Growlygracepress's Blog

I got asked this yesterday and I said ‘not really but I am getting closer and I have thought deeply about what I consider is my best practice’

What I have been doing is reviewing the materials I have hoarded and evaluating every thing and then getting rid of the leathers, cloths and papers I am never going to use.

Actually taking them out the house and directly to the council tip because they are holding me back as surely as a lead weight. I set out identify a rule based approach to my bookbinding and then looked at the materials to see if they passed the test and if they did I kept them. I decided that I ‘think’ that book spines should be lined with scrim then kraft paper and then un-dyed leather so I kicked out a massive amount of black goat skin offcuts that I bought on eBay with the best of intentions, same with a pile of book cloth, some thicker boards, thicker book thread stuff I am not going to use and I can’t give this stuff away it has zero value except it crowds my vision.

When books ‘work’ it’s because they are made of parts that are harmonious, they feel great in the hand, their margins are righteous and the object makes us smile and they bring joy.