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Melody, who spins yarn, makes clothes and weaves
willow to make baskets says, "We've been
cultivated to not think about making it. It's easier to go buy it,
but it undermines our ability to make things".
Among other skills Jim is a gothic style
bookbinder, a beautiful, robust and functional style
of binding. Every step of the process is done by hand, making his
own paper using the linen from recycled fire hoses and cutting down
trees and splitting the wood that will be used for the covers. He
shapes brass or bronze clasps by hand, makes his own glue and
binds all of his books with hand-spun thread over hand-spun cords.
He's been known to get his wood from mill burn piles, his brass and bronze from
old bar kick plates and door hinges and leather and bone from
hunter's scraps. Jim says, "Everything takes on a special
quality if you make it yourself, you understand historic ways and
get exactly what you want if you keep trying". Jim
runs workshops teaching others
how to make beautiful books.
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