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‘binder of the month’ Category

  1. Bookbinder of the Month: Annette Friedrich

    August 18, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    nightandday-annettefriedrichNight and Day is Virginia Woolf’s second novel and the second book Annette Friedrich has bound for her series ‘on a stroll with Mrs. Woolf’.

    In 2011, Annette bound this 1920 George H. Doran Company edition in full yellow goatskin. The design on the covers is tooled with platinum leaf, rose, pink and three shades of green. The spine includes the title and author tooled in platinum in addition to crosses in pink and silver. So far, this binding is my most favorite from the Virginia Woolf series. I love the whirling platinum curves and the scattered bits of color throughout the cover.

    nightandday2-annettefriedrich

    The book is housed in a green chemise with matching yellow goatskin. A silver paper cross inlay appears on the chemise, this paper matches the endpapers. The slipcase is covered in rose paper. All papers used are hand-dyed. nightandday3-annettefriedrich

  2. Bookbinder of the Month: Annette Friedrich

    August 11, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    voyageout5-annettefriedrichIn 2011, Annette Friedrich embarked on her goal of binding all nine of Virginia Woolf’s novel starting with her first book, The Voyage Out. Annette bound a 1929 Hogarth Press edition (first imprint of the unified edition) in full orange goatskin. Tooling on the covers is done with platinum leaf and four shades of yellow. The author’s name and title are tooled on the spine in platinum, in addition to two horizontal lines at the head and tail in platinum and purple.

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    The book is housed in a chemise covered with hand-dyed green paper and matching orange goatskin. The slipcase is covered in a hand-dyed blue paper. voyageout6-annettefriedrich

  3. Bookbinder of the Month: Annette Friedrich

    August 4, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    ovidselegies-annettefriedrichIn 2010, Annette Friedrich bound Ovid’s Elegies and Epigrams of Sir John Davies by Ovid and Sir John Davies with woodcut illustrations by John Nash. This is one of my favorite bindings of Annette’s due to the rich, vibrant colors and the contrast between the smooth tooled lines and the textural grain of the leather.

    Bound as a full leather binding in yellow levent goatskin. Tooling on the covers is done in three shades of grey and silver. The spine is divided into three segments by crosses tooled in pink; the title is centered in between the crosses in silver. Matching leather joints and endpapers are light blue. The fine binding is housed by a chemise and slipcase covered in the same yellow goatskin and blue-grey and purple hand-dyed papers. 

    This binding is held in a private collection in Southall, United Kingdom.

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    In addition, Annette sent along this image of herself tooling the spine of Ovid’s Elegies during the sweltering heat. 

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  4. August // Bookbinder of the Month: Annette Friedrich

    August 1, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    thetempest1-annettefriedrich

    This edition of The Tempest by William Shakespeare from The Nonesuch Press, was bound by Annette Friedrich in 2012. Bound as a full leather fine binding in red-brown goatskin. Decorative tooling on the covers in white, grey, two shades of blue, metallic green and silver. The title is tooled along the center of the spine in metallic green with matte silver lines at the head and tail.

    thetempest3-annettefriedrichOn the inside, the paper bord-a-bord doublures are bright blue, matching leather joints and fly leaf in silver. All papers used are hand dyed.

    thetempest4-annettefriedrich

    The binding is housed in a green chemise and slipcase. The chemise is decorated with linear tooling across the sides in two shades of blue. The author’s name is tooled in metallic green in the center the spine of the chemise along with tooled lines in matte silver and blue at the head and tail.

    I first stumbled upon Annette’s work through the Autumn 2012 Newsletter of Designer Bookbinders. The cover offers a detailed image of Annette’s binding Water bound in 2008.

    water-annettefriedrich

    The fine binding work of Annette Friedrich is delightful! Her portfolio matures with every new binding as she skillfully depicts the essence of each story with delicate and artistic flair. Read the interview after the jump and come back each Sunday in the month of August for more posts on the work of Annette Friedrich.

    read more >

  5. Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry

    July 28, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    tamalpaiswalking-coleencurry

    Every three years, the Guild of Book Workers offers a national traveling exhibition based on a general theme. In June 2012, Horizon, the most recent GBW exhibition began it’s journey across the nation starting at the University of Kentucky. The exhibition is currently on it’s way to the University of Denver for display from August 1st – October 31st. You can check out the rest of the schedule here. 

