This is the first post so we should introduce ourselves. Our names are Peter and Donna Thomas and this blog will document our travels as wandering book artists. When we say that we are book artists it means that we make books as artworks, like painters make paintings. We work both collaboratively and individually, letterpress printing or hand-lettering and illustrating texts, making paper, and hand binding both fine press and artists’ books. We have been making books for over 30 years. We got our start at the California Renaissance Pleasure Faires in the 1970-80s where we were the papermakers and bookbinders. While working at those fairs we fell in love with the "gypsy wagons" the tarot readers had built to use as their booths. In 2009 we decided to build our own wagon, designed after a typical 1900s Redding style English Gypsy Wagon, and take it on a cross country road trip to sell our books, teach classes and give talks about the changing nature of the book in the digital age. We are just about ready to leave on our trip and have started this blog to document the trip.
Peter and Donna Thomas - Santa Cruz, CA - March, 2010
