Welcome to the 2014 Bind-O-Rama

The Book Arts Web annual online exhibition.

Celebrating 20 Years Book_Arts-L Listserv

With this Bind-O-Rama we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this list (we went online June 23rd 1994) and thank everyone for being a part of the Book_Arts-L community, whether active poster or lurker. Never thought it would go on this long (the crazy part).

What started as an antidote to my professional isolation in the wilderness that was Central New York quickly grew into the most active book arts community, a placed where seasoned professionals, students, and anyone in-between talked shop and shared generously via their questions and answers. Back in 1998 I was invited to speak about the growth of the "Internet" as a tool for book artists at the 25th anniversary of the Silver Buckle Press in Madison, Wisconsin by Tracy Honn... That was 4 years into this adventure, and the talk is online at <http://www.philobiblon.com/HotType.shtml>. While the growth in numbers of those online has exploded, much else remains the same. Some of my "fondest" memories include teaching folks how to use email... Looking at the list interface (subscription, posting, ...) it seems very dated, Web 0.5ish... Still, it works and is as active as ever, with many who joined in the first days and weeks still active today.

Listserv archives continue to be accessible and capture those 20 years while serving as a resource for all. Some discussions, like "what is a book" remain popular. Google searches and statistics point to uses in school papers of all levels including theses and dissertations...

The works shown below were submitted by subscribers and represent their best effort from the past 3 or so years. Given the demographics of the list I expected more artist's books than traditional bindings, but a very nice range of work non-the-less.

Enjoy,

Peter

Eric Alstrom, Okemos, MI, USA.

Henry Petrowski, The Pencil.

Binding Description: Publisher’s binding rebound in full-goat leather with leather onlays. Blind-tooled title and decoration. Adhesive bound in the round with false shoulders added. Hahnemule gray end sheets. Rolled leather endbands with onlays. Bound using three-part Bradel binding with hollow. Dimensions: 24 x 13 x 4 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: I purchased this book as a gift to my “Master” when I was serving my bookbinding apprenticeship over 20 years ago. A false start of overcasting on raised bands made me put the project aside when I realized I didn’t know what to do next. On my Master’s retirement in 2012, I pulled out the book, still didn’t know what to do, so I chopped off the spine and adhesive bound it. Once that hurdle was overcome, the design quickly evolved with a few pencil sketches.

Binder's Bio: Eric Alstrom is Head of Conservation and Preservation at the Michigan State University Libraries. He trained as a conservator and binder with James Craven and at the Bessenberg Bindery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Besides conservation work, he teaches book arts for MSU’s Residential College for the Arts and Humanities and at other venues around the country. He has exhibited his artist’s books and fine bindings both nationally and internationally. Online at http://bookworks.tripod.com/.

Sharone Amit, Ein Vered, Israel.

Photography Book

Binding Description: This is a wire edge binding I have bound using images I captured in venue during a wedding. The box is structured using brass spikes, rods, book cloth and leather. The book holds 20 color prints with a real gold foil on the cover. Dimensions: 7.6 x 33 x 48 cm.

Binder's Bio: I am a professional photographer and an artist for over 14 years. In the last 4 years I became a book artist creating books mainly for clients I photograph. I use a very wide range of materials from all type of printing Technics to non traditional bookbinding materials.

Alicia Bailey, Aurora, CO, USA.

Alicia Bailey

Binding Description: Materials: purple heartwood, waxed linen thread, copper leaf, PMA, cast acrylic, copper foil.; Construction: The rigid pages that make up the text block are constructed of 3 layers; the middle layer is of shaped copper leaf, the outer two layers are laser cut and etched cast acrylic (2.4mm thick). This creates pages that are 4.75mm thick, their edges are sealed with copper tape. The covers are sanded and waxed Purpleheart wood, planed to 9.5mm thick. The recessed title label is laser printed copper leaf mounted on museum board. One of the book illustrations is repeated on the front cover via lasercutting. The book is coptic sewn across the spine with dyed and waxed 4 ply linen thread. I don’t often weigh my books but this book, modest though it is in size has a nice heft and weighs 1.5 pounds. Dimensions: 12.7 x 7.6 x 7 cm (closed).

