Workshop Fee (includes materials fee): $350

We're happy to welcome Richard Reitz Smith of Maine Media Workshops to San Francisco! He'll be in California for a residency at In Cahoots, and we're delighted to host him as a visiting instructor.

Embrace the unknown. Turn accidents into opportunities. As in life, so it is in book arts. We will approach the blank page with planned, all well and good intentions and then get diverted and knocked off course in fun and creative ways. But through this adventurous process, we will end up with lessons learned and something beautiful to commemorate the experience and tell a story.

Spend these two days, first making your gelatin plate (18 x 24") from scratch to take home with you. The recipe contains glycerin, so it will last a long time; plates can last many years. If it molds, or tears, or gets pock marks, just melt it down in a large pan on the stove and start anew. 

We will then cut a stencil library of personal iconography to use to print many large scale sheets (18 x 24"). Students will be encouraged to exchange a few sheets and stencils to respond to someone else’s imagery. 

On the second day, we will select which pages to keep as large-size monoprints and which to fold down into books of two sizes: 6 x 9" and 3 x 4.5", and also learn unusual folded formats with variations on single sheet accordions: ox plow, miura, and more as time allows.
 

>> Prerequisite: None <<

Materials to Bring: 

• A large plastic garbage bag to transport your plate home

Date & Time: Saturday & Sunday, February 1 & 2, 2025 :: 10am-4pm

Location: 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

NOTE: Please read over the SFCB Registration Policies before signing up for a class. Registration will close approximately three days prior to the start date of the workshop to allow the instructor time to prep materials for class. We recommend you not wait to register, as workshops that don't meet our minimum enrollment will be canceled, sometimes as much as a week in advance.
 

About the Instructor | Richard Reitz Smith (he/him)

Richard Reitz Smith is an artist who excels in marrying traditional techniques with technology. He is the Book Arts Program Chair and Studio Manager at Maine Media and is the owner of DoubleDoor Creative in Camden, ME.

In 2015, Richard was the first Book Artist in Residence at Maine Media where he wrote, illustrated, printed, and bound a limited-edition abecedary of alliterative haiku. Richard received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in painting and illustration.

After working for three years developing products for Crayola and Liquitex, he returned to school and earned an MFA in graphic design (Tyler School of Art- Temple University), then started a tour of teaching art and design at universities which led him to New York City, where he taught at Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts. While doing this, he freelanced as an illustrator and graphic designer before taking full-time position for Clinique Cosmetics where he managed multi-million-dollar, international, seasonal product and promotional launches as the director of package design worldwide. It was in NYC, that he found and frequented The Center for Book Arts learning much about letterpress and the book as an art form.

Richard’s work has won awards, been exhibited, and collected across a wide-ranging platform including logo and brand development, package design, print collateral, as well as book arts, painting, and drawing.  He is comfortable marrying traditional skills with technology and often incorporates handwork into Adobe Creative Suite.

designandsmith.com