In the Studio With Bookbinder Mitzi Pratt
Mitzi Pratt inside her Aquinnah studio.
Mitzi Pratt inside her Aquinnah studio.
Materials vary from leather to suede to wasp nest.
Materials vary from leather to suede to wasp nest.
Everything begins as a stack of paper.
Everything begins as a stack of paper.
Ms. Pratt has studios in both Aquinnah and Brooklyn.
Ms. Pratt has studios in both Aquinnah and Brooklyn.
The artist has worked as a bookbinder since the 1970s.
The artist has worked as a bookbinder since the 1970s.
The work keeps Ms. Pratt's arms in good shape.
The work keeps Ms. Pratt's arms in good shape.
Things get squeezed into place.
Things get squeezed into place.
The finished product with a cover fashioned from a wasp nest.
The finished product with a cover fashioned from a wasp nest.
On any given afternoon, one of three sounds can be heard coming from Mitzi Pratt’s Aquinnah bookbinding studio: the dull squeak of a 19th century press, sheers clipping through paper, or the piercing bang of a weighty backing hammer. While two may seem more tranquil than the other, Ms. Pratt describes all aspects of her work as meditative.
While the books, journals and sketchpads Mitzi Pratt creates vary in their final forms, they begin, homogeneously, as a stack of paper.