This past Sunday I had the opportunity to teach a bookbinding workshop at The Holland Project. The Holland Project aims to provide art opportunities (among other things) to people of all ages. 

Since I arrived in Reno, I have been assisting The Holland Project with the printing of the monthly Showprint, an all ages calendar of events that is distributed at various places around Reno for free. You can pick up a copy of the Showprint at Sundance, Bibo Coffee (on Record Street), or the Black Rock Press at UNR. 

While producing the Showprint, we talked about the idea of a bookbinding workshop which I taught this weekend. The workshop was a huge success and it was a privilege to meet so many wonderful people of all ages. I taught basic pamphlet stitch and stab binding techniques. Each participant made a minimum of four small soft cover books. 

Thank you to all of the people who came out and Kaitlin Bryson of The Holland Project for organizing.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in the studio. I worked on this print (above) that is based on a traditional Eye Chart. The original Snellen Eye Chart was developed by a Dutch eye doctor Hermann Snellen in the 1860s. The chart is used to measure visual acuity. It has eleven lines of letters. The first line has one letter. Each line thereafter increases in number and decreases in size.

I used a quote by playwright, poet, and artist August Strindberg which reads, "There are poisons that blind you and poisons that open your eyes."

Before we got started on our adventure, we headed back to Pennsylvania to visit family and friends one last time. Moving across the country makes it a little more challenging to take a weekend trip to visit our loved ones. We all got together for one last picnic and a little silliness.

Our first stop, after visiting family, was Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Taliesin is just outside of Madison near the Lowery Creek. We arrived at the visitor's center a bit before our tour so that we could enjoy the landscape and peruse the gift shop. Frank Lloyd Wright built this house for his mistress, Mamah Borthwick. The house, although beautiful, is in constant need of restoration. Completely worth the visit. We had both recently read Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. If you haven't read this book, pick it up!

We made it to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Despite the rainy weather, we ventured to the top and stopped along the way to check out the gorgeous views and the Continental Divide.  

We left Rocky Mountain and headed out to Fruita. We stayed with some friends and spent a day hiking. We were so glad to visit with some friends and actually have time to enjoy our beautiful surroundings. Colorado National Monument was just 20 minutes from Fruita and offered gorgeous views and some excellent wildlife sightings. Fruita is also home to Mike the Headless Chicken. Make sure you google search him!

From Fruita we headed to Arches National Park and then Salt Lake City. We were lucky enough to have some kind friends to stay with once again. We hung out overnight, chatting about artists' books and prints with the talented Michael and Lily Sharp and their little baby.  

Did I mention Lola came with us on almost all of our adventures? She's a trooper! She weathered the travels like a pro. Most parks allow you to bring a dog with you in the car but forbid visitors from hiking with their animal. Of course this makes perfect sense when the temperature is over 100 degrees and there is wildlife roaming about. Don't worry—we NEVER left Lola alone in the car. One of us always stayed with her with the air on so that she would be safe.  

After Salt Lake City we finally headed to Reno. It took us about 9 days total but we enjoyed so many sights along the way. When we arrived it turned out to be Hot Summer Nights, which meant that there were no hotels available in the downtown area. We actually had to stay about an hour outside of the city. Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to find a place to live. Within four days we had rented a cute little house that overlooks the city. Our neighborhood is very quiet and has some great views of the mountains. 

Of course we immediately took a trip to Lake Tahoe during our first weekend here. The views are spectacular and so are the hiking trails! But more on that later.