The design /concept for the book is: This book takes the text and imagery from an 2009 artists’ book of the same title. I wrote the original text; the original illustrations were oil-paintings, re-created as line illustrations for this project. The book pages are transparent, and thus allow sections of several pages to be viewed at once. The pages are rigid and thick, designed to display flat or upright and fully open. When displayed upright, lighting can be adjusted for increased interplay between the line illustrations and the shadows they cast.

Binder's Bio: Alicia Bailey is a studio artist working across multiple disciplines. She has focused on book arts and assemblage since the mid-90's, producing artists’ books, sculptural books, and limited-edition books. Her work embraces a wide variety of methods and materials with an emphasis on treating the book as a form of interactive sculpture. Bailey’s work has been featured in dozens of solo and group exhibits throughout the world and is held in numerous public, private, and special collections worldwide. Online at http://www.abecedariangallery.com/.

Douglas Baulos, Birmingham, AL, USA.

Binding Description: Mixed Historical Coptic and French Herringbone with teneriffe lace surface decoration and found objects. Dimensions: 12.7 x 18.3 x 8.1 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: "Title - Sacre Coeur The process of binding together my books is a meditative exercise for me having as much to do with duration as physical texture or of following the thread of mindfulness. I merge the abstraction of narrative with the physicality of objects. I see it as a function of time, like the idea of chanting. I want to personify intangible experiences and feelings and make them tangible for my audience. I hope to explode the idea of book art into an embodied narrative, a sculpture of our inner life."

Binder's Bio: Douglas Pierre Baulos was born in Springfield, Illinois. In 1990, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 1993, he received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans. His books have been exhibited/published both nationally and internationally. His current books are explorations (visual) and meditations (poetry) centering on his ideas of spirituality, love, death, shelter, and hope.

Anna Embree, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.

Carrera, John M., Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities.

Binding Description: Sewn board binding with cushioned boards made from laminated museum board. Covered in full goat with blind tooling. Sewn silk endbands. Dimensions: 19 x 15 x 10 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: "Drawing on my knowledge of historic bindings, I sought to create a unique structure appropriate to the content and materiality of the text. The heavily cushioned boards give weight to the small book, and, by shaping to the palms of the hands, create an intimate experience for the reader. The inspiration for the tooled design came from an insect image found on the bookplate that accompanied the text. I had a finishing tool made, based on this image, and designed the layout to compliment the both traditional and modern aspects of the binding."

Binder's Bio: Anna Embree is an Assistant Professor for the MFA in the Book Arts Program in the School of Library and Information Studies at The University of Alabama. She teaches courses and workshops in bookbinding, box making, and special topics in book preservation and book history. Anna has a strong interest in the physical and material aspects of book structures. She has collaborated with printers and papermakers on limited edition handmade books, and has exhibited widely.

Jack Fitterer, Indian Lake, NY, USA.

Willam Butler Yeats, Irish Fairy and Folk Tales.

Binding Description: Fine binding covered in green goatskin with onlays and inlays of various colored goat and calfskin; title in gold; marbled endpapers. Dimensions: 18.7 x 12.4 x 2.9 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: This book was commissioned by a client-collector whose only guidance was, “Do something interesting”. Having done work for him in the past, I knew his tastes ran a bit to the macabre so I used this as an opportunity to avoid Irish clichés such as fairies and shamrocks even though those images did appear in many of the stories. Reading through the book several times, I settled on the tale of the Banshee, a wailing female spirit who serves as a premonition of death. In it, her features are described in detail, including her streaming red hair, here reinterpreted in various colors in a pattern suggestive of additional images, depending upon the imagination of the viewer.

Binder's Bio: My book arts life started early with an interest in lettering and calligraphy. My formal training began in college with calligraphy and printmaking. Afterwards, I studied with various calligraphers in workshop settings, including Hermann Zapf at RIT. Later I studied letterpress printing and basic edition binding with Leonard Seastone, restoration with Peter Geraty and others, and paper marbling with Garrett Dixon. Since 1983, I have been self-employed, together with my wife Taff, primarily in restoration, repair and rebinding for antiquarian book dealers and collectors, with the occasional opportunity to create design bindings as with this volume.

Erin Fletcher, Boston, MA, USA.

Anais Nin, Delta of Venus.

