Bruce Foster Paper Engineering » Uncategorized

Next Stop: Pop Ups

admin — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:37:02 +0000

Recent MFA graduate, Bernadette Puleo, has graciously allowed me to post a pdf of her graduate thesis paper at Marywood Universtity in Scranton, Pennsylvania online for all of you to enjoy. This paper explores both the history of pop-ups and its current state as well as the future of our art form in these changing times. Bernadette took it another step and created a single edition boxed set of pop-ups that she designed as a companion to her paper. The last chapter in her paper gives a peek into her creations. Click on this link and enjoy! next_stop_pop_ups Contact Bernadette at Berndesign1@me.com if you would like to share your thoughts with her.

East Texas Book Fest Appearance

admin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:17:27 +0000

I will be appearing September 10 at the East Texas Book Fest in Tyler, Texas and giving a presentation on pop-up books and how they are created. This is going to be a huge day with dozens of authors in attendance. Quoting from their website, “Be a part of the third East Texas Book Fest, with some of the state’s most popular published writers. Join great speakers – on topics ranging from creative writing, researching for a book, marketing and promotion, and tips for publishing for adults and children.” There will be around 50 presenters, so there should be something for everyone! If you can make it I’m sure it will be worth your while! And a few of my books will be available for purchase and signing. See http://www.etxbookfest.org/ for more information. And here is their Facebook page if you’d like to follow along.

May travels and other news

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:11:16 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

May was a very busy beginning to summer 2011. Visiting Washington DC was an adventure in and of itself. Not only did I present a lecture to the Smithsonian, but I also visited the Parkway School in Frederick, MD, met Bryan Voltaggio (Top Chef) at his incredible restaurant, Volt, and visited the Corcoran pop-up class of Carol Barton. Then, just two weeks later it was off to Orlando where I worked with the talented artists at University of Central Florida’s Flying Horse Editions to help translate the varied and magnificent sculptures of Barbara Sorenson into a limited edition print series complete with movable components. See more photos and details on the News Page.

Recent visits and interviews

admin — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:28:04 +0000

This has been a busy December already! Last week I visited Dallas at the invitation of Matthew Abramowitz, proprietor of A Storybook House, a charming and original home to not only children’s books, but original works of art for sale by some of our leading children’s books illustrators. Sadly, The Storybook House has announced it will be closing its doors this December. However, they will continue to sell original works of art as well as host author/artist school visits. I hope you continue to support their magnificent efforts even though the brick and mortar location will be dark. I urge you to continue to patronize their online art efforts. If you are in the market for some remarkable original pieces of children’s illustration art, you have a wonderful source here.

Also a few days ago I was privileged to be asked to join my frequent collaborator, Chuck Fischer, on a radio interview with the San Francisco Book Review‘s Kaye Cloutman. Thank you Chuck and Kaye for a delightful session. You can visit Kaye’s blog and listen to the interview. In it we discuss A Christmas Carol, our collaborations, and our different alternative projects, including Chuck’s new IPad Apps for A Christmas Carol and The Night Before Christmas as well as my other current release, Harry Potter, and other works now in development.

And even though Christmas is closing in fast, I will be doing one more signing this week here in Houston. Winestyles of Cypress is hosting a book signing and wine tasting this Monday, December 20 at 6:30. Quantities of Harry Potter and A Christmas Carol are in limited supply so get there early!

And finally, a giant, no, GINORMOUS, thank you to all my new friends at Matzke Elementary, who invited me to visit their school this past Friday. We had a blast! The students, teachers, and PTO volunteers were wonderful and SO enthusiastic!

Scissors, glue and a pop-up view from paper engineer Bruce Foster

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:52:07 +0000

By MiChelle Jones/ Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News….Nashville-based writer MiChelle Jones really wants to see that pop-up exhibition in D.C.

Movable books have fascinated people for centuries; modern pop-ups have become increasingly elaborate and often include miniature versions to augment the larger jaw-dropping spreads.

Pop-up books are simulated in commercials and mimicked in department store holiday windows. They are the subject of an exhibition at the National Museum of American History in Washington and are being adapted for electronic applications.

Houston-based paper engineer Bruce Foster was involved with the Smithsonian exhibition, but you won’t find him reaching for an iPad or smart phone to read a pop-up book, at least not yet.

“Maybe one of these days when they can do real 3-D holographic stuff out in your lap, I’ll be more excited,” Foster says by phone from his studio. “You have to have a sense of the volumes of the things right there in your lap for you to get the real experience.”

