Fowl: a handbound book

The final project (if I recall correctly) for my screenprinting class at SCAD was a handbound book. My professor taught us some basic bookbinding techniques (kicking off a new interest for me) and asked us to create an artist book.

My book, Fowl, combined two things: memories of my grandparents and my fascination with birds. Don’t ask why. I can’t remember. There were chickens around my grandparents house in Puerto Rico although I don’t think they kept them themselves. Interspersed with recollections of my grandma’s arroz con pollo are screen-printed images of birds overlaid with scientific information on them.

The book and bookbinding in general gave me an excuse to use some of the fancy paper we sold at the art store I worked at. There’s nothing worse than buying art supplies for no reason. And the store had such pretty, pretty paper. I couldn’t resist.

I remember being in the screenprinting room until the early hours of the morning, frantically trying to get everything printed and bound. Thankfully the sketchiness of the images had been planned so I didn’t have to worry about tight registration. The bookbinding part of it was decent for a first attempt. I could definitely do better now. I may not have chosen to do a casebound book with the knowledge I have now. But it’s still something I’m proud of.