Outskirts of the Moment

I was recently commissioned to do the sweetest, loveliest job ever. That was to hand bind a copy of a woman's poetry (her milestone birthday was approaching, and her partner of many years wanted to have a "real book" (cloth hardcover with sewn signatures) to give her as her gift). She had discovered me via the vast world of the interweb, after learning that I was teaching an upcoming Introduction to Book Arts class via the Associated Students of UC Berkeley art studio.

So inbetween the hectic work of special donor development for The Crucible, lecturing at UC Merced, and doing research for the California Council for the Humanities, I was given reprieve by retreating into the quiet concentration of doing Julie's book of poetry justice. Her partner Toodie chose the book cloth and endpapers, did the designwork and even chose the color of the ink I'd use on the front cover- a real custom job. I ended up with three finished books rather than one, which was a bonus.

I forgot to take photographs of the final product (gun to head, duh) but here are a few shots of the work in progress. Happy Birthday, Julie. It was a real pleasure to put this together in your honor.