1. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a native Texan, with a book arts studio in Houston’s East End called Domestic Papers.
The name Domestic Papers comes from my love of everything paper and my love of travel in search of cool finds for my studio, always with the promise of returning to my home. I make map/travel journals, sketchbooks from library discards, and the one-of-a-kind, blank paper-filled journals that writers love to get their hands on. I also teach bookbinding at local museums and in my own Domestic Papers studio.
When I travel, I search flea markets, junk shops, and antiquarian stores for vintage or foreign-language ephemera to further distinguish my one-of-a-kind work from something mass-produced and to assure my customers they are getting a book like no other.
I see my role as a Rescuer, giving forgotten images and techniques from the Past a fresh Future with a new audience. Plus, each book makes a good Present!
2. Why do you enjoy book arts?
I enjoy every step in the process of making a book! From the selecting of materials to cutting and folding pages (a soothing repetition) to stitching it all together and adding the final touches, each of these actions gives me satisfaction as I see a whole, one-of-a-kind book appear in my hands. I also love to share my love of bookmaking with others, telling my students they can now make the book of their dreams!
3. How do you work?
Surrounded by stacks of old book materials in my studio, I select a vintage image—a book illustration, a postcard, an atlas map or other ephemera- that attracts me and I’ll design the complete book around it. I love mixing rescued book parts with acid-free papers to create a unique and unexpected, but useful, blank journal or sketchbook. My goal is a nod to its history, a use for today, made to last for years to come.
4. What’s your background?
I’m a life-long artist/maker with a love of everything paper.
I grew up in a creative family of hand makers and antique junk collectors always on the look-out for new/old inspiration. Family trips through the Midwest to visit our grandmother instilled an appreciation for everyday objects and ephemera.
After earning a BFA in art history, I worked in the art business in Houston before I became a painter full time. After steady years of painting first on paper, then on canvas to create commissioned works for art consultants and galleries throughout the U.S., I decided to return to my true love—paper. From hand papermaking to handmade books was a fairly swift transition and from there everything fell into place. Every part of my artistic, and family, history came together to bring me to this most satisfying craft that I find fresh with possibilities every day.
5. What’s integral to the work of an artist?
I would have to say community with other creative people. Anyone with a separate studio space knows it can be lonely working in solitude day after day. While we need alone-time to focus and produce what we see in our heads, we also need the companionship of other artists or makers, those fellow souls who really “get” you. No matter the medium, we can always feel a spark of inspiration seeing what our friends are making.