Binding Description: Bound in the Dorfner-style binding. Sewn on blue snakeskin tapes. Spine covered in buffalo with leather wrapped headbands. Walnut boards with onlays of purple heart. Title and author stamped with metallic pink foil. Fuchsia suede flyleaves and handmade Lokta endpapers. Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 2.7 cm.

Binder's Bio: In 2010, Erin Fletcher entered the full-time bookbinding program at the North Bennet Street School under the instruction of Jeff Altepeter and Martha Kearsley. Erin has settled into Boston with her husband, Jason and their two cats. She works in a shared bindery space with Colin Urbina at Third Year Studio, located in the Fort Point neighborhood of South Boston. In 2012, Erin established Herringbone Bindery, an independently run business providing hand bookbinding, box-making and basic conservation for various clients and institutions. Online at http://www.herringbonebindery.com/.

Gabrielle Fox, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Wendell Berry, Sabbaths 2006.

Binding Description: The binding is bound with laced-in boards and a wider hollow tube;full leather in three different green goatskins;leather joints with Pamela Smith marbled paper endpapers;head gilded by Marchetti Brothers;white and natural leather onlays; blind and gold tooled; surface gilded. Dimensions: 20.7 x 14.8 x 1.5 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: Berry's poems are contemplative and complimented by three wood engravings by Wesley Bates. The three panels play with various views of the water and sunshine playing across the waterbeds of the local Kentucky creeks.

Binder's Bio: Gabrielle Fox is a bookbinder now based in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the 1980’s she taught throughout England and worked from her studio in Sussex before returning to Ohio in 1990. She travels to care for collections and teach and her work is represented in many public and private libraries. Gabrielle is the author of The Essential Guide to Making Handmade Books and is now looking forward to the publication of her history of Larkspur Press. Online at http://www.gabriellefox.com/.

Marie Gouret, Montréal, QC, Canada.

Gilles Vigneault, La Couleur du Vent.

Binding Description: Raw-edge binding; full buffalo calf; decor: resist sandid, geometrical-shaped coloured transfers, hot stamping; Titled in foil; Copy: 48/75. Dimensions: 25.8 x 18.7 x 2 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: La Couleur du vent is a collection of poems by Quebec poet Gilles Vigneault, illustrated and designed by Nastassja Imiolek under the artistic direction of Cécile Côté. The cycle of the seasons and ecosystem evoked in the poems in addition to the graphic treatment of the illustrations were a source of inspiration in developing my concept. They also guided my choice of binding. I drew from the vocabulary of shapes featured in the illustrations to compose my decor, which I wanted to have a vibratory nature, to be non-static—in movement. Each symbol is part of the exchange system; the triangular shapes are at once rooted and free. I worked the leather as if it were a canvas, without differentiating between the front, spine, and back cover. Using a raw-edge binding also allowed me to play with the concept of continuity, the cycle, letting the shapes flow beyond the frame.

Binder's Bio: Originally from Brittany, France, Marie Gouret currently lives and works in Montreal, Quebec. She holds a DNAP (Diplôme National d’Arts Plastiques) in Design from l’École Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne, Rennes (France), and has taken bookbinding courses at Atelier Cécile Côté in Montreal since September 2010, in addition to regularly participating in workshops given by international bookbinders. Since 2012, Marie has presented her books at various bookbinding exhibitions in Canada and abroad. In creating her works, she is careful to take the text and illustrations into consideration, studying the book thoroughly before embarking on her design and concept.

Patricia Grass, Forest Grove OR USA.

Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea.

Binding Description: Traditional four hole Japanese binding and book box. The cloth that covers the book and box is woven from paper on a ridged heddle loom. The warp of the cloth is pine paper, a recycled paper yarn used to make an obi sash and linen paper wrapped In silk. The weft yarn is the same with the addition of irregularly spun lotka and handspun Tassar silk for the box cover fabric. All the threads were dyed by the artist with either walnut, logwood, cutch, chestnut, or tannin. Text was laid out on a MacIntosh computer and printed on kozo paper on a copy machine. Dimensions: 11.4 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: This traditional Japanese bound book and box are the first in a series of studies focusing on shifu, the Japanese art of spinning and weaving paper.

Binder's Bio: Patricia Grass has taught bookbinding for 25 years and has authored a book, How To Make A Book Even If You Think You Can’t. She operates a book arts supply store, the Accidental BookMaker, and teaches from her studio in Forest Grove, OR.

