HBC49 - 2021
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
With great joy and excitement, I present the catalog for the Hand Bookbinders of California 49th Members’ Exhibition. Almost having reached our fiftieth anniversary, I have the same feeling when climbing a hill, just before reaching the summit. At this point, it’s possible to study the view and observe all that has led us up to this highly fortunate and thrilling moment. I think of all the people who have contributed their hard work and creative energy to this wonderful resource---past presidents and officers of HBC, volunteers, and members. I think of everyone who has ever hired a hand bookbinder to do their work, sustaining this craft.
When reaching a summit, it is sometimes tempting to hope for some rest from the climb, but at the moment, we have just begun to plan festivities celebrating our fiftieth year of existence as an organization. Just in time for our fiftieth year, it seems our region has the COVID-19 virus mostly under control, enabling us to plan in-person events. All members are welcome and needed in this venture, so I encourage you to contact us if you have ideas—or if you just want to regale us with your stories of how the organization was run in the past.
How has HBC endured as a small, locally focused group supporting a supposedly dying art? It appears to have evolved in constant conversation between desires and realities, much like the binding projects at which we excel. As bookbinders, we are always conscious of the tension
between our dreams or plans and the capacities of the materials we use. Sometimes we find a previously hidden intersection where the material world and the dream world collide, and that explosion of energy provides another gust of wind at our backs to move forward. Sometimes the movement forward is less dramatic, and the project’s success depends on diligent, quiet, sustained effort instead. This is true for binding projects and community projects alike. Either way, I look forward to looking back with all of you as we contemplate the past 50 years of HBC and what the next 50 years might look like.
One of the classic marks of HBC’s activities has always been our annual members’ exhibitions, and I am thrilled to see so many of us participating, especially in this challenging year. In her fourth year as Exhibition Chair, Beth Redmond has done an amazing job again with this year’s show.
Because of her and her assistants’ hard work, others can see and fully appreciate our community’s craft. Robin Brandes has also earned special thanks for lending us her deep knowledge and experience in graphic design to create this catalog. Many thanks to the American Bookbinders Museum for hosting us. We are so lucky to have an institution such as theirs in our midst!
Enjoy the show,
Juliayn Coleman
President
HBC49 - 2021
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
With great joy and excitement, I present the catalog for the Hand Bookbinders of California 49th Members’ Exhibition. Almost having reached our fiftieth anniversary, I have the same feeling when climbing a hill, just before reaching the summit. At this point, it’s possible to study the view and observe all that has led us up to this highly fortunate and thrilling moment. I think of all the people who have contributed their hard work and creative energy to this wonderful resource---past presidents and officers of HBC, volunteers, and members. I think of everyone who has ever hired a hand bookbinder to do their work, sustaining this craft.
When reaching a summit, it is sometimes tempting to hope for some rest from the climb, but at the moment, we have just begun to plan festivities celebrating our fiftieth year of existence as an organization. Just in time for our fiftieth year, it seems our region has the COVID-19 virus mostly under control, enabling us to plan in-person events. All members are welcome and needed in this venture, so I encourage you to contact us if you have ideas—or if you just want to regale us with your stories of how the organization was run in the past.
How has HBC endured as a small, locally focused group supporting a supposedly dying art? It appears to have evolved in constant conversation between desires and realities, much like the binding projects at which we excel. As bookbinders, we are always conscious of the tension
between our dreams or plans and the capacities of the materials we use. Sometimes we find a previously hidden intersection where the material world and the dream world collide, and that explosion of energy provides another gust of wind at our backs to move forward. Sometimes the movement forward is less dramatic, and the project’s success depends on diligent, quiet, sustained effort instead. This is true for binding projects and community projects alike. Either way, I look forward to looking back with all of you as we contemplate the past 50 years of HBC and what the next 50 years might look like.
One of the classic marks of HBC’s activities has always been our annual members’ exhibitions, and I am thrilled to see so many of us participating, especially in this challenging year. In her fourth year as Exhibition Chair, Beth Redmond has done an amazing job again with this year’s show.
Because of her and her assistants’ hard work, others can see and fully appreciate our community’s craft. Robin Brandes has also earned special thanks for lending us her deep knowledge and experience in graphic design to create this catalog. Many thanks to the American Bookbinders Museum for hosting us. We are so lucky to have an institution such as theirs in our midst!
Enjoy the show,
Juliayn Coleman
President