Foster is among the pop-up elite, one of the foremost paper engineers in the world. The Tennessee native has called Texas home since 1986. This year he adds two books to the 40 he has previously published – A Christmas Carol (Little, Brown, $30) with artist and writer Chuck Fischer, and Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book (Insight Editions, $34.95) with illustrator Andrew Williamson and writer Lucy Kee.

Surprisingly, Foster wasn’t obsessed with pop-up books as a child. His introduction to the genre came when he was working as a graphic designer and was searching for a way to jazz up an ad campaign for Hi-C juices.

He frequently makes presentations in schools, explaining what paper engineers do and how they work with artists and writers to create pop-up books. He begins by talking about Disney’s film Enchanted, for which he designed the opening pop-up scenes, and ends the talk with something that never fails to delight his young audiences – Harry Potter.

Read the entire article here.

“A Christmas Carol” Releasing November 10

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:21:43 +0000

“A Christmas Carol” by Chuck Fischer, Paper Engineering by Bruce Foster, will be released November 10 by Little, Brown, who has just posted this beautiful video introduction on YouTube. Of note, throughout the pop up book, there are mini-booklets that reproduce the entire text of Charles Dickens’ original classic. Also, Chuck and I will be appearing this Saturday, November 6, at Crossroads Gift Shop in Osage, Missouri. If you are in the area, please stop by and introduce yourself! This is a rare opportunity to have your Chuck Fischer/Bruce Foster collaborations signed by the both of us! And how did this happen? Coincidentally, Chuck’s mom and MY mom live only about 30 miles apart there in Missouri! Something that Chuck (at the time in New York) and I (here in Texas) only discovered while working on our second collaboration! It really IS a small world!

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Interview Online

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:39:25 +0000

Mark Mitchell, author of the fantastic blog, HowtobeaChildrensBookIllustrator.wordpress.com has just posted an interview he conducted at my studio. The interview gives some history of my work as well as some insights into the way I create pop-ups. Mark was kind enough to post several clips of our interview on his YouTube channel as well. C’mon! Take this shortcut to my studio!

Release Date for Harry Potter Pop Up Book Announced

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:22:45 +0000

Harry Potter, A Pop-Up Book, will be released nationwide on November 16, 2010 three days in advance of the release of Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! I am as excited about sharing this book with the world as I have ever been. It may be a cliché, but this really was a labor of love. My own daughters grew up with Harry as we spent countless nights enjoying the developing epic while I read aloud to them at bedtime. Harry has been an integral part of our lives for the past decade and more.

Advance reviews have been very positive and I am bursting at the seams to share this magical book with you. The illustrations by Andrew Williamson (concept artist for the movies themselves) are phenomenal and the text by Lucy Kee is entertaining and informative. I will be making several appearances this fall to present this book, along with my new collaboration with Chuck Fischer: A Christmas Carol. I hope both books will find their way into your family’s personal library.

Dates are still firming up, but a couple of events have been set: First up, Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, November 18 at 5 pm. It has also been confirmed that I will be appearing November 20 at Books of Wonder in New York, along with my great friend and pop-up maestro, Robert Sabuda, as well as Matt van Fleet, author of many wonderful interactive children’s books, like his new Cats. The timing of this event couldn’t be better, being the morning after the debut of the latest movie.

For a sneak peek at Harry Potter, A Pop-Up Book, click here or look under the Book Profiles link above.

New Pop-Up for Dreamworks Animation

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:14:14 +0000

Recently I was asked to design a pop-up for Dreamworks Animation. The national design firm, Curran & Connors, worked with me to develop a corporate presentation for the famous studio. The centerpiece of the leather-bound folder is a pop-up set on the studio’s campus itself, featuring characters from its six animated properties, Shrek, Madagascar, Monsters vs. Aliens, How to Train a Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, and the upcoming Will Ferrell/Brad Pitt animated movie, Megamind.

See photos and read more about it on the Film and TV page!

New Profile Piece Featured in Movable Book Society Newsletter

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:46:24 +0000

The latest issue of Movable Stationery, the newsletter for members of the Movable Book Society, featured a rather in-depth profile piece on my work by Isabel Uria, a very talented, creative aspiring paper engineer. For those of you who would like to discover more information on my work, history and philosophy, this article by Isabel is quite informative. You can even get a little peek into my fall releases of Chuck Fischer’s A Christmas Carol and Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book, illustrated by Andrew Williamson and published by Insight Editions. Thank you, Isabel, Ann, and everyone who contributed those kind words.

Bruce Foster MBS interview