Karen Hanmer, Glenview, IL USA.

Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres.

Binding Description: French technique fine binding sewn on flattened cords, laced into boards and covered in a variety of hues of green goatskin. Hand-titling and tooling in 23 kt gold, black and brown foils. Edge-to-edge goatskin doublures, flyleaves of green Cave paper. Hand-sewn, French style endbands, watercolor top edge in a variety of greens. (Signed first edition.) Dimensions: 23 x 16 x 3 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: Abstracted aerial and cross-section views of cultivated land adorn this retelling of King Lear on an Iowa farm. A representation of the perfect farm lies above the horizon line, and the deeper truth beneath.

Binder's Bio: Karen Hanmer’s artists’ books and design bindings intertwine cultural and personal memory, and are often playful in structure or content. She exhibits internationally, and her work has won numerous awards. Hanmer’s work is included in collections ranging from The Getty Museum and the Library of Congress to Yale University and Graceland. She is a leader in the book arts community, having served on the editorial board of The Bonefolder, as Guild of Book Workers Exhibitions Chair, and juror for the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild Art of the Book 2013. She offers workshops and private instruction focusing on a solid foundation in basic binding skills. Online at http://www.karenhanmer.com. Online at http://www.karenhanmer.com.

Robert Hanmer, Glenview, IL, USA.

Arthur C. Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Binding Description: Full goatskin binding and with goatskin onlays. Handsewn silk endbands. Titled in silver on goatskin onlay. Titled with silver foil on goatskin onlay. Edges polished graphite. Hand sewn silk endbands. Marlbed paper endsheets. Dimensions: 18.3 x 12.3 x 3.2 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: A dark night and a hound.

Binder's Bio: Robert Hanmer has been studying bookbinding for more than 10 years. He is employed as a software architect. In addition to binding books he has also written two technical books.

Barbara Hebard, Melrose, MA, USA.

Sweeney Francis, It Will Take a Lifetime.

Binding Description: Bradel style quarter black goatskin; red goatskin lettering piece with gilt titling and rule; printed paper collage on boards; Roma paper endpapers Dimensions: 23.3 x 15.7 x 1.5 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: This book, written by Reverend Francis W. Sweeney, S.J., includes essays about growing up in Massachusetts, his education at The College of the Holy Cross and Boston College, and his life as a Jesuit, beginning at Shadowbrook Jesuit Seminary in Stockbridge, MA and continuing with his teaching career at Boston College. Sweeney’s essays also cover summer outings at Nantasket beach and Cape Cod. The covers of the book, designed by the binder to appear as scrapbook pages, reflect Father Sweeney’s early years (Nantasket Beach, The College of the Holy Cross, and Shadowbrook) on the front and his Boston College career on the back. The John J. Burns Library University Archives is the source for many of the images.

Binder's Bio: Barbara was trained at the North Bennet Street School and while a student worked as Book Conservator at Harvard Business School. She was employed as Book Conservator at the Boston Athenaeum before becoming the Conservator of the John J. Burns Library at Boston College. Barbara writes book related articles and reviews, gives talks and presentations, and teaches book history classes at Boston College. She exhibits her bookbindings nationally and internationally. She is a Fellow of The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and a Professional Associate of The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

Henry Hebert, Champaign, IL, USA.

Marguerite Yourcenar, The Abyss.

Binding Description: French-style binding with boards laced on. Black Harmatan goat skin with gilded lead set into the boards. Graphite edges. Nepalese marbled Lokta paper pastedowns and flyleaves with a pasted-in leather hinge. Dimensions: 21 x 14.5 x 4 cm

The design /concept for the book is: The Abyss (French title: L'Œuvre au noir) is set in the 16th century and follows the life and death of Zeno, a Flemish physician and alchemist. In a period of constant war, religious upheaval, and plague, it is the protagonist’s intelligence and curiosity that ultimately lead to his undoing. The title refers in some ways to putrefaction, the first step in alchemical transmutation; the final goal being to create the Philosopher’s Stone or to turn lead into gold.

Binder's Bio: Henry Hebert studied bookbinding at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA. He is the Rare Book Conservator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Online at http://henryhebert.wordpress.com/.

Deborah Howe, Lebanon, NH, USA.

Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff.

