Winter 2025 Winner: Mel Hewitt

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Workshop: Decorative Techniques
Instructor: Karen Hanmer
Type: Online

I was very excited to take this online class from Karen. I have learned from her in the past and have appreciated her teaching style and candidness. In many instances we learn along with her in real time. The more than half of the techniques listed in the original workshop description on her website were techniques that I had never even heard of; I am always eager to learn things that I didn’t even know existed when it comes to bookbinding. When I had applied for the scholarship and then signed up for the workshop I was anticipating attending the Zoom classes live, but during the summer I was offered an adjunct faculty position that I couldn’t turn down. And of course my teaching schedule happened at the same time as the workshop. It ended up being a plus. Thanks to the workshop being held online and Karen’s belief in having it recorded for later reference, I was able to watch the videos throughout the week at my speed and with my schedule. Yay for being able to rewind!

Students were sent a package prior to the start of the workshop with materials meticulously sorted and coded for the various projects we would be doing. I appreciated the time and attentiveness that Karen put into this to make sure we would have exactly what we needed in order to be successful. From the package of materials I saw that some of the techniques originally listed were not part of the program and I ended up already knowing half of what she would be showing. However, I always find it helpful to see how other binders tackle a technique to hopefully pick up a new way of doing something better or more efficiently/ergonomically. Watching how Karen handled cutting for inlays was helpful and gave me a new way of adhering the acetate to the leather cover for clean removal (hello low tack double sided tape!). I had originally been taught to use a low tack spray adhesive but always found it messy and stinky.

Of the new techniques I learned I found two that were favorites and one that aggravated me not only physically but mentally. I was really interested in this technique that was listed called “lacunose.” Having never heard of it before I was really keen to see what it was and how I could implement it in my work. Lacunose is the building up of very thin scrunched up layers of different colored leather and then sanding the surface to reveal the different colors. It creates a very painterly feel that reminds me of The Impressionists. I loved the look of it when Karen showed examples. But I hated doing it. Sanding is my least favorite part in bookbinding. There is a lot of sanding and going through different grits of paper, and reapplying of leather bits as needed to keep holes from popping up. Unfortunately the constant sanding aggravated my thoracic outlet syndrome and I could only do so much. The lacunose that I was able to produce can be seen in
the top right light brown plaquette as the large black flower inlays. I may revisit lacunose again, but probably with an electric sander.

My two favorite new techniques were perhaps the simplest of those we learned, but I love simplicity and it is part of my particular aesthetic. Karen showed us how to set up leather and our printers for laser printing onto leather to be used for onlays. It seems so simple, but the thought of being able to print directly onto leather was something I had never even considered. I am not particularly adept at drawing, so being able to access open domain images to use for real life imagery in my designs makes me feel less limited. The examples of laser printing on leather can be seen in the bottom left black plaquette. The second technique was gold leaf sprinkling onto leather. Again, it is another that is very simple when executed, but being shown the right ratio for the PVA wash and then the best tools to achieve the look you want was very helpful. It is a technique that I will be using immediately on a binding that is waiting to be covered and whose design required the look of golden dust floating in the air. The gold leaf sprinkling technique can be seen in the top left dark brown plaquette and the bottom left black plaquette.

On the whole it was a lovely workshop and working with Karen is always a delight. I came away from it with several new techniques and new tricks for old techniques. I appreciate the RMC for giving me the opportunity to learn with this scholarship.

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