Instructors: Cat Bennett & Bari Zaki

This Bookful workshop, and its eleven Bookful brethren, was originally presented to a Zoom audience of students from far & wide. We’ve decided to make our full-length live recordings of each of these workshops available for purchase this summer. (The themes of the twelve workshops will never be repeated or reprised, as Cat Bennett & Bari Zaki will keep thinking of new subjects.)

Every recording (12-ish hours-ful) comes with the same kit of sumptuous materials as the original workshop, barring the occasional palette refreshment or replacement. Also included is my sincere invitation to contact me if you have questions or anxious moments whilst watching and making. Enticement: a 15% discount ($44.25!) on your second Bookful purchase, likewise on your third, and so on & so fourth.

This workshop was the fourth collaboration between Cat Bennett and Bari Zaki. Late summer is still a sumptuous season for many fruits & vegetables, a time to celebrate the colours and the deliciousness, and to delight in illustrating your favourite recipes. Pumpkins and squashes and gourds, o my! 

What you’ll make: A landscape-format accordion book measuring 6" x 8¾", with drop-spine hard covers. You will glue Japanese bookcloth & papers to binders board, making a decorative cover to enclose & protect your accordion pages. The front cover and spine do not attach to your accordion pages (only the back cover is attached). Your book will indeed lay flat when open, allowing your pages to spring up & out for display.

Workshop #1 (4-ish hours) – You will measure, score, and fold your 5 Stonehenge sheets (6" x 43¾") to create five 5-page accordion panels (each measuring 6" x 8¾"). You will then hinge the panels together using strips of paper and a glue-stick. Finally, you will glue your Japanese bookcloth & papers to your binders board, completing your decorative cover. 

Workshops #2, #3 & #4 (each is 3-ish hours) – In the next 3 sessions, Cat leads you in exploring several different drawing & painting techniques, as you fill your book with images of fruits & vegetables, food on plates & platters, and ingredients in a range of recipes. You’ll work in opaque watercolour (or gouache if you prefer), coloured pencils, and marker pens. Each two-panel spread will feature a recipe and a companion illustration. With some tips from Cat, you’ll hand-letter your recipes. Ultimately, you will have created a bountiful book of delectable edibles.

Class fee includes the kit of exquisite materials (but not the tools) we use to make one landscape-format accordion book:

5 sheets of Stonehenge (Bari’s favourite drawing paper) 6" x 43¾" 

3 pieces of binders board: 1 spine, 1 front cover, 1 back cover

2 pieces of Japanese bookcloth (8" x 5") 

2 pieces of Japanese decorative paper (8" x 7¾") 

1 piece of Stonehenge for the inside front cover (8½" x 5¾")

4 strips of hinging paper (6" x ¾")

1 hinge & corner spacer 

1 piece of waxed paper (7" x 9")

Tools needed: bonefolder, P.V.A. glue, glue-brush, glue stick, triangle ruler, metal ruler, Xacto knife, and a cutting mat. You will receive a 20% discount on all tools ordered for the workshop (via refund after your workshop purchase). You can purchase these tools individually here.

Nota bene: In case you have the necessary tools but are in need of the glue & glue-brush, you’ll find them in a separate shop listing here.

The three palettes as shown here (left to right) are Berriest Blues, Très Rosé & Golden Toasts. Please select your palette from the dropdown menu below. (Patterns will be assorted, due to limited supply of each.) If you’d like to purchase an additional set of materials, you certainly can. However, you cannot accomplish this in the dropdown menu (because one set of materials is included with the workshop fee). It’s $175 per additional set, with no shipping fee if you order at the same time as your workshop purchase. To order, please e me and I will be in touch extremely promptly. And I will be sure that you don’t receive duplicate sets for making your accordion book (unless you want to).

Cat and I look forward to sharing our love of paper, bookbinding, drawing, painting & nature with you in this 4-session (12-ish hours-ful) live-recorded workshop!

About Cat: In her former life, she was a commercial illustrator for 25 years. All three of her wonderful books are available in our shop & online: The Confident Creative, Making Art a Practice, and The Drawing Club of Improbable Dreams. 

“I believe that drawing and painting create happiness. I love teaching because I get to see people discover their own creative genius!” – Cat Bennett