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Design by Nature, Erica Tanov
Full leather binding with laced-on boards. Bound in brown goat. Edge-to-edge doublures and flyleaves in paper. All edges colored with ink. Silk endbands. Onlays decorated with dye and gold foil. Untitled. Bound in 2020.
I really like binding trade books that are inspiring stories of makers and artists. Design by Nature was perfect for me since it marries making with nature (another love of mine). This is the third fine binding I’ve done of trade books with an emphasis on making. For each, I’ve sent pictures - or even the book - to the author so they can experience their book as a fine binding.
The book breaks nature into five inspiring categories: Wood, Water, Dirt, Weeds and Decay. Each category’s topic also has an artist spotlight showing other makers and their nature inspired creations. My design uses Erica’s chosen categories of nature as the inspiration for five different leathers that I use to create a minimalist quilt. I think of the design and craftsmanship as an additional spotlight.