Binding Description: Pierced veined vellum binding. Sewn on five vellum supports with silk french style headbands on vellum supports. Edges colored with acrylic ink. Dimensions: 21 x 14.5 x 4.2 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: I used the pierced vellum style binding as it allowed me to depict an alternative layer, similar to the Earth’s atmospheric layer the astronauts had to penetrate. The edges are colored blue-green to reflect both the heavenly skies as well as the water, the two places where the astronauts headed and where they landed. There are seven laced in supports for the original pilots selected for the “Mercury Seven.” The heads are arranged sequentially in the order that they went into space, the shape—a boomerang—is a symbolic shape of the era and refers to the boomerang table that was found in the living rooms of the military base homes. End sheets are images of the official portraits of the astronauts and the capsule that went into space. The multi colored insert is like the celestial heavens, light and airy and full of wonder. The endband colors are green for the earth, blue for the sky, yellow for the sun and orange for the fire that propels the rocket up in to space.

Binder's Bio: " Bio: Deborah Howe is the Collections Conservator at Dartmouth College Library. Previously she headed the conservation lab at Northwestern University Library for over 10 years. She studied fine binding in France under the guidance of Sun Evard. She has taught classes at Columbia Center for Paper and Book, the Newberry Library and currently teaches bookbinding classes at the Book Arts Workshop at Dartmouth. She is a long standing member of the Guild of Book Workers and is on the board of directors of the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio.

Clarissa Jakobsons, Aurora, OH, USA.

Clarissa Jakobsons, One Hundred American Poems.

Binding Description: One Hundred American Poems, is a sculptural crystal book part of a viewer interactive installation. " Dimensions: Book: 8" x 11" x 5."

The design /concept for the book is: Distort, manipulate, and re-create! The book, "One Hundred American Poems," is turned into a sculptural installation which includes three handmade crystals exhibited at the Cleveland Morgan Conservatory, 2013. The original book is manipulated to reflect light and change the old into new. Phrases are salvaged into new poems. Viewers are encouraged to pick visible random words from the crystalline book, which is then handwritten into a pamphlet. Initially, Alexis Arnold inspired this crystalline book process.

Binder's Bio: Clarissa Jakobsons combines fine art with her own poems producing artist books experimenting as her alter-ego weaves one-of-a kind books, exhibited nationally at many fine institutions, such as: Denver Abecedarium Gallery, Cleveland Museum of Art Ingalls Library, Morgan Conservatory, Beck Center, Cuyahoga Community College, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Clarissa instructs various Art, Writing, and Bookmaking classes, and her paintings have been exhibited nationally. Twice-featured poet at the Paris Shakespeare and Co., five-year Associate Editor of the Arsenic Lobster Poetry Journal, and first place winner of the Akron Art Museum 2005 New Words Competition.

Jamie Kamph, Lambertville, NJ, USA.

John Steinbeck, The Wayward Bus.

Binding Description: Navy blue Oasis goatskin tight-spine, full-leather binding with inlays of red leather, brown leather, and silver mylar. Red linen box echoes bus motif. Dimensions: 8" x 5" x 1-1/2."

The design /concept for the book is: I have shown the road ahead from the viewpoint of the bus driver, whose personal decision about his own future shapes the lives of all his passengers.

Binder's Bio: Jamie Kamph has been a bookbinder for 40 years, working from her farm in Lambertville, NJ, where she has established Stonehouse Bindery.

Marie Kelzer, Marina Del Rey, CA, USA.

ScrapWorks ~ A Paste Paper Pattern Series.

Binding Description: Exposed sewing. Hand sewn on strips of paste paper with dyed linen thread. The page paper is Classic Neenah Crest 80# cover white and French Paper 80# cover black. Utilized techniques of paper cutting and weaving with paste papers. All paste papers painted by Marie Kelzer on 80# text Mohawk Superfine paper with acrylic paints and paste. Text is digitally printed. Paper wrapper. Edition of 5 color tones of which this is Paste Paper Oranges. " Dimensions: 16.5 x 16.5 x 2.5 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: This compilation of paste paper scraps began as a utilitarian effort. Over the course of 25+ years of making paste papers, I had accumulated a plethora of scraps, most of them in narrow strips. I did not want this project to be a totally random arrangement of papers. I separated the papers roughly into 5 colors of black, blue, green, red, and orange. This is one of five books with the primary color of orange in a Paste Paper Series utilizing paste paper scraps. I used the ageless techniques of paper cutting and weaving. The result is a two-dimensional pattern effect created from a variation of paste paper strips in similar color tones. The blessing in disguise is to have accumulated paste paper scraps in a variety of color tones. The challenge and joy is to put them together in a book.

