Karen Hanmer

Glenview, Illinois 
Karen Hanmer began making artists’ books in 1997 presenting playful vignettes derived from personal and cultural memory. In 2002 she began fine binding for the Guild of Book Workers Midwest’s Stone Eye Exhibition. Hanmer has studied with Scott Kellar and other notable book artists, and currently serves as Exhibitions Chair for Chicago Hand Bookbinders.

Example Binding: 
H. T. Webster and Ed Zern. 
To Hell with Fishing or How to Tell Fish from Fishermen.
New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1945.

The design echoes a cartoon from the text. Full dark blue Harmatan goatskin, backpared onlays of various blues and greens, and black foil tooling. Marbled endsheets by Cris Takacs, leather joint. Sewn endbands of dark green and dark blue silk. Acrylic sprinkled edges.

Design Description: 
The design is inspired by the theme of duality woven through Ficciones, and by Borges’ later reminiscence of childhood. Bound in yellow goatskin, with backpared onlays of pale yellow and black, the title stamped with custom die. Endsheets of Ingres Heavyweight tobacco, leather joint. Sewn endbands of black and yellow silk.