Make Your Mark: Printing a Flexagon Book

Course Code: 26FPE103V

This one-day virtual workshop takes place online on Wednesday, November 18th, from 1PM to 4PM ET.

• Wednesday, November 18th, from 1PM to 4PM ET

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on November 4 at 11:59 pm.

About the Workshop:

How does one print without a press and still create images for one’s own artistic practices? This class will explore various ways of image making via the use of hand cut stencils, natural and found objects, designing and creating one’s own stamps, and more. Subsequently, using a variety of methods, hand print them and create your very own Flexagon book; a wonderful structure that spring to life when opened.

The numerous image-making possibilities inherent in these methods can all be created in your home studio or apartment, be it used for a unique piece or for editioned work. Class discussion will center on the versatility and multi-use of these unique methods and designs.

This workshop is designed for teachers, writers, artists and anyone who loves to create a richer and expansive vocabulary for their work.

Required Materials:

• 20 squares of text weight paper cut to 5.5″ x 5.5″ squares – 10 one color and 10 a second color – use only pale colors 
• cut 25 sheets of white Xerox paper 5.5″ x 5.5″ squares
• 2 sheets of any color cover weight paper (65lb) cut to 2.75″ x 2.75″ squares
• 2 pieces of 1/8″ wide ribbon, each cut to 10″ long
• small scissors
• pencil
• eraser
• exacto or snap-blade knife
• double-sided tape or glue stick
• bone folder
• self-healing mat
• 1 file folder
• stamp pads: 3-5 colors – 6-8 triangular make-up sponges
• Assorted color art sticks/ magic markers/ colored pencils
• Staedtler Mars white plastic erasers to create your own stamp designs – 2- 4
• Found textures around your home/studio –Examples: fruit packaging nets, corks, fresh and dried leaves, the edges of a perforated notebook, a metal or plastic triangle with shapes cut into it, etc.
• Lots of waste paper to use as backing not to get your work surface dirty

About the Instructor

Maria G. Pisano is book artist, printmaker, curator and educator. Her works reflect concerns about immigration, human rights, women’s rights and the environment. Memory Press works are represented in The Library of Congress, 9-11 Memorial Museum, National Library of Medicine, Columbia University, UCLA Berkley, Stanford University and many more. 

Memory Press works are exhibited in many venues. Her book Via Dolorosa: From Sea to Shining Sea, has been selected for the exhibit: Who Is America at 250? : Artists Books in the Age of Democracy – The exhibit  will be shown at Francisco Center for the Book, Minnesota Center for the Book and The Boston Athenaeum thru 2026. Previously, her book Caudex Folium was part of the exhibit Towers Rising, at the 9-11 Memorial Museum in NYC from 2024 to 2025and in 2022 her work was in “And Yet We Rise: A Retrospect of the Days and Times Surrounding 9/11 at the American Consulate in London. 

She has curated a number exhibits including Book as Witness: The Artist’s Response at CBA in NYC and Crossroads: Book Artists’ Impassioned Responses to Immigration, Human Rights and Our Environment, at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, NJ. Ms. Pisano contributes to book arts publications and has presented lectures at the Library of Congress, College Book Arts Association and the Art Libraries Society of North America. Her article “Mark To Impress” was published in California Society of Printmakers and The Blue Notebook in the UK. She continuously gives workshops nationally and internationally, at her studio, libraries and institutions such as Bridwell Library, TX and Center for Book Arts in NYC and CBBAG.

All images courtesy of the instructor unless otherwise noted.