Bookmaking Beginnings

Why bookmaking?

I didn’t have an art plan as I began my art degree as I loved doing everything, from getting messy in the ceramics and paper making rooms, to the distinct smell of developing chemicals in the photography department, or to the drawing and painting classrooms, I just wanted to do everything. But after this ONE bookmaking class, I wanted to THAT and only that for my academic plan. Of course, it wasn’t a medium the art department was able to invest in (time or funds I'm guessing), and they only offered two bookmaking classes, and I took those twice, each. After private workshops and classes, here I am today, still learning through books, online videos, and of course, more workshops.

Book making is a craft many millennia old in all its variations and while we are in an era of digital books, there is something in my soul that needs to be crafting a physical book. I entered a hand-made book in a state fair competition and was criticized for having blank pages and received a 4th place ribbon. Wait, what??? It was a blank journal, on purpose! My lingering despises aside, what if I did put “something” in the books and combined my love of literature and bookmaking together?

Jumping a few years later after moving a few times, going back to school for a Graphic Design degree, here I am continuing my passion for books while printing public domain stories and poems and binding them into a hand-crafted book.

Here is one of my earliest books I made with a story inside and my first attempts to be an independent publisher. Little did I know I was going to do this “when I grew up.” So, the answer to ‘Why bookmaking?’ is easy, I love making books!