The book artist, Alice Jane Smith, lives in Madison, Indiana. She is an Exhibiting Member of the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, where she is juried both as a book artist and fabric artist. In addition, she is an Indiana Artisan, juried as a book artist.
Background
Birdsong Book Arts grew out of Alice’s love of books, music and birds. In 2009, she went to her first workshop at Larkspur Press, Monterey, Kentucky. Gray Zeitz and Carolyn Whitesel taught her to make books and decorate paper. When Alice retired from her profession as a therapist in 2011, she embraced bookmaking. She continued to learn about the craft from workshops at Larkspur Press, Pygmalion Arts Supplies, Bloomington, Indiana; the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, and the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Adrienne Comer King inspired her to branch out into batik, fabric and Yoruba Nigerian designs in the workshops shown below. Comer King is from Charleston, South Carolina. Her work has been displayed at the White House. She has received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study Yoruba Nigerian batik.
Gasali Adeyemo taught her more about Yoruba Nigerian stitching and use of an indigo vat, shown at the right. A native of Nigeria, Adeyemo studied at the Nike Center in Nigeria. He now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and teaches workshops across the nation. Alice is photographed below with Gasali, at left, and a Brasstown friend, David Baker, dressed in his Yoruba Nigerian clothing.
Alice also studied shibori techniques with Judy Jetson at the John C. Campbell School. Through workshops sponsored by the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, she has studied advanced bookbinding techniques and Byzantine Bindings with Bonnie Stahlecker, shown below at left. Gray Zeitz, of Larkspur Press, is shown below while binding books. In 2012 he was honored as the Kentucky Governor’s Artist of the Year for lifetime achievement.
Education
At Indiana University in Bloomington, Alice studied photography with Henry Holmes Smith. Later, she studied with C. J. Pressma at the former Center for Photographic Studies in Louisville, Kentucky. Her BA Degree was in English, with a focus on creative writing. For a few years, she was a newspaper reporter and photographer. Later, she returned to Indiana University and received a master’s degree in counseling. She retired as a therapist.
Studio
Alice lives in the woods outside Madison, Indiana. She shares her home with her spouse, Leonard Miller; their Australian Shepherd, Stella; four cats (Theo, Salem, Emma and Zeus); three cockatiels (Puccini, Tosca and Doris), and a pineapple conure, George Sand.
Books can be custom-made. In addition, they can be ordered from the artist by email or phone contact.
Her studio is located at 1300 Wells Drive on Madison’s hilltop. The studio is open by appointment only. Call 812-265-6707 or 812-801-6465 or send an email to alicejane.smith@yahoo.com.
At the right, is Stella, our young Red-Tri Australian Shepherd.
Below are favorite pictures of two of my late pets, Matisse, a green-sided conure studying a book of art by his ‘mentor,’ Matisse, and Vincent, (named for Van Gogh) enjoying an afternoon with the tulips.
Publicity
“Indiana Artisan defines ‘art’ broadly, and the store defines the best in art and fine craft coming from Indiana today. A handmade Adirondack-style willow bench from Willow by Greg Adams and a stunning five-shelf, four-wood display unit by Darin Caldwell Designs complement a Shaker-style rocker by Pete Baxter Woodworks that is home to one of several leather pillows by Anita Hopper’s ReFind Originals. Megan Winn’s leather-bound journals, photo albums, notebooks and more are alongside the beautiful handmade-paper journals by Alice Jane Smith’s Birdsong Book Arts.”
Awards
In 2014, “Blue Hydrangea,” a dye-nature-salt print, won “Best of Mixed Media” in the 14th Regional Art Show, sponsored by the Madison (Ind.) Art Club. Alice often uses dye-nature salt techniques for prints, cards or book covers.
She also has won numerous awards in the Open Class Division of the Jefferson County Fair, Madison, Indiana. They include: “Best of Show” for a book exhibit; “Best in Photography;” “Best in Mixed Media;” and “Best in Miscellaneous,” also for an exhibit of her books.
Shows
Regional Art Show, Madison Art Club, Madison, Ind., 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
“Animal Attractions,” LaGrange, Ky., Arts Association, 2016
“Garden Show,” LaGrange, Ky., Arts Association, 2017 and 2018
“Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen at the LASC,” Lexington, Ky., September – November, 2018