Because we won’t be able to gather in person at our Annual Meeting on December, we asked BAG members to send their year-end greetings digitally.

We’ll continue to update this page as we receive more cards, so check back!

Click on any image to start the slideshow. Click on the < and > arrows to go forward and backward. Use the X to close the window and come back to this post.

Julie Filatoff: Front

Julie Filatoff: Inside. If I cannot bring you comfort Then at least I bring you hope For nothing is more precious Than the time we have and so We all must learn from small misfortune Count the blessings that are real Let the bells ring out for Christmas At the closing of the year Let the bells ring out for Christmas At the closing of the year. Now all the winter bells are ringing Hear them echo through the snow And the children’s voices singing On the streets so far below This is a time to be together And the truth is somewhere here Within our love of people At the closing of the year. Trevor Horn / Hans Zimmer / Christian Kolonovits

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Gail Murray

Joan Plummer: Front

Joan Plummer: Inside

Kim Burkholder: Wishing all a holiday season filled with love, hope, and creativity!

Mary Elizabeth Nelson:  Happy Holidays to my friends in Santa Fe BAG.

Mavis Murphy: Front

Mavis Murphy: Inside

Rebecca Best: Front

Rebecca Best: Inside

BAG at a Distance Digitally: An Online Meeting via Zoom

Saturday, November 14, 2020, 1 pm to approximately 3 pm MDT
Free; Open to the Public; All are Welcome

This meeting will include:

• Presentation on journaling (a continuing series) by Lee Kellogg (former owner of Guadalupe’s Fun Rubber Stamps, now residing in Oregon), https://www.leekellogg.com/
• An update from BAG’s Artist-in-Residence, Sally Blakemore, including a new project: Winter Holiday Greeting Cards with Liz Faust (see below for more details)
• How to order the Pantone Postcards Mail Art Book (see below for more details)
• Book donations to BAG: Come and get ’em!
• Art Flea Market goes online
• A presentation by Rebecca Best of the letter “N” for Mail Art

BAG’s member meetings are via the Zoom virtual meeting platform. The login information is NOT shared on this website. To participate in the meeting, you must be signed up for BAG’s email newsletter.  If you are not, send an email to santafebag@gmail.com requesting that you be added to our mailing list. See you November 14!

Because we won’t be able to meet in person at our Annual Meeting in December, we would like to give you an opportunity send your year-end greetings to your BAG friends.

All members are encouraged to make a greeting card. It can be a holiday card (Christmas, Hanukah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, New Year’s, or any other holiday you want to celebrate). It can be a card that communicates any message you want to send out in December that is not linked to a specific holiday.  You are artists; I don’t have to explain the concept of “no rules.”

Once you have completed your card, photograph it and send the photo to elizfaust@gmail.com no later than Tuesday, December 1. You can send a single photo of the front of the card or two photos—one of the front of the card and one of the inside. These will be assembled into an online gallery that will be posted on the BAG website. Also, send me a greeting from you to other BAG members. This greeting will be displayed along with the images of your card.

Cards can be any size and shape that you can dream up. If you would like some help kickstarting your creative process, our Artist in Residence, Sally Blakemore, has designed some pop-up templates that you can use as a starting point for your design. The templates are listed below.

Liz Faust

Sally’s Templates

All of these are just formats, so I encourage artists to just the the idea for themselves and do something totally in their own styles!

Tiny Book Holiday Greeting Tree		Download the template here.
Tyvek (FedEx Envelope) Angel Wing Prayer Flag
Slot Movement Mechanic (Butterfly, Bird, Bee, Sugarplum Fairy— Anything That Flies)		Download the butterfly template here.   Download the bird template here.
Skinny Comet Pop-Up Card Using Mylar for the Comet		Download the template here.
Soft Pop-Ups Using Florals Made of Tyvek and Paper, Platforms Stacked		Download the template here.
Slot Designs: Floral or Cactus Pop-Ups		Download the template here.
Pop-Up Basketball Court (Can be Adapted to Fireplace With Hanging Christmas Stocking)		Download the template here.

Pantone Postcard Project: Mail Art 2017-2019

Left, The “plain” Pantone postcards that artists used as the basis for their artwork. Right, the cover of the book showing a selection of the cards by 54 artists. Click to enlarge the photos.

217 full-color pages! This book showcases a collection of mail art postcards from members of the Santa Fe Book Arts Group. It is a visual fiesta, a diverse exploration of art that illustrates the range of talent within the BAG membership, keeping alive the mail art tradition.

This book tells the story of the two-year project, fashioned after Emily Martin’s similar project. The project was based on the Pantone Matching System (PMS), considered the “universal color language” used in art and industry. The cards, created by 54 members of BAG, are original and very creative.

