This past Saturday’s Handmade Crafternoon was the best sort of frolicsome fun, thanks both to our special guest artist Mike Perry and also to all of you who came out and went creative-crazy with the paper, scissors, and glue.

Mike Perry got the whole gang drawing and talking together within seconds of starting the afternoon with a series of timed, collaborative drawings. And the results? Impulsive and brilliant. And it wasn’t just drawings—some there tried their hands at origami, or at little sewn or accordion or folded books, while others played at collage or browsed the selection of books on typography, book arts, and paper folding. Mike was an inspiring guest who really got the day off to a rolling start. 

Mike’s work can be found in galleries, in magazines, on posters, and in libraries too! We have his books Hand Job: A Catalog of Type and Over & Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns in our collections.

American Craft (in its October/November 2007 issue) summed up what has drawn me to Mike's art when it stated that his work “points to the continued relevance of the human touch in modern communication.” If you want to learn more about Mike Perry, then check out his books at the Library, see him in action in the Library's own documentary series Design by the Book, or visit his online cache of art, videos, zines, news, and typography. Maura and I were honored to have him join us for Handmade Crafternoon!