About

Welcome to The Idle Bindery. This shop is a culmination of a life-long passion for illustration, story-telling and the book as a physical form.

I have always been an avid reader and artist, so it seemed natural to seek out a course of study that would combine my two passions.

My art foundation course gave me the wonderful freedom to explore and experiment with media and I was quickly drawn into the dark room. Inspired by early glass negatives, I developed a way of creating my own imagery through smoke and using a simple needle as my pen. For my final show I bound these images into a small art book - a series of illustrations inspired by the atmospheric ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier. It was my first stub binding and I used dental floss as my thread. 

I soon progressed to more tradition linen thread and throughout my Illustration degree found binding my projects just as fascinating and exciting as creating the actual artwork. Sourcing the right paper, choosing the cover material and sewing the pages is an intuitive, calming process that I find incredibly rewarding.

My particular interest in photograph albums came about from a simple lack of availability. I wanted a high quality album for a gift and found myself disappointed and uninspired by what was on offer. I decided to make one from scratch and the following year I opened up The Idle Bindery. In a way I have gone full circle, creating something that ties back to my old love of the dark room. There's something very emotive about an old photograph, the story a captured moment can evoke in the viewer. In this increasingly digital age I feel there’s something quite special about a handmade album that you can hold. Something to treasure and share with loved ones.

I love bookbinding, using techniques and methods that have been perfected over hundreds of years. My aim is to always create beautiful, but functional books. Every album in this store has been handmade by myself. Each page measured, folded and sewn. I hope you'll love the albums I create.