Hello and Welcome.

Why This Blog?
As you may have seen from my About page, I am an artist with a particular interest in books—making books, reading books, thinking about books, thinking about what I read, reading about how to make, making what I think about…  I am starting this blog in order to explore these areas on a regular basis and share my thoughts with others.

I believe what Andre Gide said, “the only real education comes from what goes counter to you.” This is easy enough to say but less simple to live by in practice. The tendency to gravitate towards that which accords with our own interests and ideas, to find confirmation from others of a like mind, to feel superior through criticism of those whose concerns differ from ours, has all too strong a pull.  This column is my attempt at an antidote for that – an exercise to keep myself venturing always into new territories, and to ensure those ventures are of a type more meaningful than tonight’s discovery that I am not particularly partial to Wensleydale cheese (useful to know, but hardly enough to supply sufficient velocity to prevent the gravitational thud of a static mind falling from orbit). I hope to explore and examine my reactions to the many different movements, and ideas, and artwork that exist in the book art field. We need more writing in he field and I hope this proves useful to more than just myself.

Scope and Goals
It seems only fair before asking of readers even a small part of their time, that I describe up front what kind of things I am planning for this column.  In many ways, my main goal is a personal one: I intend this as a commitment to regular writing – since writing transforms amorphous thoughts and reactions into something more meaningful.  I plan to write at least once each week about ideas: thoughts on things I have read, things I think about when I think about art-making, thoughts I have on dialogues current in the book art field, thoughts I have on what dialogue is absent from the book art field, etc.  Mini-essays that may be too short or informal for a printed publication and yet can take full advantage of the interactivity possible on the web.

At the same time, part of what makes me a book artist is my engagement with particular forms and formats—printing, book-making, etc.—and with how those forms can be used in engaging ways.  As such, I may occasionally write on the actual process of making things, on problems and solutions.  I don’t intend straightforward technical how-to articles (there are far better places to get such advice e.g., the Vanderblog and various listservs), but rather something more like a discussions of technical approaches to aesthetic issues, formal solutions that suit particular content demands, etc.

I hope that others find this column informative and I especially hope that you will respond and tell me your thoughts. Just click the comment button and join in the conversation.