beautiful, functional books.
The first project in this workshop series will be creating a travel journal with removable signatures. Participants will learn the pamphlet binding technique to make and bind individual signatures that can be easily added, removed, or replaced in the journal. This flexible structure makes the journal perfect for travel, sketching, writing, or collecting memories. Come and create a one-of-a-kind handmade journal that you can use for your summer adventures or to record everyday thoughts and activities. No prior experience is needed—just bring your curiosity and creativity. INSTRUCTOR: Irina Kitaeva
Irina Kitaeva was born in Russia and grew up in Moscow, where an early curiosity for making and transforming materials began to take shape. In 1993 she moved to the United States working as a software developer, utilizing her both her technical mind and a quiet love of creating with her hands.
For more than twenty-five plus years, Irina explored many artistic paths, but paper always being her passion. In its fragility and strength, she found endless possibilities. Folded, cut, stitched, and layered, paper became a language through which she could tell stories. Bookmaking, in particular, captured her imagination—the book as an object, as a sculpture, as a container of memory and time. She shared this passion widely, teaching classes and workshops in many forms of media at art retreats and creative gatherings. Her work and ideas appeared in art magazines, and through teaching she found another layer of meaning: the joy of guiding others to discover their own creative voice. Life eventually brought changes and challenges that brought her to New England. For a period of time, she stepped away from teaching and returned to her professional training as a software developer, working full time in the world of technology. Now retired, Irina is returning to the quiet, tactile world that first inspired her. She is once again folding, stitching, and shaping paper into books and sculptural forms. Her work reflects a lifelong dialogue between structure and imagination, precision and intuition—between the measured logic of systems and the delicate poetry of paper. Today she continues to explore book arts not only as a form of personal expression, but as a way to share knowledge, curiosity, and the enduring magic of making things by hand. |
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