Thanks to RMC member Mary Jo Hamilton of Acorn Bookbinding, for writing a review of the Standards of Excellence conference that took place in Cleveland in October.

I have had the opportunity to go to the Guild of Book Workers Standards of Excellence the last three years.  This year in Cleveland proved as informative and entertaining as past years.  The presentation I was most struck by was Andrea Peterson from Hook Pottery Paper.  Andrea’s amazing scope of experience combined with her sense of humor made the talk captivating.  She and her family are continually pushing the boundaries of paper making by in essence limiting the geographical area of where the base materials come from.  Working with plants and fibers that either grows within a five-mile radius of, or directly on, her family farm, she has created unique, stunning and practical handmade papers.  Her drive to keep learning about her environment, preserving it, and how to apply this to her craft has resulted in paper made from her neighbors’ old blue jeans, local cornhusks, and native day lily varieties.  This kind of experimentation and innovation is inspiring as a binder.  The goals being to use these papers in a way that is worthy of their craft and enhances ones own work at the same time.

As usual at the Standards there were many other excellent presentations.  On the last afternoon there were a selection of Panel Discussions.  As a new binder just starting out, I attended that discussion on “Running a Bindery Business” moderated by Erin Fletcher.  The panelists were Craig Jensen, Monique Lallier and Priscilla Spitler.  I found this format and range in panelist experience to be incredibly helpful.  The audience came prepared with questions from what are the basic tools that one should have in starting up a studio/bindery, what type of contract to use, to tracking hours with “bench” and “non-bench” time.  The discussion was spirited and informative.  

Always an attraction at the conference is the vendor room.  This year was no different.  I came home as usual with a tube full of papers and leather.  My favorite new vendor this year is Madeleine Durham.  Her array of stunning Paste Papers can be seen below.  Using these papers is a real treat.  

I am off to the studio to do just that.
Until next year…bind on my friends.

Mary Jo Hamilton
Acorn Bookbinding LLC