Saturday, September 7, 2019

Book Arts in the Sweet, Sunny South


How exciting to have my work selected for a juried exhibit for the first time! Naturally it required a special trip to Decatur, Georgia for the reception. 


The Book as Art: Wonders, presented by Decatur Arts Alliance and the Georgia Center for the Book, is beautifully displayed at the Decatur Library until September 27. The exhibit was much more than I anticipated.


My assumption that it was a regional showcase was completely wrong. Pieces came from all over the country, as far away as Hawaii, and one from Australia. Interpretations of “The Book as Art” wandered equally far afield. Some were traditional book forms.



Others tested the bounds of what it means to be a book.




The full catalogue, including artists' statements, is online at 

The idea of Southern Hospitality is not a myth; everyone was gracious and welcoming. (My wife found it disconcerting that everyone addressed her as Ma’am.) I had a conversation with one of the jurors, Andrew Huot, who turns out to be a UArts alumnus with a conservation and bookbinding business in Norcross, GA. He sends his greetings to friends in Philly.



The drive home on the Blue Ridge Parkway was scenic and tuneful—fiddle and banjo all the way.