New Mexico

Two years ago while visiting Craig Jensen in Texas, I was recommended a visit to Priscilla Spitler’s studio located in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. With my itinerary already planned for the forthcoming year, it was impossible to drive to the cool desert climate at that specific time.

Last October, after an exchange of emails with Craig, I was introduced to Priscilla remotely and prepared my way from Texas to the one town that changed its name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences as the result of a radio show contest in 1950.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Making my way to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

I relished standing outside and viewing Priscilla’s private studio, a beautiful structure reminiscent of a tiny home. Priscilla has downsized in her creative space, which reflects her production binding projects. I was welcomed by Priscilla and we spoke about her thirty years of experience in hand bookbinding and how this challenging craft provided her the freedom to express her artistic design.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla’s studio.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla’s studio filled with the tools of the trade and cloth of all colours.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla’s studio with an Adobe style structure.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla sharing her current binding edition work.

“As a collaborator of book production, my hands have sewn, bound, and assembled thousands of edition books and boxes. It has exposed me to extraordinary people and students who share the love of the handmade book.” Priscilla Spitler

While we sat at ease talking, I was intrigued by an exhibition catalogue entitled “Drop Dead Gorgeous - Fine Bindings for La prose du Transsibérien Re-Creation” on her worktable. Priscilla showed me the catalogue with an explanation of the exhibition of the same name. She continued to accurately explain her book structure and the work load it took to finish an entry piece for the show. The traveling exhibition titled DROP DEAD GORGEOUS: Fine Bindings of La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation, opened at the UCLA Library Special Collections last October 2019. The organized exhibition featured the work of twenty-two design binders, including Priscilla Spitler, Don Glaister, Monique Lallier, Midori Kunikata-Cockram and Patricia Owen. 

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla’s studio and home have a very distinct personality that is felt throughout her work.

After an informative tour of Priscilla’s studio space, we moved to the room where she traditionally focuses on her own art bindings. Priscilla’s extensive work incorporates goatskin onlays recessed on leather panels, gold and blind tooling, paint and stenciled acrylic, pastepaper décor, cut foil stamping technique, and endpapers personally decorated.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. This is one of Priscilla’s unmistakable designs incorporating collage, print, and colours.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Priscilla’s exploration of alternative book structures.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. “Remembering Jan Sobota” by Priscilla Spitler. Honoring Ladislav R. Hanka, Remembering Jan Bohuslav Sobota, this book contains original fish etchings; bound in two colors of gray Hewit and Harmatan goatskin leathers in a laminate case; decorated with three fish designs made with stamped, cut foils and a silver stamped title. Paste papers by Priscilla.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. “The Eagle Jaguar and the Serpent” by Priscilla Spitler.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. “Anatomy” by Priscilla Spitler.

© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Pricilla explaining the work involved in her book “In the Garden”.

The ease and beauty of Priscilla’s work is inspiring. Her workshops are available throughout the year. A great experience talking and knowing Priscilla — many thanks for a wonderful afternoon.

San Marcos, Texas

Sometimes, you find yourself in the right place at the right time. When I visited the Austin Book Arts Center a few weeks back, I did not know what wonderful opportunities would be presented to me. Some doors are worth opening!

I had the good fortune of meeting Craig Jensen a fine master craftsman. Craig produces custom designed housings and fine limited edition bindings. He executes bindings for some of the best-known libraries and private presses in the world.

It was an inspiring mid-day visit at Craig’s home and studio, BookLab II in San Marcos, Texas. 

On arrival, a friendly four-legged muse—whose mission is to greet people—welcomed us with a smile. Most studios have a muse, a force who is the source of positive feelings in our space.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Craig Jensen's muse playing the "are they leaving so soon look"

Craig was generous with his time and shared his work stories and process in a natural open show and tell session. In front of his library filled with bindings and casing he has created, I was like a child in a candy store.

What would you like to see? Craig asked.

I thought any book will do, there was so much to choose from. Craig picked the first one, this book was the one Craig called the most technically difficult piece he had ever bound. Gaylord Schanilec's Lac des Pleurs, a study of the 22-mile length of the upper Mississippi River known as Lake Pepin, near Schanilec’s home in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Craig Jensen talking about the process of binding Lac des Pleurs

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Lac des Pleurs with full map open

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Lac des Pleurs

On the many shelves of bindings a box covered in black Italian Canapetta lined with red rowlux caught my attention. Booklab II teamed up with Moving Parts Press to create the book DOC/UNDOC part of a grandiose collaboration between Guillermo Gómez-Peña and book artist Felicia Rice who created a work that stimulates all the senses.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, a page of DOC/UNDOC 

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, next, Craig displayed James Siena's book entitled Sequence One. 

After a couple of hours, we went out for a healthy meal and lots of conversation.

Craig’s career began in 1977 when he was appointed Library Conservator for the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In, 1977-78 Craig interned at The Library of Congress Restoration Office under the keen direction of Peter Waters and Don Etherington to eventually become a bench conservator and bookbinder at The Library of Congress. In 1981, Don Etherington recruited Craig to serve as the Head of Book Conservation at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Conservation Department at the University of Texas in Austin. 

In 1984, Craig established the Jensen Bindery, for book conservation and box making, then focused on limited edition binding. Craig worked for Acme Bookbinding as Vice President of Imaging for a number of years then returned to the concept of a small book bindery, reestablishing a workshop, BookLab II, in 2003. After spending some time exchanging ideas and opinions with Craig, you can understand why he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Guild of Book Workers in 2011.

Here Craig is featured in the Oxford American: SoLost video series filmed by photographer and videographer Dave Anderson.

Craig Jensen demonstrates rounding and backing, techniques used in hand bookbinding with Olivia Primanis at the Conservation Department book lab of the Ransom Center, University of Texas, in 2009.

Guess who I met immediately afterwards—next week!

Tu dois juste ouvrir ton esprit à la rencontre de nouvelles expériences !

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