Portland Fall 2026

An Artist Book Workshop

Turn your tiny collections into a story you can hold.

Long before the sterile glass cases of modern museums, there were "Cabinets of Curiosities"—magical, private spaces where art, science, and myth collided in an attempt to categorize the universe.

Do you have a drawer filled with pressed flowers, vintage postcards, or weathered bits of nature? Don’t let your treasures stay hidden in boxes. Join us for a hands-on creative intensive where we bridge the gap between archiving and art. In this workshop, you will construct a custom "Specimen Journal"—a hand-bound book specifically designed to house, protect, and display your personal collections.

Materials Fee $20 paid at beginning of class includes:

Canvas frame
Pre-cut Matt Boards for the cover of the book
Pre-cut paper for the pages of the book
Materials to make the compartments: balsa wood and small matchboxes.
Papers to paint on for collage fodder & signature covers
Matt medium
Gesso
Plaster of Paris
Tacky glue
Written instructions

Supplies Needed  to bring for Class:

Scissors
UHU Glue stick & Krazy Glue with a brush
6-strand Embroidery floss: I used neutral colors
Book-binding thread
One large paper needle for binding
Bone folder and a small awl
Acrylic paint: whatever color you like.  For this book, I used neutral colors: cream, tan, gray, white, and black. This will be used to paint the cover frame.
One big and small paintbrush, the cheap ones.
Pencil
Ruler
½ a yard of a cotton print or a solid for covering the book boards and the spine.
Small collections of items: These are suggestions; you do not need to bring all of them. You decide what you want your “collection” to be,  bits and pieces from nature,  shells, sticks, pebbles, feathers,  buttons, mica chips, small doll parts, metal pieces, old keys, small collage materials, paper & fabric scraps, small envelopes, tags, photos, tiny glass bottles, etc, etc. I also used some Tim Holtz tissue paper and old handwritten letters to collage on the cover frame.
Binder clips to hold the frame to the book cover while drying
Paper clips to hold pages while binding
Paper towels, palette, and water container

Optional:

Apron & gloves