{"id":9472,"date":"2015-04-13T01:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T05:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=9472"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:49","slug":"book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/13\/book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Artist of the Month: Natalie Stopka"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AblateVesiculate-NatalieStopka\"<\/a>

LEFT: Ablate<\/em> | RIGHT: Vesiculate<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Then & Now: Ten Years of Residencies at the Center for Book Arts<\/em><\/a> is an upcoming exhibition celebrating two of the Center’s core programs. Among the 50 exhibiting artists who participated in these programs over the last ten years is Natalie Stopka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Floe-NatalieStopka\"<\/a>

Floe<\/em> (detail on left)<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of her recent suminagashi work, like those shown in\u00a0the images above will be included in the exhibit. If you find yourself in the New York area, check out Natalie’s work in person. The exhibit will run from April 17th until June 27th.<\/p>\n

\"MarbledBooks-NatalieStopka\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week’s post focused on Natatlie’s technique and process for natural dyes<\/a>. This week’s post will focus on her work with marbling and suminagashi.<\/p>\n

Can you discuss your techniques for marbling; what type of size and pigment do you prefer to work with?
\n<\/strong>I prefer to work with caragheenan and acrylic pigments when marbling. We undertook a side-by-side comparison of caragheenan and methyl cellulose in a marbling workshop I taught, and for me the clear champion is caragheenan.<\/p>\n

\"MarblingProcess-NatalieStopka\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, I have written repeatedly about my preference for natural and historically founded materials, but in marbling I use modern synthetic pigments and surfactants. What can I say? They work like a charm \u2013 but one day I would like to expand my practice to include earth pigments. It would be very satisfying to create images of stone formations from pulverized stone.<\/p>\n

I am often asked if natural dyes can be used for marbling, but by definition dyes are water soluble, so working around that would be too complex a process to be practicable.\u00a0However, it is quite handy to marble on naturally dyed paper or fabric, as both the marbling substrate and most dyes (adjective dyes) require mordanting as a preparatory step. And whether you work with natural or synthetic pigments, the natural dyes give a beautiful base tone.<\/p>\n

\"Sumi-NatalieStopka\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Suminagashi is my escape from the detail-oriented aspects of bookbinding which demand focused hand work. Because suminagashi developed within the compass of Buddhism, the entire approach is at odds with western bookbinding and marbling. Rather than formulate a plan for what each print will be, I can work intuitively. I find that allowing the work to guide me rather than the reverse is very freeing and expressive. To do this I stick to traditional Japanese washi, sumi ink and brushes, a few experimental ingredients, and Don Guyot\u2019s sumifactant.<\/p>\n

\"Sumi2-NatalieStopka\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve marbled a variety of materials including paper, silk and linen. What unique properties do each of these materials offer and what challenges, if any, do you find?
\n<\/strong>The only challenge in using a variety of materials is getting to know each one, and finding some dependable papers and fabrics with the right quality of absorption. The biggest variable in the range of fabrics I use is the crispness of the print each produces. A tight, even weave like silk haboti picks up a very crisp image while a slubby, loosely woven linen makes the image appear more \u2018pixelated\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then & Now: Ten Years of Residencies at the Center for Book Arts is an upcoming exhibition celebrating two of the Center’s core programs. Among the 50 exhibiting artists who participated in these programs over the last ten years is Natalie Stopka. Some of her recent suminagashi work, like those shown in\u00a0the images above will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[677,68,681],"tags":[22,1742,1758],"class_list":["post-9472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-artist-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-artist-book-of-the-week","tag-marbling","tag-natalie-stopka","tag-suminagashi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2sM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9497,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/20\/book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":0},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Natalie Stopka","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Up until this post, Natalie Stopka has shared her techniques for natural dyeing, as well as her methods for marbling and suminagashi. In the last two posts for the month, we'll look at two artist book projects starting with her 2011 book Specimens. Can you talk about the concept behind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Specimens4-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Specimens4-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Specimens4-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Specimens4-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9511,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/27\/book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":1},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Natalie Stopka","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In this final post with Natalie Stopka, we continue the\u00a0discussion\u00a0on her\u00a0techniques that employ\u00a0natural pigments for dying and image making by looking at\u00a0her 2012 artist book Botanica. This binding consists of a series of eco-prints that are brilliant in both color and detail. Can you discuss the process behind eco-printing? Eco\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Botanica5-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Botanica5-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Botanica5-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Botanica5-NatalieStopka.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9463,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/06\/book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":2},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Natalie Stopka","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As a continuation from last week's post, I extended the conversation on natural dyes with book artist, Natalie Stopka.\u00a0During her time at the Center for Book Arts\u00a0as a\u00a0Van Lier\/Stein Scholar, Natalie also completed a collection of case bindings, where each component beautifully represents the subtleties of natural dyes. The variation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CompleteDye-NatalieStopka","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/CompleteDye-NatalieStopka-1024x636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/CompleteDye-NatalieStopka-1024x636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/CompleteDye-NatalieStopka-1024x636.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9435,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/01\/april-book-artist-of-the-month-natalie-stopka\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":3},"title":"April \/\/ Book Artist of the Month: Natalie Stopka","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Natalie Stopka has conducted\u00a0extensive research and experimentation with natural dyes, which is partly what drew me to interview her on the blog. I've long been interested in incorporating natural dyes into my own work. So it's fair to say that I'm quite inspired by Natalie's work. At the end of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ACuoreAperto3-JaniceGordonNatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ACuoreAperto3-JaniceGordonNatalieStopka.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ACuoreAperto3-JaniceGordonNatalieStopka.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ACuoreAperto3-JaniceGordonNatalieStopka.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10296,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/31\/best-of-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":4},"title":"Best of 2015","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, this has been a busy, busy year and I can't believe that 2015 is coming to end. I want to extend my gratitude to the people who have helped contribute to the blog this year: I also want to thank everyone who reads the blog, subscribes to the blog\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "best of"","block_context":{"text":"best of","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/best-of\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5279,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/08\/book-artist-of-the-month-laura-davidson\/","url_meta":{"origin":9472,"position":5},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Laura Davidson","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2009, Laura Davidson took inspiration from the cities that she visited and created\u00a09 Cities, One Artist in a small edition of 7. Each hand colored dry point print depicts a monument from each respective city and includes a handwritten caption naming the buildings. The beautiful, muted color palette is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/9citiesrome-lauradavidson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9472"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9486,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472\/revisions\/9486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}