Artists' Statement

      Joelle Webber was born and raised in Maine and is now a professional bookbinder at her home on Westport Island. She has been binding books from the age of seven having been first trained by her Aunt, calligrapher and bookbinder, Nancy Leavitt.
      In 1995, Joelle began binding professionally for Letterpress printers and calligraphers in the Bangor, Maine area. She has since received a postgraduate certificate degree in bookbinding from the Center for the Book at the University of Iowa. Now, she can be found binding one of a kind work, editions, and designer work for clients, rebinding old books and binding craft work sold at high end craft shows.
      Her craft work includes various blank books, albums and boxes. Designs are based on historical models, using traditional techniques in a modern way, and are bound with archival materials.
      The books and boxes are produced in editions of 20 - 200. Large sheets of paper, book board, and book cloth are cut down using manually operated cutters. The objects are then assembled using traditional hand tools.