Rosemary Rae: Whimsical Little Houses All in a Row

Workshop Description

Are you charmed by the repeating shapes you see in lines of hillside houses? Are you intrigued by urban sketching? We’ll explore new neighborhoods by constructing our own little wonky row houses bound into a quirky accordion book.

The class will begin by building a model using different sewn edge binding styles (baseball stitch and wire-edge) and assorted house figures.

Once this is mastered, the rest of the class will be spent building the streets of each student’s choice using die cuts, rubber stamps, paint and ink, and colorful papers.

Each student will end up with one or more row house accordions.

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Students

• Knife
• Cutting mat
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Scissors
• Bonefolder
• PVA and brush
• Awl
• Binding needles
• Scraper or old room key card
• Markmaking tools of student’s choice (e.g., stencils, stamps, inkpads, paint, pens, etc.)
• Acrylic gel medium and brush
• Fineline black pen (like Pigma Micron)
• If students have these (useful, but not required):
  • Wire cutters (diagonals)
  • Jewelry-sized duck-billed or needle-nose pliers
  • Japanese hole punch, or ¹/₁₆″ or ⅛ ″ hole punch
  • Colorful collage paper (gelli prints, napkins, decorative tissue, etc.)

See Materials Glossary for definitions and images

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Instructor

• Mat board pieces
• Watercolor paper
• Edge wire and cutters
• Hole punches
• Binding thread and needles
• Colorful collage paper (gelli prints, napkins, decorative tissue, etc.)

Selene Fisher created this workshop concept, and it is in her honor that Rosemary Rae has agreed to lead the workshop in her place. Selene sadly passed away May 21, 2026. Rosemary brings extensive experience and expertise, and we are grateful for her willingness to step in during this difficult time. We remain committed to providing a meaningful and enriching experience for all participants while also honoring the memory and contributions of Selene.

Instructor Biography

Rosemary Rae is a creative director/designer, artist, and design educator living in San Diego, California. A graduate of Moore College of Art & Design and Vermont College of Fine Arts, she currently works as a graphic designer. In addition to designing her unique line of letterpress greeting cards, she also creates collages and artist books that have been featured in many juried exhibitions.

Instagram: @rosemarydesign