TRAVELING IN A TINY HOME THAT IS REALLY AN ARTISTS' BOOK ON WHEELS

Peter and Donna Thomas have been making fine press and artist's books for over 40 years. When they started, as craftspeople at Renaissance Faires, they fell in love with the graceful beauty of "gypsy wagon" caravans that other vendors had made to sleep in or use as booths for selling their wares. In 2009 Peter and Donna built their own tiny home on wheels, designed after a typical late 19th century Redding Wagon. This blog documents their trips around the country, taken to sell their artists' books, teach book arts workshops, and talk about making books as art; as well as to seek out and experience the beauty of the many different landscapes found across the USA.

Peter and Donna started their business in 1977 and made their first book in 1978, so from 2017-18 are traveling to celebrate 40 years of making books with shows in a dozen libraries across the country. See the schedule on the side bar to find if they are coming to a town near you....

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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Wandering Alone: Colorado, Utah, and Idaho

In July 2019, as Donna was wandering the wilderness of California’s Sierra Nevada (backpacking and painting new books), I wandered the roads of America’s west,. I drove alone, taking the truck and caravan from Denver to Moscow, Idaho, in preparation for our fall trip through the Pacific Northwest, which is to begin in the first of October with a reception for a show of our work at the University of Idaho’s Special Collections Library. https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/

What did I learn on the trip?

That there are lots of people, everywhere across the country, who love books, and there are lots of books everywhere across the country…..



Ray Tomasso's house
Ken Sanders Book Shop

That there are lots of incredibly interesting artists, everywhere across the country.... Like print and papermaker Susan Mackin Dolan, who lives near Vail, Colorado.



Susan's laser cut block, and wood block print on her handmade paper

Like graphic and installation artist Bob Bissland, who I stayed with near Logan, Utah.



Like Jim Croft who puts on the Traditional Old Ways Workshop in Santa, Idaho.








That it is a long drive from Denver to Moscow (not the one in Russia.)


And that the drive from Denver to Provo Utah is probably one of the most beautiful drives in the country, but I would have to be an Ansel Adams to be able to capture that beauty in a photograph.



And by the way, we will be traveling through the Pacific Northwest in October 2019, with stops in Moscow from Oct 6-10, in Seattle Oct 11-15, in Olympia Oct 16, in Portland Oct 17-18, in Eugene Oct 19-23, and in Arcata Oct 26-7. We will be back in Santa Cruz in time for Halloween.

The caravan, tucked away for a few months in Potlatch, Idaho, until we return in the fall.


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