Welcome to Book Island

A Life in Bookbinding

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Moving the B.S.

There comes a time in a bookbinder’s life when a Jacques board shear must be taken into the fold. My friends, that time arrived last April for Book Island. For non bookbinders reading this, I’ll just explain by saying that a bookbinder friend’s reaction was, “You just got a Maserati!” But like most of the equipment I now own, I never wanted it. I rejected several board shears that became…

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Workshops New and Old, Taken and Taught

My workshops for the summer session at SFCB are live today! Visit my Workshops page for specific offerings. I am dialing it down a bit this summer to open space for Dominic Riley and Michael Burke, who were unfortunately prevented from visiting for their usual summer regime during covid shutdowns and later. One workshop I am really excited about is an expanded Decorated Edge. It had always felt…

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Andragogical Musings

Brr, it’s been cold and rainy around here lately! Don’t get me wrong, California needs rain badly, but it is great weather to stay inside and partake in my favorite hobby–er, occupation–er, craft… well, you know what I mean. And I have devised a way to draw in more of you to participate in this enterprise along with me. Yep, more workshops at the San Francisco Center for the Book! It has been a…

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Every Color of the Rainbow, As Long As It's Brown

Every Color of the Rainbow, As Long As It’s Brown

Books are all so unique. This inalienable fact never ceases to impress and surprise me. Even books from a run of production of thousands of copies, after a few decades, all develop their own personalities. Perhaps because I am a conservator in private practice, or perhaps because it is just in my stubborn nature, I look at every repair project as a complete individual. In some ways I occupy a…

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This past June, I got to visit Fairbanks, Alaska to teach a comprehensive workshop in book conservation. I was invited by the Alaska Literacy Council, who funded most of the costs of the workshop. It was an amazing opportunity for me, and one I did not take for granted. I put a lot of work into preparing for the workshop, and the students worked hard at their projects throughout the class. Several of the students had little to no experience in repairing books, but I was very happy with their results! Most of the pictures I took were outside of class, because we were so busy in class. Click on, or hover over, the photos for the captions.

Many thanks to my exceedingly kind hosts who indulged my every whim, and served me Alaskan salmon every day I was there, and even allowed me to cull some birch bark to take home from their collection of kindling. Where I grew up in Wisconsin, there were many birch, but hardly any where I currently live in California, so I was thrilled to be able to bring home some bark!

This was also one of the rare times when I have given a public lecture on bookbinding. It was part of my duties in teaching the class, and I saw it as an opportunity to set the context for the students in the class (who ALL attended–thank you!), and to educate the general public about book conservation, something I love to do. Surprisingly, I didn’t choke on anxiety during the lecture as I have before, and was able to keep within the time limit as well. Success!

Being a private practice bookbinder involves a lot of very quiet time spent in my studio alone, so I cherish these opportunities to get out and meet people of my ilk. All the Alaskans I met were very down to earth people I could really identify with. I hope the knowledge they have gained in my workshop fuels their ambitions to repair all the books they can for many years to come!

Ten knives waiting to jump into the hands of eager students!

After dinner hike up the road

Salmon every day, every way

My host’s husband likes bikes too

Big Dragon

Birch forest, with birch bent by previous seasons’ snowfall

Creamer’s Field in Fairbanks, where we went hiking. Fairbanks is in the interior of Alaska, not on the coast, so the landscape is different than the popular images of Alaska.

The Creek flows on

My host, a book artist, and her husband, a writer, did a residency at Beaver Creek

My host’s work: a piece of glass blown to look like water in the river

Extraordinary light and shadow as the squall moved in

Big skies

Tundra flower… anemone?

Rock outcrop

Soft, mossy ground atop Murphy Dome

Murphy Dome, with rainstorm fast approaching

Fireweed? No. Delphinium?

Hiking trail on Murphy Dome

Mural in the childern’s section of the library

Rockwell Kent exhibit in the library

Artwork in the library

The public library branch where I gave my talk

Needle cases from walrus tusks

Couldn’t help but photog the shoes of course

Beautiful designs on walrus tusks

Bag made with fish skin leather

Caribou Artwork

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has a terrific museum, the Museum of the North, which has many objects made by native craftspeople

Only in Alaska!

Our classroom: You can tell from the mess that we were working hard!

My book before treatment

Before treatment

One student’s success at color matching this very difficult cover

More home made baked goods

Sustenance: I had a huge appetite though the class, and ate a ton of these!

Two filet knives a student brought in to show me

Ramona Quimby front cover after repair

Ramona Quimby rear cover after repair

One of my students is a painter, so color matching was right up her alley!

Love lost, love found in one of the books I purchased for repair

A painting by my host’s friend in the Fairbanks airport

Flying over the Alaska Range

  Alaska Dreaming This past June, I got to visit Fairbanks, Alaska to teach a comprehensive workshop in book conservation.

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Stitchery in the Bindery

I have been sewing since the age of 5, which seems impossible when I think about it, but I know it to be true because while in kindergarten, my best friend’s mom owned a fabric store. The store was in bustling downtown Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Karen and I would regularly hang out there. Karen’s mom held sewing classes in the shop, and so we would make duffel bags and other odds and ends in the…

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Do Something Creative Every Day

Do Something Creative Every Day

photo credit: Linda Barrett

I was sorry to hear recently of the death of Sue Lindstrom, the creative founder of Paper Source.  For over two years, I managed the bindery staff for the small in-house bindery there. There were so many great things about the company, just like the fun, funny, thoughtful, lovely products on its store shelves. The grammatically correct tag line also always appealed to…

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With appreciation

Recently at the Center for the Book where I teach, the Studio Manager received a phone call from the family of a bookbinder who had passed on. Instead of selling her tools and materials, the family wanted to donate these precious items to a place where they would always be used and appreciated. As one of the Center’s many bookbinding instructors, I have a deep appreciation for this impulse. Any…

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In the studio

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to update this blog too much over the past year, but I wanted to share a few of the things I’ve been working on. I wish I had more time for blogging, but there has been no rest for the wicked (bookbinder), as I’ve been teaching or doing private work nonstop. I’d like to use this space to catch up a bit with some of the exciting projects I’ve been very lucky to…

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Deep Listening and Bookbinding Practice

Deep Listening and Bookbinding Practice

OK, at this point I feel I need to come clean a little bit and admit I have hobbies. I feel guilty taking time away from bookbinding which for so long has been the primary occupier of my mind and heart. But sometimes I find it’s healthy to get out of the studio, step away from the bone folder…  One of the side pursuits I enjoy is singing. For the past few years I’ve been fortunate enough to make…

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you can find out more about my work at: www.bookislandbindery.com

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This was my Grandma Roz's copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. Nothing left of the covers other than a scrap of the spine, I rebound it as a project in the bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School when I was there ten years ago. The book is still going strong! I use it all the time.