Bookmaking session kicks off trio of art classes
<p>Brooke Nelson teaches Susie Ruffatto, center, Jan Metzmaker and others to make hand-made books through the Stumptown Art Studio's Mixed Media Monday series on Monday, January 20, in Whitefish. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Examples of hand-made books on display for Brooke Nelson's class on Monday, January 20, in Whitefish. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
A handmade book class on Jan. 20 was the first in a trio of day-long art sessions with local artist and instructor Brooke Nelson.
The class, sponsored by Stumptown Art Studio in Whitefish and held at Stumptown board member Susan Fletcher’s studio, took a slightly new direction for Stumptown, Nelson said.
“They were looking for a setting people could go that was different, kind of an artsy place to spend the whole day instead of an evening,” Nelson said. “We wanted to see if there was a group of people who want to do day art, and it turns out there was.”
Fletcher’s studio is located on the property of her Whitefish home, and Nelson said it’s a “really beautiful space.” Nelson will be leading two more classes at the site — a pet portraits class on Feb. 10 and a cattle-marker landscapes class on March 10. The studio is small, so six students is the maximum.
The five-hour class went well, Nelson said.
“Some projects just kind of need that kind of time,” she said. The class members painted their book covers, then during lunch, Nelson sewed the covers to the felt backing. After lunch the class finished sewing in the pages.
“It was definitely a make-it-and-take-it scenario, not something you can do with a one- or two-hour workshop,” Nelson said.
Nelson, who retired a few years ago after teaching for a combined 31 years at the junior high and high schools in Columbia Falls, is currently teaching a three-dimensional design class at Flathead Valley Community College as well as her occasional workshops with the Whitefish-based Stumptown Art Studio.
For more information on Nelson’s upcoming classes or more Stumptown offerings, call 862-5929 or visit www.stumptownartstudio.org