$35 if picked up locally; buy here with PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=UY8XMF9VKRT3C

$39 with U.S. mailing; buy here with PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7VHSZPAAYEJFU

Or send a check for $35 or $39 per book, along with the shipping address, to:

BAG
P.O. Box 33691
Santa Fe, NM 87594

The Santa Fe Book Arts Group Annual Art Flea Market is going online this year.

Starting at 6 am on Friday, November 13, 2020, the home page (https://santafebag.org/) will become the Art Flea Market. (Don’t worry–the usual home page will just move temporarily, and there will be a prominent link to it.)

The web page will include photographs, descriptions, and links to the vendors’ wares. The page will be available until 6 pm on Sunday, November 15.

Stay tuned for more details about the Art Flea Market vendors; watch this space!

23 Sandy is excited to announce the relaunch of its online gallery and a transition of ownership.

23 Sandy was founded in Portland, Oregon, by book artist and photographer Laura Russell in 2007. For 10 years it was a brick-and-mortar gallery space exhibiting a wide range of unique and edition artist books and paper art. 23 Sandy closed its physical doors in 2017, becoming an online gallery. In July 2020, the gallery is relaunching under the ownership of book artist Erin Mickelson, 23 Sandy’s long-time gallery assistant until her relocation to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

23 Sandy’s new online gallery will feature book and paper art as well as maintain a record of the gallery’s rich and vibrant history through exhibition archives, a vast catalog (over 1,000 titles) of available and sold works, and historic posts. Over its years, the gallery hosted 91 inspiring exhibitions—20 of which were international juried exhibitions featuring thoughtfully curated works by a talented roster of artists from around the world. In addition to featuring creative and contemporary works, the online gallery is an extensive resource for anyone curious about artist books.

In addition to managing the online gallery, Erin will represent 23 Sandy at book arts workshops, conferences, and visits to institutions, and will work with local art spaces to exhibit artist books. She will continue to grow and diversify the gallery’s catalog of works.

A few words from Laura and Erin:

“It is such a thrill to pass 23 Sandy into Erin’s knowledgeable and capable hands. For four years she played a vital role in the success of the gallery, and I’ve always been grateful for her time and energy. Erin’s well-trained, critical, and thoughtful way of looking at books will bring a fresh and considered viewpoint to the wide world of book arts. I am thrilled to be able to retire into my studio and that 23 Sandy will live on with such an exciting vision.”
—Laura Russell

“Much gratitude is due to Laura Russell for creating such an impactful and inspiring art space. 23 Sandy has been an invaluable resource and platform for the book arts community, thanks to Laura’s diligent efforts and creative thinking. I’m excited and honored to carry the torch.”
—Erin Mickelson

Visit the gallery online at 23sandy.com and contact director@23sandy.com with any questions or comments.

The Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival nonprofit is opening northern New Mexico’s one-of-a-kind creative reuse center, Resourceful Santa Fe.  It is at 2879-A Industrial Road (off Siler Road). A creative reuse center is a well-curated thrift store with real thrift store prices, an unofficial art supply store, a dumpster diver’s paradise, a community space, an economic development driver for local artists, and a local nonprofit. Its mission is to divert material from the waste stream by collecting and redistributing discarded items to artists, educators, social service providers, and the community for reuse and repurposing.

You can:

• Donate items (see the guidelines here; then make an appointment with Sarah Pierpont by contacting her at (505) 603-0558 or skpierpont@yahoo.com). All donations are tax-deductible.
• Make an appointment (contact info above) to shop or to be placed on the mailing list for future pop-up events.
• Attend the grand opening later this fall.

BAG member Laura Wait participated in a studio tour/interview with one of the galleries that represents her, Gallery Mar in Carmel, California. Click the link to see Laura at work in her studio: https://www.facebook.com/gallerymarcarmel/videos/335709957403021/

BAG at a Distance Digitally: An Online Meeting via Zoom

Saturday, July 11, 2020, 1 pm to approximately 2:30 pm
Free; Open to the Public; All are Welcome

Do you miss all your BAG friends? We do, too! Join this virtual digital meeting from a distance.

This meeting will feature a studio tour with Cynthia Leespring and a gallery tour of a book arts exhibition. Kim Burkholder will present the letter “J” for Mail Art. Have a project nearby to show your fellow BAG members.

If you have never used Zoom before, here’s a helpful video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Or go here to contact us for help: https://santafebag.org/need-help-with-zoom/

You will want to use a device that has internet access, a camera, and a microphone (like your cell phone or iPad, and some laptop or desktop computers). If you prefer, you can also simply call in on your telephone for audio only.

You aren’t required to have a Zoom account to join the meeting, but Zoom will ask you to download the app to your desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Be sure to update your Zoom app (on whatever device you use–PC, Mac, phone, iPad, etc.–by visiting here before the next meeting: https://zoom.us/download

People on the BAG mailing list will receive log-in instructions a few days prior to the meeting. Want to be added to the list? Either become a member or send an email to be added. Click here if you can’t find the email that we sent to you.