Ex Libris: A Bookplate Design & Lino Printing Workshop with Bijal Patel

Imagine opening your favourite book and seeing a custom, hand-printed design inside the cover.

Join us for a special evening of books and linocut printmaking with artist Bijal Patel. In this two-part workshop, you’ll choose a book that feels meaningful to you, then transform it into a personal keepsake by designing and hand printing your own custom reusable bookplate: a personalized decorative label traditionally placed inside the books you love. 

The workshop will begin at Upstart & Crow where you’ll receive a $25 voucher to select a book that speaks to you. Or receive a customized book recommendation from the Upstart crew. 

Then, you’ll bring your chosen book to a hands-on guided workshop where you’ll learn the basics of linocut printmaking, an age-old technique where designs are carved into a soft block and hand-printed onto paper. With step-by-step guidance from Bijal, you’ll design and carve a personalized bookplate featuring your initials, a personal motif or any imagery that feels uniquely yours.

By the end of the evening, you’ll leave with:

• Your own carved lino block ‘stamp’ to keep for your home library
• A collection of hand-printed custom bookplates
• A beautifully personalized book from Upstart & Crow
• And a new artistic skill

No prior experience is needed. All materials are provided, including carving tools, drawing utensils, lino blocks, and paint. Just come ready to explore! Participants are also welcome to bring their own books to stamp on site. 

More about the facilitator:

Bijal Patel is a multidisciplinary British South Asian artist (former Psychologist) living and working in Vancouver, Canada. Through a multitude of forms, including mixed media, painting and ink, she expresses concealed emotions and her journey of loss and change in relation to grief and being a second-generation immigrant living between cultures. Bijal’s intimate work highlights unseen spaces and offers the audience a chance for reflection on their own emotional landscapes and psychological places that may be concealed for them. Through her work, Bijal intends to offer hope; opening conversations by allowing the audience freedom to connect with their own journey of change and loss.

More about Upstart & Crow:

Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on Literature In Translation / Climate Solutions / Poetry / Civic Dialogue / Community & Skills Building … all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.

Accessibility:

The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees. As part of disability justice and community care for the chronically ill, vulnerable and elderly, we ask that you refrain from attending if you feel sick.

Questions: hello[at]upstartandcrow.com.

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