Under Another Sky
Cotton, linen, paper and card Embroidered bookbinding – Many people discovered craft during the Covid lockdowns of 2020. Some embroiderers, like me, taught online. As well I searched and took up new skills. Initially I enrolled in online introductory courses on bookmaking and bookbinding. This led to joining the local bookbinders’ guild to expand my learning. Here, bookmaking and traditional bookbinding vigorously stimulated me, broadening making skills, along with finding a new tribe. Yet, I was working in parallel worlds, stitching fabric and stitching books, exhibiting in both areas. In researching bookbinding techniques, up popped the Booker Prize which commissions designer bookbinders to bind copies of the short-listed finalists’ novels as part of the prize. These books are total works of art: the beautifully crafted book covers and containers reflect the internal words, similar to medieval embroidered books. My response and enthusiasm led to contacting artists who embroidered their covers and writing two articles about such artists, one in a textile magazine and other in a bookbinding journal. Through this writing process, I became much more confident about my own direction: seeing where I fit in the world of books that are embroidered. In September 2025 an exhibition celebrating the 90th birthday of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, as well as the 600thanniversary of the introduction of the printing press to Estonia opened at the Estonian History Museum. Two hundred book binders around the world were invited to bind the second edition of In Principio, The Word in Arvo Pärt’s Music. In my enthusiasm for Pärt’s music, I put my hand up to bind a copy. Since then, my focus has been on stitched books. The shift wasn’t initially intentional to ‘change lanes’ so to speak. Bookbinding has been an expansion of my art practice. Stitching in books, book covers and containers draws together my skills, bringing new fervour to my practice. These practices involve transforming simple materials, conveying insights of materials, their technical challenges and nuances as well as cerebral ideas. However, this year, making books has taken over. When making I read the poem “There Is Another Sky” by Emily Dickenson and thought of my daughter, an artist, living in New Zealand. I wondered as I watched the sky outside my studio windows: would the cloud bands moving east reach her? Making a book felt a good fit. However, I misremembered the title while searching for the full poem. Instead, I found the poem “Under Another Sky” by R. Parthasarathy, a very different sentiment, but in many ways more apt. 19 x 19 x 1.6 cms
$435.00
In stock
