Hello You!

Welcome to my lovely space over here, a slow paced life exploring the magical world of bookbinding.

I’m Yvette, a forty-something artist and bookbinder living in a picturesque market town in Northumberland with my daughter, where I also have a bricks and mortar shop called Hanji (it means Handmade Paper in Korean).

I fell into (and in love) with bookbinding by accident 20 years ago, and I’ve built an art practice around it and I have SO MUCH I want to share with you.

My practice started as an installation artist making large scale paper worlds. I’ve set up a travelling museum of books, made work for ITV and travelled to South Korea to learn about the silk industry on an arts council grant… among many other things in the creative industries.

No Land in Particular, Globe Gallery, 2010

I’m using this space to write about my work, past present and future. To share traditional skills and invite you to make and be inspired by the culture of bookbinding (and also origami and textiles).

In 2020, when the world closed and I lost all my physical work, I started making books, which I posted to my 1200 followers on Instagram. Some people asked if I would do a zoom tutorial and five years later I have a thriving business with over 2000 students who have learned bookbinding with me through my website.

Now I’m here to deep dive in the cultures around bookbinding and invite you to join me in learning new bookbinding skills and join a challenge to create new books for you, for your family and loved ones and for strangers.

Free Subscribers

You can read about my creative journey if you subscribe for free and get a sneak peek of new tutorials I release monthly.

Upgrade to Paid

My monthly membership includes:

6 Bookbinding Tutorials per year
Essays on the bookbinding origin stories from the tutorial of that month
Artist Books essays: A look at artists who make books or use books in their work (contact me if you’d like to be featured).
On the months in between the tutorial months, a set creative challenge inspired by the book learned on the previous month.
Monthly ‘The Story of Business’ essay on how I run my successful, creative business over the past 20 years and how you can grow yours!
Access to the subscriber community to share your books and inspire others.

Subscribe to The Culture of Bookbinding

Travel around the world with me to learn how different cultures have made books. We will explore book structures and their various uses, as well as how artists have adopted these to make their own work.

People

Yvette Ja

@yvetteja

I’m a Bookbinder and Visual Artist of South Korean/ British origin. I’m fascinated by traditional craft practice and I’m exploring 100 book structures from around the world to make artist’s books. Join me!