About

“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.”
— Shaker saying

The vessel you will create during this workshop becomes integral to its contents, shaping how they're stored, revealed, and experienced.

You'll examine examples of beautifully constructed paper cases and enclosures and consider how structure, material choice, and design provide context for what is held within, and how the act of opening, handling, and revealing can carry a ritualistic charge.

You'll work with new and recycled materials: papers, boxes, paint, natural fibers, wire, mixed media, and found materials, with opportunities to experiment with a range of tools and techniques drawn from book arts, fiber, metalwork, stage set design, and painting.

The workshop moves through three main phases:

• Transformation: Reworking paper through paint, stencils, mark-making, and surface manipulation.
• Construction: Building structure through folding, layering, stitching, and gluing; exploring dividers, compartments, and protective forms.
• Embellishment Finale: Refining the case as a unified object where surface, structure, and content resonate.

Through a sculptural approach to this deceptively simple form, you'll discover the expressive potential of the paper case as a functional object, a site of play, and a poetic extension of what it holds. 

You will leave with materials and inspiration to continue exploration.

Details

• This can be taken as a standalone session or an ideal follow-up to the two-day Paper Sculptures: Multiples, Mobiles, and Art workshop.
• Bring water, a snack, and lunch. We will take a 30-minute lunch break around noon.
• Wear clothes that can get a little messy, as you'll be working with paint and other materials.
• In consideration of the instructor’s health (MS and MCS), please refrain from wearing scented products. You're welcome just as you are!

Details

A $20 materials fee, included in the price of the class, covers everything needed.

Class Policies

Ages 14 and up are welcome.