BOOKBINDING FOR BEGINNERS

Ralph Lewis Bindery, Writing NSW, Rozelle

1-2 November 2025
6-7 December 2025
2026 Dates will be available soon

This is the official introductory course of the NSW Guild of Craft Bookbinders. It is held at the Guild’s professionally equipped Ralph Lewis Bindery in Garry Owen House, Writing NSW, Callan Park, Rozelle.

In this course you will learn key bookbinding terminology and the core skills of accurate measuring and cutting, paper handling, folding, glueing and stitching. You will be introduced to specialist tools as well as simpler homemade devices. You just need bring your creativity, curiosity and passion.

Please note, for this workshop students require good hand-eye co-ordination, fine motor skills and the capability and confidence to use sharp knives for cutting. Basic numeracy is required to facilitate accurate measurements and calculations. You should be able to follow verbal instructions and understand health and safety information.

Bookings are available through Sydney Community College.

I also teach several other classes at the NSW Guild, including: Box making; Coptic binding; Sketchbook; and Level 2: Flat back case binding. More information can be found here.

GRAMPIAN ARTS SUMMER BRUSHES 2026

Longerenong College Horsham Victoria 
12-16 January 2026

Make/Unmake/Remake: Creative serendipity in artists books

Happenstance and random organisation are great strategies to reveal new ways of seeing or to overcome the limitation we sometimes feel when we’re working through ideas. Starting with large sheets of paper we will experiment with markmaking and surface transformation, then convert and rework these sheets into pages for books. We will explore a range of structures, both codex and sculptural, while employing good bookbinding practice and paper handling techniques to make imaginative and distinctive book works. 

​Information and bookings here.

PORTFOLIO BOX AND MULTIPLES

GEELONG FIBRE FORUM
GEELONG SEPTEMBER 2025

A portfolio box is the perfect style of enclosure to house a collection of artworks. In this workshop we will first make the box. Then we will create artworks, in the form of multiples to swap, to be housed within it. At the end of the week we will each have a collection of works by our fellow artists and a beautiful box in which to encase them.

The workshop is a blend of both technical skill and creative expression. You will learn the practical techniques required to accurately measure, cut, glue, cover, embellish and personalise your portfolio box. Then we will harness our unlimited creativity to make our artworks. The focus will be works on paper where almost anything goes – drawing, stitching, writing, collage, dyeing, simple books, whatever you like to work with to make marks. 

‘Multiples’ refers to a series of artworks, often an edition. Our exciting challenge is to produce works which, rather than being identical, are linked thematically with a repeated idea, in the manner of an ‘edition variée’.

This is suitable for all levels, but students should have the confidence to handle cutting tools such as scalpels or snap-off blades.

ADVENTURES IN BOOKMAKING

MT KEMBLA INTENSIVE
Mt Kembla 25-31 August 2025

with fellow artist and bookmaker Liz Jeneid

Over the course of a week (two periods of three studio days each with a day of reflection and consolidation in between), we will examine both the conceptual and practical processes and techniques of bookmaking.

We will cover printmaking and mark-making to create imagery and story, word exercises to bring forth and focus the intent of our creative direction, ways to integrate text and visuals, and of course binding skills—and much more.