    Every day, Coleen Curry runs the trails of Mt. Tamalpais. This landscape is her backyard, her horizon; she can catch a glimpse of the mountain from her bindery windows. The text of Mt. Tamalpais echoes Coleen’s feelings about the mountain-scape and therefore, she chose to represent this horizon through texture.

    Bound as a French-style fine binding, sewn on cords with laced-in boards. Covered in full goatskin leather that has been sanded, distressed and dyed with matching edge to edge doublures. The slopes of Mt. Tamalpais are represented with collaged horsetails, that Coleen collected from the watershed, dried and pressed. To celebrate the fog that wraps around the ridges and the California poppies and Indian paintbrush which smatter the slopes, Coleen painted and blind tooled lizard inlays and onlays.

    When I toured this exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, I was in awe of Coleen’s binding. Because her work is so textural, her bindings appear even more vibrant and animated in person. 

    tamalpaiswalkingdetail-coleencurry

  6. Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry

    July 21, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    fantasynonsense-coleencurry

    In 2012, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers put on a juried set-book exhibition which was held in conjunction with the Standards of Excellence conference at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The set-book, Fantasy and Nonsense, is a collection of poems from 19th century American poet James Whitcomb Riley with peculiar wood engravings by Berrot Hubrecht. The text was letterpress printed on handmade paper in an edition of 230 from Tryst Press.

    The first prize went to Coleen Curry’s traditional French-style fine binding covered in a custom-dye pink Harmatan goatskin. Sewn on 4 cords with laced-in boards. The front and back cover cutouts have embedded electrical wires strung with floating glass beads. The decorative endpapers are made by Coleen; a collage made by laminating magazine strips, then sanding and painting the surface. The finished collage was then scanned and inkjet printed onto arches text wove. The bold color palette is a reflection of the whimsical nature of the poems and illustrations.

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  7. Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry

    July 14, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    desertdreams-coleencurry

    West of the Plains was a juried exhibition put on by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers between 2008-09. Coleen Curry submitted two fine bindings to this exhibition, Desert Dreams by Lawrence G. Van Velzer with illustrations by Peggy Gotthold and Grand and Sublime Scenery by W.W. Elliot. 

    In 2008, Desert Dreams was bound as a traditional French-style fine binding, sewn on 5 cords with laced-in boards. Bound in Harmatan goatskin with matching doublures and suede fly leaves. Lacunose-style sanded leather raised onlays decorate the covers. Blind and gold leaf tooling, title is hand tooled with golf leaf. The head edge is gilded. The binding is housed in a clamshell box lined with ultra suede and covered in ‘Duo’ cloth using magnets for closure. A colored agate slice decorates the box cover. 

    Coleen was inspired by the vast mesa in Utah. While she drives to Telluride from California, she often travels through an area of Utah called the Paradox Valley. The colors on the binding are that very mesa. Coleen is excited about the lacunose technique because it so easily creates a feeling of landscape and motion. 

    Laura Wait acted as an exhibit juror and wrote quite the review of Coleen’s work: “Californian Coleen Curry’s binding “Desert Dreams”, is perhaps the finest example of traditional French binding in the show, with leather doublures, suede flyleaves and raised onlays. It also opens well!”

  8. Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry

    July 7, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    grandandsublimescenery-coleencurry

    W.W. Elliot’s Grand and Sublime Scenery was bound by Coleen Curry in 2008 as a French-style fine binding, sewn on cords with lace-in boards. Covered in black Morocco goatskin with matching edge to edge doublures; cover has an embedded Colorado agate. The head edge is decorated with graphite and title is hand-tooled in palladium. 

