Faculty
Anna Low runs Purplebean Bindery – and it was born out of necessity. While in college she took a book binding class, became fascinated with the book form and couldn’t stop. Her shelves sag with stacks of hand-bound books so it seemed logical to begin selling them to make room for more and fund her book making habit. There are hundreds of ways to bind a book and she loves experimenting with new styles. Her favorite bindings include the buttonhole stitch, coptic binding, and accordion books. You’ll rarely find her making the same book twice also; there are too many beautiful papers and fabrics out there to be bound together. Every book she makes, whether it be blank or an artist’s book, she thinks of it as a marriage of form and function and loves the intimacy and interaction of the book form too. Leaf through, unfold, or unroll one of her artist books and you’re actively discovering and participating in the art. Anna loves the idea that every blank book made is a collaborative art project between her and whoever ends up filling the pages.
Her formal education is in photography and art education, and she now divides her time more or less equally between the three, with some design work on the side and the rest of life (which includes a wonderful family, a sassy rescue mutt, hiking, cooking, and serious vegetable gardening).
Anna’s home studio is bright and sunny, in Auburn, Maine. If you’d like to see her photographic work, visit her website:
- The Handbound Book