Esther Kibby

Dallas, Texas 
Esther Kibby received her M.F.A. in Photography from Texas Women's University. She has worked with bookbinding structures since 2001 and book arts since 2004. In 2005, Kibby became a member of the Craft Guild of Dallas and currently is an instructor in bookbinding and graphic arts at the Art Institute of Dallas.

Winner: Award for Design

Example Binding: 
Wilhelm Ruland. 
Legends of the Rhine
.
With Illustrations from Paintings by Celebrated Artists.
Cologne: Verlag Von Hoursh and Bechstedt, 1906.

Full calf-leather binding hand-dyed by the binder, with leather onlays, gold foil stamping and pearlescent acrylic paint. The cover scene illustrates the Lorelei legend. Leather joint construction with marbled paper by Catherine Levine. Hollow back spine and leather headbands. End sheets are gampi paper made by the binder.

Design Description: 
Full leather binding in burgundy kangaroo skin using the French joint technique. Figures made of onlaid indigo goatskin with acrylic ink and hand-dyed calfskin with a crackle finish. Double headbands of blue and gold leather. The title and author would be blind tooled. Flames are stippled acrylic ink. Marbled end sheets by Catherine Levine. The design represents the story “The Circular Ruins.” A mystic dreams another human into being only to realize the nature of his own being. The brown crackled human form represents the illusion of reality. The blue figure symbolizes the ethereal nature of dreams. The circular corona represents the destruction of the illusion. The book would be housed in a linen covered clamshell case.

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Esther Kibby example binding

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Esther Kibby design proposal

Esther Kibby