Cheers to Hedi Kyle!

Last month I had the pleasure of spending a week in the DC area, teaching and working at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. I taught “Hedi Kyle’s Innovative Structures” to a hard-working group over the weekend, and spent the rest of the time making paper to complete my latest book edition. After returning to my Asheville studio, I delved deeper into the treasure trove of Hedi Kyle models and notes I’d amassed during my time in graduate school, to design a second installment of her book structures for a workshop at BookWorks. This class covered her piano hinge, ziggurat, triangle-fold, pocket-link, and storage books. I also decided to introduce a collaborative project with content this time, which included pochoir, a versatile method of stenciling thin layers of ink that I learned from Hedi. I feel very fortunate to have had her as a mentor during her last years teaching at the University of the Arts. At the time I had no idea I’d be making this much use of all that I learned in Hedi’s classes, and I’m thankful to still be in touch for her continued guidance and assistance. Just before the workshop, she mailed me a sample of her triangle-fold book, enclosed with a lovely doodle, pictured above. The photos below show the stencils and sample book (in process) I made for the pocket-link collaborative book project, and my ziggurat book model made with dyed tyvek.