Binder's Bio: Marie is a bookbinder trained in the traditional family operated binderies, trade commercial library binderies and Academic Institution’s Book and Paper Preservation labs. She discovered paste papers while studying bookbinding over 25 years ago and instantly fell in love. She has gone on to make hundreds of paste papers and compiled seven volumes of Paste Paper Patterns with 50 of her painted papers per volume. All of Marie’s art books and bound journals are made with paste papers inside and out. She is always finding new ways to utilize her papers and scraps. Marie resides in the Los Angeles area. Online at http://www.mariekelzerdesigns.com/.

Joanne Kluba, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Joanne Kluba, Tokonoma.

Binding Description: Hand made box, Accordion Book, Calligraphy hangings and found objects; Asahi fabric, Somerset Book text pages with sumi landscape paintings, chiri paper hangings with Basho haiku. Dimensions: 105 x 115 x 16 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: After two visits to Japan, the country took hold of my heart and soul. Within each home or tea room there is the Tokonoma, an alcove of beauty. This space provides the inspiration for this book and box creation. In a portable box is everything necessary to create the “Tokonoma.” The book at the center presents pages of sumi ink landscapes which act as background for the space. The chosen landscapes of the accordion book are spread out and stand in the supplied stands. The scrolls of Chiri paper provide the Matsuo Basho poems (translated by Robert Haas) that accompany the landscape and hang from the top edge of the painting. Traditionally, a flower arrangement (ikebana) would be placed in the foreground. Here the viewer chooses from the sacred objects to create a still life, even burn incense to complete the atmosphere.

Binder's Bio: Joanne Kluba’s background in printmaking, painting and calligraphy have contributed to strong expressions of book arts. She has a BFA in Printmaking, an MA in Business from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri. She studied traditional bookbinding with conservator Richard Baker, and with individuals around the country. Her works have exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. Joanne’s work has been published in “500 Books (Edition I and II),” Lark, and in “Bound and Lettered.” Joanne has run Paper Birds Studio since 2001. Paper Birds is a small custom bindery, specializing in hand bookbinding, small edition binding, handmade boxes, portfolios and calligraphy.

Sammy Lee, Denver, CO, USA.

Binding Description: Coptic binding, Hanji, decorative papers, laser cutting, die-cut and HP Indigo printing Dimensions: 19 cm x 24 cm x 1.3 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: Artist book documenting the personal narrative of discovering and reinvigorating a forgotten space. The book is comprised of three different types of geometric pages, varying in shape and size. Collated and bound together, the pages’ contents can expand and interact in multiple permutations based on their folds, much like a map can be refolded in various ways. In addition to showing different views of the space, the pleats of the pages also resemble the topography of the land: the overall shape of the book mirrors the site. Completed June 2012.

Binder's Bio: Sammy studied fine art and media design from the University of California at Los Angeles and her graduate study was in architecture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. It was during her time in grad school that she was introduced to the world of bookarts. She had a field trip to Wide Awake Garage, Daniel Kelm’s bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts and that day, her pursuit of being an architect changed for good. Bookarts was a fascinating media to her, which, to her surprise, encompassed all of her experiences in fine arts, design and even architecture. She immediately started an internship under Daniel Kelm, and also completed her master thesis, “Space :: Book, An Exploration of Book-like Qualities in Architecture”. She still continues to investigate and experiment with spatial, narrative and sequential qualities in her works. She has been in Denver since 2007 and lives with husband and a son.

Charlene Matthews, Hollywwod, CA, USA.

James Joyce, Ulysses.

Binding Description: Hand written in archival light fast ink, 38 poles (made for ship building), from the first edition of Ulysses, Shakespeare and Co., 1918. 2" x 7'" wooden poles. Pole '8' has ben treated for termites. Dimensions: 7 ' x 2" 38 times.

The design /concept for the book is: Joyce is books arts in words.

