Happy Abstract

Bound by Susan Hulme

Happy Abstract
Text by William Blake letter
Printer: Russell Maret, 2018, United States
225 x 158 x 14 mm

Open/Set Exhibition, 2019-2020, Multiple Venues

Full Hewit's Fairgoat leather binding with laced-in boards. Painting created by binder was printed on leather. Gold tooled lines and dots with onlayed with feathered Caiman. Pastedowns and flyleaves printed with same imagery on handmade paper with leather hinges. Hand-sewn silk endbands.

In the text of Happy Abstract, William Blake's letter suggests that as an artist he is forever bound to the flow of his work and imagination, despite expectations. I began this design binding by creating a painting which for me depicts the place of 'happy abstract'. Additionally the intersecting gold tooled lines and dots represent bursts of possibilities and ideas. This binding creates a spontaneous chaos around the beautiful typography and printing.

Susan Hulme is a visual artist and fine book binder. Raised in the rolling hills of rural Tennessee, it was there that she learned to work with her hands and developed a strong connection to the elements of beauty. A graduate at the American Academy of Bookbinding, her contemporary design bindings have been exhibited in the United States and France.

For additional information please contact visit Susans's web site at susanhulmebooks.com