Sep
18
2018
Mychal Mitchell
I am a bookbinder by profession, AND by accident. I actually studied architecture and design, and graduated from Arizona State University in 1992 with the full intention of being an architect. However, during a 6 month back-packing trip through Europe fate stepped in and changed my path. In short, my backpack was stolen by a young gypsy boy in the train station in Rome, with my most precious possession, my journal, inside of it. Desperate for a new book to sketch and write in, I found myself in a bookshop in Venice a few days later. Mesmerized by the process, and the smell of paper and leather, I befriended the bookbinder there, and the rest is pretty much history. The man taught me to make books, yet I certainly wasn’t thinking this would be my trade, only a fascinating experience with an old Italian gentleman. However, once i started creating them for friends and family, I started to get hooked…and here i am 2 decades later still loving it. I still make them the way I was taught..the traditional monk’s wrap and all. but recently I have branched out and have found great reward in re-purposing vintage/antique hardware, and using them for closures. For example, old icebox hinges were made so incredibly beautifully back in the day, and i cut a slot into them to turn them in to hasps to use with a padlock. I also will use 1890’s door hinges from the Eastlake period to keep the books closed tightly. I am often asked to make ipad covers, and wallets, and the like…and I try to kindly explain to these people ” I am a bookbinder that happens to use leather, not a leather worker that happens to bind books.” Books mean the world to me. And the interactions I have with folks who feel the same way is what makes my art meaningful to me. I love to share stories about travel, and art, and music…and the people who get excited about my work usually have similar interests, and we can all bond over the importance of keeping records of it all. It really is inspiring to me!
Here is a short video of me in my studio…