Binder's Bio: "I originally started as a person who wanted to repair books, then someone told me I was a book artist. I did not really understand that and I still don't. Yes, I am a book artist, but I bind, like crazy. And my restoration is pretty damn good. As far as Ulysses, I am always working on my own stuff. They are singular projects because I make so much art for others. The Ulysses Project really is more for me. It took two years, not a long time for a book." Online at http://charlenematthews.com/.

Anna Mavromatis, Houston, TX, USA.

Untold Stories

Binding Description: Untold Stories is a concertina folded artists' book; monotypes on Rives BFK were stitched together to form the strip; pieces from discarded printed material were joined/stitched together and glued on the surface. Dimensions: 25 x 13 x .8 cm / open: 25 x 46 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: I created a series of works based on the notion that people's secrets float around and affect their communities. “Untold Stories” is part of this series.

Binder's Bio: My works are similar to entries in a personal journal, where instead of words emotions and thoughts are expressed through colors, shapes, gestural markings, folds; by superimposing ancient and modern printmaking methods I sculpt, collage, handle paper and turn it into a kosmos where all I feel, all I want to revisit, re-examine, even forget find a place to be expressed. I was born in Greece and educated in Italy and Great Britain.

Chris Perry, New York, NY, USA.

Binding Description: This piece is built of 43 hand made books using a perfect binding assembly both for the block and for the sprays coming out of the spines. The hole in the end runs through the piece with a grid and gel acetate lens in the center of the tube. There are two 1/2" wood dowels that the books were threaded on in order to provide a rigid structure and prevent sagging in-between the legs. The paper is made by Legion and is a 120 gram cold press acid free book paper. The cover paper is a hand made 2-ply paper from India. Each block is sewn into a solid form with linen thread and the covers are glued to the threads and top sheets. Dimensions: 45 x 61 x 109 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: I use hand-made books bound following traditional bookbinding techniques to impart information without the use of words or images; the books themselves are the idea, the shape of the paper the information. Each piece incorporates several volumes as building blocks, layering up and expounding on what it is I want the viewer to take away. All of the pieces follow a water-based theme, either structures of, effects of or types of liquid activity, all of which would be detrimental to the books themselves.

Binder's Bio: After art school I moved to NYC, worked for the Guggenheim and a sculptor for 4 years, installed the first museum show for Jim Turrell at the Whitney in 1981, put my art career on hold in order to make a living and returned to making art full-time after nearly 30 years. I now make book-based sculptures with a water oriented theme. Each is made of multiple sets of volumes assembled into single units with various amounts of spreading slivers of paper and penetrations. They all reference water structures, forms or effects.

Jana Pullman, Minneapolis, MN USA.

Omar Khayyam, Rubaiyat.

Binding Description: Full leather bindings with silver foil tooling and inset hematite jewels. Top edge done in graphite with two color silk endbands. Marbled endpapers with leather hinges. Dimensions: 25 x 18 x 2.5 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: In the poem there are descriptions of a rose and a nightingale. So I based my designs on these. Because the illustrations are done in black and white I wanted the cover to follow this. I then added hematite cabochons mounted in silver.

Binder's Bio: Jana Pullman is a Bookbinder and Book Arts Instructor. She is the owner of Western Slope Bindery in Minneapolis, specializing in custom binding and repair of books. Jana earned her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in thirty years of book arts experience, she has worked as a printer, papermaker, bookbinder, illustrator, conservator, and instructor in the book arts. Online at http://aboutthebinding.blogspot.com/.

James Reid-Cunningham, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Karen Hanmer, Nevermore, Again.

Binding Description: Ruscombe Mill laid paper endsheets surface gilt with 23 karat gold leaf, then ?stamped with the universal symbol of flammable materials. Sections sewn on meeting guards. The guards were sewn on raised linen cords. Front bead silk headbands. Punctured, sculptural boards laced on and covered in scarf-joined goatskin and calfskin separated by tooled lines filled with recessed onlays of white box calf. Black Tyvek edge-to-edge doublures. Signed in gold on the fore edge of the upper board. Dimensions: 16.8 x 12.7 x 1.3 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: Nevermore, Again is an incendiary polemic, suitable to carry the universal symbol of flammables as a warning. The multiple shapes and layers of the boards reflect the varied and complex texts within.

