Mychal Mitchell

Funny to think that this journey in the art world started as a backpacking trip through Europe where I’d planned to be inspired in the field of architectural restoration before heading off to grad school. A strange twist of fate pulled me onto my current path….a young gypsy boy in Italy relieved me of my backpack in the Rome train station, and with it went my journal in which I had been meticulously recording every detail of my European experience. Two days later in Venice, I was lamenting the loss of that journal with a street artisan, who promptly led me down a small alley to his friend’s bookbinding shop, where I was introduced to the man who was to teach me my craft. I fell in love with books and left buildings behind forever ( to the chagrin of my university professors ). Now, fifteen years later, I still marvel at how these books can affect people. I craft books in traditional non-adhesive binding style that is centuries old, but I add my own twists…a little fancy stitching, copper rivets, windows that frames my collages, or solar plate etchings of my photography. I am inspired by all the myriad ways that my friends and clients want to use their books. I love knowing that I am creating art that will travel and see things, and inspire people to record those things for themselves and for posterity.