    The book is about the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada, which inspired Coleen to create a structure that would excite awe and showcase the timeless expanse of the landscape. The front cover panel is held in place by magnets and opens three-quarters outward to reveal elements of rock and giant redwood trees. The interior panel is designed with a layer of blind tooled lacunose (sanded leather) and two layers of Japanese paper.

    In 2009, Coleen’s binding was selected for the Guild of Book Workers traveling juried exhibition Marking Time. The exhibition traveled throughout the country until March 2011.

  9. July // Bookbinder of the Month: Coleen Curry

    July 1, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    lacouleurduvent-coleencurry

    Coleen Curry was amongst the talented bookbinders who participated in the ARA-Canada exhibit La Couleur du Vent, an international design binding exhibition starting in Paris before traveling to Quebec in September 2013 and then Montreal in November 2013. La Couleur du Vent is a collection of poems by Gilles Vigneault, illustrated and designed by Nastassja Imiolek under the artistic direction of Cécile Côté. If it sounds familiar, I posted about this exhibition during last month’s interview with Sonya Sheats. 

    Coleen bound this copy of La Couleur du Vent as a ‘Montage sur onglets’ style so the prints would not get lost in the gutter. The term ‘Montage sur onglets’ refers to the signatures being sewn on stubs to release them from the confines of the gutter and offering a less restricted opening. Sewn on cords with laced-in boards, the book is bound in red water buffalo with chartreuse water buffalo edge to edge doublures. Exotic leather inlays of varying depths decorate the front and back covers. Title tooled with gold foil. The flyleaves are decorated papers made by Coleen. 

    A brief explanation about the design from Coleen:
    The colors match the prints in the book.  I took some of the shapes from the prints and altered them to create a feeling of blowing in the wind and to create movement.

    lacouleurduvent2-coleencurry lacouleurduvent3-coleencurry

    Coleen’s work has been on my radar ever since I came across her binding of Toni Morrison’s A Mercy at the Chicago Public Library’s exhibition One Book, Many Interpretations in 2011. I attended the opening reception not only because I love design bindings, but to see my own binding of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. This was the first time I had a binding on exhibit and I was quite honored to be on display with so many other talented binders.

    A Mercy by Toni Morrison bound by Coleen Curry

    A Mercy by Toni Morrison bound by Coleen Curry

    Coleen’s work masterfully mixes traditional leathers with some non-traditional textures such as exotic leathers, agate, and horsetail (to name a few). But I am more attracted to Coleen’s brilliant use of color; either by adding pops of color, subtle hints or just out-right all-over bold color palettes. 

    Read the interview after the jump and come back each Sunday in the month of July to view more gems from Coleen’s portfolio.

    read more >

  10. Bonus // Bookbinder of the Month: Sonya Sheats

    June 30, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    oiseaumendelssohn-sonyasheats

    Photo by Brandon Constant

    Les Mémoires de L’Oiseau Mendelssohn by Monique Lepeuve was bound by Sonya Sheats in 2005 and was her first polycarbonate binding made during her first apprenticeship with Edgard Claes in Belguim. It tells the story of a bird by the name of Mendelssohn, who introduces the reader to the incredible characters in his family.

    This style of binding is referred to as “À Creneaux” and is archival in the sense that no glue or paste is applied to the text block. The signatures are sewn directly to the PVC spine with monofilament and could safely be removed by simply cutting the monofilament. The hinge between the polycarbonate covers and PVC spine is made from a spring-loaded watch pin.

    Sonya talks about her process for creating the airbrushed covers:
    The painted covers were done using two different processes. First, I applied four coats of paint with an airbrush (red, blue, white, and yellow ochre), and while these coats were all still wet, I took a steel brush and lightly scraped the paint. This created the fine bamboo-like grain of the design. Second, I used a series of templates to mask portions of the covers and airbrushed feather-like forms in shades of purple, circles in purple and lime, and black contour lines throughout the design.

    oiseaumendelssohn3-sonyasheats

    Photo by Brandon Constant

     

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    Photo by Brandon Constant 

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  • My name is Erin Fletcher, owner and bookbinder of Herringbone Bindery in Boston. Flash of the Hand is a space where I share my process and inspirations.
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