Author of 1000 Artists' Books Peter Thomas at ARLIS and how to make a clothespin book

This past weekend I attended the Art Librarian Conference and boy what a room filled with eye-candy! I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Thomas co-author of one of my all time favorite books 1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art.

So in honor of getting to meet Peter and his wife (she came along later) I thought I'd share an inside peek into 1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art and a tutorial on how to make a clothespin book that I whipped up inspired by this tutorial that is featured in the book.

Here is how I made my clothespin book.

All you need is a clothespin, bit of paper, string and a button.

Start by cutting a strip of paper wide enough to fit in the clothespin opening.

Fold one end of the strip of paper into the slot and then wrap it around the clothespin.

To secure the paper to the clothespin, tie a small length of string to a button and the wrap the other end around the backside of the button.

And want to see their adventures traveling around the country making books? Pop on over to Peter and Donna' s blog Adventures of the Wandering Book Artists.

If you are like me and love, love, love books on artists (and unique books made out of all sorts of things), run (or click) to your favorite place to get yourself a copy of:

1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art

by

Sandra Salamony

and

Peter and Donna Thomas

The book is a timeless art form, one that is as alive today as ever before, and artists continue to explore and explode the boundaries of what a book is and can be. In this beautiful collection, you will experience close-up various aspects of hand-crafted books: covers, bindings, scrolls, folded and origami structures and books made from found objects. You will find richly illustrated and calligraphed pages as well as books created from a variety of printed processes. Ingenuity and creativity abounds in this carefully curated collection of both historically important and modern works.

Sandra Salamony is a professional book designer. She has authored, coauthored, and curated several books on artisan topics. She lives in Traverse City, Michigan. Visit her online at http://www.sandrasalamony.com.

Peter and Donna Thomas are book artists and coauthors of More Making Books by Hand. They live in Santa Cruz, California.