Binder's Bio: James Reid-Cunningham studied bookbinding with Mark Esser at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, and was the President of the Guild of Book Workers from 2006 to 2010. He is Deputy Director at the Boston Athenæum, and supervises special collections and library and museum services. He originally served as the Athenæum’s Chief Conservator. Prior to joining the Athenæum, he was Conservator of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the adjunct lecturer on book conservation in the Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State College. Online at http://www.reid-cunningham.com/.

Lauren Schott, Boston, MA, USA.

Pardee Lowe, Jr., King Harald and the Icelanders.

Binding Description: French fine binding in full light blue goatskin; gold tooling; surface gilding; handle letter titling; hand sewn silk endbands; solid gilt edge; decorative paper endhseets; leather hinges; text block 1979 Penmaen Press, Limited edition of King Harald and the Icelanders translated from the Icelandic by Pardee Lowe, Jr., with original wood engravings by Michael McCurdy. Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: Each story within this collection of sagas illustrates the cunning of Icelandic characters matched against those of the King of Sweden, a favorite villain in this era of Icelandic tales. Illustrated throughout is the strong independence of Icelanders who resisted King Harald’s rule—their tie to the land others find inhospitable, and their ease with the sea and travel, which outmatches others who attempt similar ventures. The binder seized upon the imagery of the Icelandic Viking ships which play such an important role in each tale, and portrayed an interpretation of their shields and sailing lines in a style both in keeping with the stories and her own aesthetic.

Binder's Bio: Lauren Schott became a bench trained bookbinder and conservator at North Bennet Street School. She has held internships at Dartmouth College, the Boston Public Library, the National Archives and the Library of Congress; currently runs her own small business; and will be attending West Dean College’s program in Conservation of Books and Library Materials in fall, 2014.

Sharon Sharp, Boone, NC , USA.

Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies At Mammoth Cave.

Binding Description: Structure—spired accordions sewn back-to-back, with fold-down end sections and pop-up features; materials—Canson Mi-Teintes, metallic-flecked unryu, textured Strathmore, kozo with mango leaves, and Southworth papers; archival inkjet printing of text, map portions, and original photos; colored-pencil highlights on photos; Irish linen thread; binder’s board; magnets Dimensions: 8.75” high x 6.5” wide x 42” long (book fully opened).

The design /concept for the book is: This multi-part book celebrates two early mappers of Mammoth Cave's (Kentucky) labyrinthine passages: Stephen Bishop, an enslaved African American guide who, in the mid-1800s, gained international fame; and Max Kämper, a German civil engineer who, with the guide Ed Bishop, explored further and devised new mapping approaches in the early 1900s. These explorers are still honored at today's National Park, encompassing the world's longest cave. Original cave-interior photographs and historic map portions accent text on the central section’s interior and exterior. Details about Bishop and Kämper appear in small fold-out books on each end of the large structure.

Binder's Bio: Sharon A. Sharp, the proprietor of Curious Pursuits Press (Boone, NC), delights in meshing content and unusual book forms. Images of her books appear in 1,000 ARTISTS' BOOKS and in 500 HANDMADE BOOKS, volumes 1 and 2. She was among 10 North American book artists featured in the fall 2013 issue of the Italian fine-arts journal TECA—EXPLORING THE BOOK AS ART, and she is the June 2014 featured member on Art & Science Collaborations’ website. Sharon’s works, represented by Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, are held in numerous university collections and have appeared in many regional and national juried exhibitions.

Pamela Wood, Tempe, AZ, USA.

Collin, Ernst, The Bone Folder.

Binding Description: Full leather goatskin, tightback with laced in cords and handsewn endbands. The inside includes leather hinges with original endsheets. The cover decorations are inlaid colored goatskin and binder's original watercolor papers. Dimensions: 22.7 x 14.3 x 1.6 cm.

The design /concept for the book is: My design is an interaction of spacial relationships, using shape and color as well as positive and negative.

Binder's Bio: Pamela Wood is trained in fine art, receiving a BFA in Printmaking from Kent State University, and did post-graduate studies in graphic design at Cleveland Institute of Art. She works primarily in paper and bookarts and continues to exhibit her one-of-a-kind books at various art centers and museums, both nationally and internationally. Many of her artist’s books have been acquired by different local, national, and international libraries and museums for their permanent collections. Pamela has studied with many master binders in the United States and currently is enrolled in the American Academy of Bookbinding as a diploma candidate in fine binding. Online at http://www.rarehare.com/.