Jennifer Dann Phillips

As a kid I was drawn to the visual arts. I preferred to draw, paint, sculpt or craft, basically make anything with my hands. I felt reasonably secure in the “arts” identity, especially when it came to arts vs. sports. Yet I was stymied by the rules of having to produce a visual image and again felt not quite good enough. 

I was fortunate to go a high school with a deep arts department, and there I was introduced to the world of handmade paper and bookbinding. What an amazing feeling as a teenage girl, to learn about something that seemed unique, and to freely create all kinds of handmade paper and hardbound books. Ms. Linda Hanauer, my teacher, was in the early days of teaching book arts at the school, and I believe I was her second passionate student. 

The two books pictured here were part of my Senior Project. I made paper from cotton pulp, dyed it and mixed in crayon wrappers - I must have peeled every crayon in the school. The rainbow signatures are pamphlet sewn onto an accordion binding. The second book is a case bound book with handmade marbled paper. I made other books and papers and a “how-to” video, that has long been lost.

I didn’t stick with book arts after high school, but I saved the papers and books I made, and it stayed a dormant part of my identity. During the pandemic, I discovered Zoom bookbinding classes and my inner book artist awakened, ready to go.