In the studio

The other day I was sewing this book and I knew exactly where to push the needle in and out without having to look. It brought home how much I've learned in class this year. Nada to precise muscle memory.

Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, president of the North Bennet Street School, writes that “When you become involved in the creative work of making useful, beautiful objects and gain a personal understanding of what is meant by the intelligence of the hands, it transforms who you are and how you think.”

It's hard to explain how doing rote tasks, like tearing down paper or sewing signatures (which is how I spend a lot of my time) is changing me. I guess that making useful, beautiful things just feels ... healthy. That's the best way I can describe it.

The other thing is that going to the bookbinding studio really makes me happy. I hate it when class is over, and sometimes when I'm doing other things I wish I was in class.

BOOK NERD. But that's old news ...

This little textblock got the royal treatment. I marbled the end papers and laminated the book cloth ... it is a rough red silk. The photos don't really capture how rich the color is.