Dear Everyone ~
Today, June 26, I am celebrating my 8-year anniversary as a shopkeeper on Lincoln Avenue! As I sit and type at my center table—where I also taught many bookbinding & boxmaking workshops in pre-pandemic days—my heart is smiling from ear to ear. It is here, in my expanded studio space, that I’ve connected with so many incredibly creative kindred spirits, in person, via Zoom, and lovingly through the mail!
This year, my BZS shop postcard, part of my Glimpses & Whimsies of Bari Zaki Studio, has gained a lot of attention and embellishment. I thought it apropos to showcase several creative shopfront illustrations, beginning with Emery Kennett’s (my nimble shop assistant) original, leading up to the most recent I received in the mail, and every lovely work of creativity in between.
Back in 2017, I had commissioned Emery to illustrate the entire row of charming shops (seen at top) for the neighbours page on my website. Her original pen-&-ink and gouache is now framed and hangs in the shop (seen here).
In 2019, inspired by my dear friend Janet Bouldin’s whimsical pen & ink drawings, I commissioned her to draw a few of her favourite things around the shop. My only art direction was, There is no art direction! I left it up to Janet to select what she enjoyed looking at, touching, and drawing. Here is her original 6" x 8" illustration.
Last August—Saturday the 5th, to be exact—was the inaugural Stationery Store Day. BZS was excited to participate, spreading the word, the joy, the swag. Kristen Hermanny—artist, calligrapher, penpal, and shop-by-colour customer, which you can read about here—came to visit that day, bearing a poofy envelope that she hand-folded. I could never have guessed what was inside, and was speechless beyond delight when I had decanted it to reveal a three-dimensional pop-up studio that she had furnished in a multitude of mediums. It sits prominently atop a shelf in the shop.
To celebrate the launch of the Glimpses & Whimsies postcard set, Alyson, my postal muse, and author of the cards’ enchanting captions, sent me a backless envelope she had made from a slightly enlarged B&W photocopy. Before posting the envelope, she subtly coloured just a couple of the shop fixtures and typed an address label as the welcome mat.
In April of this year, I received an unassuming hand-folded envelope in the mail from Deborah Rantz, a newish customer. I showcased her postcard in a recent blog post, April showers brought a bouquet of mail, which you can enjoy here. I describe Deborah’s work of postcard art as a “triple-tiered letter cake”.
In May, Carla Jacobs popped into my inbox with this virtual surprise. Her caption: Does she sell coffee too? I want everything inside! melted my heart. When I replied to thank her, she said and I quote, “Today I discovered a stash of postcards from you so I expect I will continue to play with collage images of your storefront! She has since e’d me two more images, reporting that she has decided to make a concertina book with her continued inspirations.
Carla previewed her second collage as Neighborhood watch...
... and her third as I brought a truck for everything I want to purchase! (Hilariously, Cheeky Spellcheck wants me to change “brought” to “bought”!)
Also in May, Shirley Coppi, colour pencil aficionado, longtime student, customer & friend surprised me with this cheerful greeting. Her caption was Fill in the Blanks. Her colour choices are light & bright, and I spy a couple of Luminous Lyra Colour Giant hues. I first met Shirley during a colour pencil botanical drawing class at The Botanic Gardens back in 2012. My mom was also in that class, and I love that Shirley and I have this connection.
When I first began teaching here on Lincoln Avenue, I was able to comfortably host a maximum of three students per workshop, so each of us had our own “side”, two yards worth of space for folding large sheets into signatures and enough elbow room for expansive glueing. Occasionally, I squeezed in a fifth, or even a sixth, person. Since going Zoom, I have had the pleasure of teaching as many as 40-ish students simultaneously, and have shipped kits to the north, the south, east & west coasts, and around the world.
I admit that one of my favourite things about teaching is creating and assembling the kits for each workshop. In recent years, these have become quite elaborate, with an increasing number of pieces. As a result my Extremely Exquisite Scraps (XXS), a long-time customer favourite, now includes Cambridge Imprint, Grafiche Tassotti and Wanderlust papers—in addition to the original mix of Japanese Chiyogami and Katazome (new & vintage) and hand-marbled papers from a range of artists. Some of the tinier scraps in the XXS sets are edges or corners from my own bookbinding and boxmaking projects. My dear husband Zak expertly assembled the freshest batch of XXS. XOX to him!
To celebrate my 8-year anniversary (and 34 years in bookbinding), I am offering a gift-with-purchase starting today until Saturday, July 8. The anniversarial bonbon is a glassine sleeve-ful of XXS shipped with every order of $88 or more (excluding shipping, natch).
I could go on, and on and on, about scraps, and no doubt I will be writing about them again soon. For now, my deepest and heartfelt appreciation to Everyone for your continued enthusiasm, creativity & inspiration—each piece of paper, snippet, or scrap, no matter its shape or size, gets to go to a new home and be creatively repurposed.
From the bottom of my ❤️, Bari