The Penland Book of Handmade Books

I got this from inter-library loan and I wanted to make some notes about it before I return it.

A lot of the books in this volume occupy the space between the book as a useful (if beautiful) object and the book as a fine objet d'art. And I'm all about art, but, for myself, I like the functionality of bookbinding. So a lot of the techniques didn't really speak to me, because I'm unlikely to do a Coptic binding around the edge of a perforated teacup. (No joke!)

I did, however, like the art of Dolph Smith, who makes art based on the traditional forms of bookbinding rendered almost unrecognizable. His art consistes of bridges and cages and small wooden houses, none of which appears to have anything to do with bookbinding, until you look closely and realize that the bridge supports function as covers and the cage bars work as signature binding and the body of the house is the text block. It's all very cleverly done (even though it's still nothing I'll be emulating).

I did like Barbara Muriello's boxes. When I took BYU's bookbinding class, Rachel Hirschi said that some students took the class just to learn how to make the clamshell boxes. I can see that; they're very elegant. I also liked Carol Barton's pop-up books. I don't think this is a book I need to own, although I might check it out again for inspiration.

One of the artists profiled said that she had thought she could never be an artist because she can't draw, until she discovered bookbinding and found a way to make beautiful, artistic objects that didn't require drawing skills. That's pretty much how I feel about bookbinding. I don't have any interest in elevating the craft to a high art — I'm just content to create something well-made and a little bit beautiful.