Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Rhonda and I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. I live with my little family in the city of Halifax, where we have cultivated a quiet corner for ourselves. We have a big yard and a large vegetable garden (covered with snow now), and lots of trees and squirrels.

I am a bookbinder, or maybe a “book and paper artist.” I started making books over six years ago while attending library school. Although I knew nothing about bookbinding at that time, it all seemed familiar to me right from the first class. Since then, bookbinding has become my main creative outlet and it has led me into other areas of book and paper arts that are very new to me, but also very fulfilling and rewarding.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

When I am not making books, I am photographing books and shipping books. I also like to read books! I am a librarian; although, for now I am a stay-at-home mom to my three-year-old son, Nicholas. He helps with the packing and shipping and is on very friendly terms with all postal employees in our area. Aside from all that book-related stuff, Nicholas and Raland (my partner) and I enjoy having fun around home, feeding ducks at the local marsh, looking for shells and crabs along the coast, and spending time with our family.

What first made you want to become an artist?

I have no idea. I did not realize I was entering the realm of “artist” until other people started calling me an artist. In retrospect, I started crafting very early and was always cutting and pasting and colouring and painting. At one time I was convinced that anything could be accomplished if only I had enough sticky tape. Just keep adding more tape, eventually it will hold. I went through several crafting periods experimenting with a lot of things (jewelry, sewing, drawing and painting) before I discovered bookbinding. My choice of materials has evolved over time too – I rarely use tape now!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

My bookbinding time happens when I am home by myself or at night when my son is sleeping. I have a home studio, which is a small room at the back of the house and it is getting smaller all the time. Consequently, everything I need is within reach and I can’t find any of it. Before I start a project, then, the first thing I do is find my tools and line them up on the table. I have a closet full of leather, shelves full of paper, and boxes full of scraps to recycle. If I need inspiration, I just start digging through my supplies and the muse will hit.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

There is a myriad of handmade things around me and members of my own family made a lot of them. There is a chest of drawers and a shelf unit in my studio that were made by my late grandfather. I have other furniture and some bookbinding tools made by my father. I have quilts made by my grandmothers. Pottery made by my aunt and sewing by my mother. The list is quite endless and I really do cherish them all.

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.

Books

Frankenstein, Shelley

A Fine Balance, Mistry

Anna Karenina, Tolstoy

Catch 22, Heller

Mercy Among the Children, Richards

Movies

The Dark Crystal

The Name of the Rose

Star Wars

The Empire Strikes Back

Return of the Jedi

Music

Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz

Duran Duran

Joni Mitchell

Andrea Bocelli

Cocteau Twins

Websites

Flickr

BookArtsForum

Wikipedia

Facebook

CBC.ca

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Take a lot of photographs of your work and save them all. Whenever you are having a creative slump, go back and look at all those photographs from last year, and your own work will inspire you all over again. Most importantly, you will be inspired to improve on your past work. It is important to be constantly improving your work.

What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?

I really enjoy playing Pounce when I want to procrastinate. But I especially like the Forums, and have met so many wonderful people there including a terrific group of other Canadian Etsy sellers who meet every day. The Teams are also rewarding and I have taken on active roles in both the Trans Canada Team and the Bookbinding Team. I think Etsy is doing a great job of supporting the Teams but…if there were a wish list for new features, it would be great if Etsy had a team community centre to replace some of the outside tools we are using.

How do you promote your work?

I try to get my name out there as much as I can. For online promotion, I have a blog, I share photos of my work on Flickr, I establish profiles on other social networking sites, and I participate in as many of my Teams’ promotion efforts as I can (sales, trunk shows, etc). In the real world, I have done a few craft shows and I have had work included in some gallery exhibits. Occasionally, I will work on getting photos of my work and even some written bits into print publications. Always with my name and website address attached.

In ten years I’d like to be…

making better books, and doing it in a bigger studio.

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