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.

La Cienega, New Mexico

During the previous two weeks, we have been Eastbound from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Sugarcreek, Ohio by way of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tenessee...

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Amarillo to Shamrock, Texas on Interstate 40

My traveling and blogging have unlocked many doors to studio visits and interesting meets.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, visiting with my fur friend "Clyde" companion to Dana Perez in Nashville, Tennessee

I enjoy the comments received on each and every one of my posts. An artist from La Cienega, New Mexico has sent me weekly comments since the beginning. This is how I started a conversation and friendship with Gail Murray.

Last week I found myself in Albuquerque, fifty miles from La Cienega. “I’m close enough for a trek up north,” I said. La Cienega is seventeen miles southwest of Santa Fe, this was an excuse to stop by one of my favourite places and a studio visit!

After a forty minute drive, I was at Gail’s Adobe style home. I found her and husband Paul to be great people to spend an evening talking about art.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, accordion with turkish map fold book by Gail Murray

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, paste papers by Gail Murray

Gail and Paul Murray are the quintessential New Mexico couple: Gail is a New Mexico State employee by day and book artist by night. Gail makes one-of-a-kind artist books, using her own paste papers or decorative paper techniques learned through the Santa Fe Book Arts Group. Her books are filled with her own original haikus. 

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Fifty Shades of Green by Gail Murray

Since 1978, Gail and Paul have made their annual Christmas cards, in a variety of media, ranging from silkscreen, collage, painting, and lino-prints. Each year they hand make and mail around 80 original, signed Christmas cards. Many people report having kept each one since 1978! Those early card years were the origins of Gail's Paw Print Press and subsequently her artist books. After viewing the BAG’s “Celebration of the Book” exhibit in late 2008, Gail instantly knew she had found her creative home. It was there she had her “AH-HA!” moment that she could BIND things into books, which had never occurred to her in all the years of making holiday, birthday and thank you cards.

Paul has been a life-long, full-time artist, painting landscapes, still life, architectural, flowers or animals in pastel, oil, acrylic, or pen and ink. Paul ran his graphic design business, Murray’s Design, in Albuquerque from 1977-2003. He started painting in pastels in the mid-90s. This earned him numerous major awards and sales. With that, he was hooked, and eventually left graphic design behind, and focused on painting full time and teaching workshops.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Paul Murray in his studio talking about his paintings

Together Paul and Gail are a collaborative team and back each other up in most matters art and the care of their current three cats, the Furry Murrays. Paul’s painting studio is connected to their home by a breezeway, and Gail produces all of her work in their spacious kitchen, with lots of spill-over into the breakfast nook, dining room, and more storage in the second bedroom. Before Gail found book arts, she says “it was a normal home. Presently it is a book art studio with cooking facilities.” The three cats reside in Paul’s studio. Their license plates say it all: CATLADY and BOOKART.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Paul Murray with his favourite painting

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The Santa Fe Books Arts Group is a very active group of approximately 150 artists. Most are from Santa Fe, however many are state-wide and out of state. The Crown Jewel of BAG’s events is the Capitol Rotunda exhibit, held every odd year for 3 months, either summer or fall at the Rotunda of the State Capitol in downtown Santa Fe. Each year approximately 100 books are accepted for the exhibit. BAG also sponsors several workshops, salons, and monthly meetings with presentations or demos given by very creative members or invited guest artists. Another highlight of the BAG year is the annual Collaborative Book. Usually, 20 to 25 members create enough pages to exchange with other members, based on the specs, theme, or colors chosen for that year’s Collaborative Book.

In 2014 BAG organized several small study groups, called In Over My Head—they cover a diverse range of topics. The groups are limited to eight participants and often meet at member’s homes or other suitable location. Popular topics have been Book Structure, Zentangle, Pop-ups, Calligraphy, Collage... Each month the associates explore in a 3-hour session an aspect of their respective topic. The Book Structure group is in its 5th year with most of the original members. Members take turns teaching a new structure or technique to the rest of the group. This June, they held their Third Annual Paste Paper Extravaganza in Gail’s Garage. Seven artists created piles of lovely paste paper; they share a swatch of paste paper with each member, to create their own unique collaborative book from the paste paper they swapped.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Gail Murray demonstrating the sliding strap concertina

Gail showed me a Sliding Strap Concertina created during a BAG workshop by Priscilla Spitler. Priscilla, a fine bookbinder from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico learned this structure from Gary Frost. This intriguing book structure permits additional content in the book or the book can be displayed on a wall. 

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Gail Murray showing the cover of the sliding strap concertina

The Sliding Strap Concertina is a versatile structure that expands by the straps sliding through the linen thread “loops” sewn into the front and back covers. The spine is made of stained or painted Tyvek, with the five signatures pamphlet stitched to each fold in the spine. Each signature and endpapers can be covered in paste or marbled papers, these are perfect for this book.

Every visit, every conversation teaches me something new. Do you have a new binding or a new way of folding paper?

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