Book Artist Louise Naomi Best

I met Louise at a writers group in my new ‘hood in Gokulam and felt immediately drawn to her. Her writing is poetic, emotional, florid–not usually my type of prose. My tastes run terse. But I enjoyed Louise’s writing, her voice (both spoken–she’s from England–and written) so much I wanted to get to know her better. After a brief conversation I realized my initial interest in Louise was intuitive. She is living my dream life.

Louise is a book artist, a writer, an Ashtanga yogi, a world traveler. Louise’s art, book making, means she creates from start to finish her own books–some with text, some purely visual–by hand and sells them as one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Because Louise is also a writer when she chooses to use words, she does so in an evocative, intimate manner.

“I want someone to engage with my work, touch it. To make something small and tangible creates a relationship between the artist and viewer. It’s like telling one person my secret instead of standing up in a room and letting everyone in on it.”

Louise’s works include the series Nine books for my lover and Valedictions from overseas, in which she used postcards from all over the world that she had sent to her boyfriend. “I write a lot about relationships. I love men,” Louise confides. Another of her favorite creations Coming Clean, features photographs of laundry hanging out to dry and reminds the viewer of Buddhist wisdom: After enlightenment, the laundry.

Louise came to her career as an artist relatively late in life. After her youngest child entered senior school, she went to University in London to pursue a fine arts degree. She was interested in printmaking and illustration but after taking a bookbinding course found her true calling, a medium that merges art with one of the things she loves most (besides laundry): books. (Her web site address is: louloulovesbooks.com.)

Using an eclectic variety of materials–silk, cotton, linen fabrics, weathered books, scrap paper, bugs (Louise is prone to scanning dead butterflies and using them in her book art), Louise’s work is whimsical, accessible and smart. For her artist’s sketchbooks, in which she uses old faded maps as “blank” pages, she creates bindings that allow the pages to lie flat and not bulge even after papers and photos have been glued onto them. These sketch books are among her bestsellers. “A map is perfect for writing over! You’re never faced with a blank page. It looks gorgeous and it’s inspiring.”

Louise ticks off the characteristics one needs to become a book artist: “You have to be creative. You have to be able to make things. You can’t imagine how many people can’t even thread a needle. You must be practical. And you must love paper.” Louise collects an enormous amount of materials–books, papers, fabrics–for her art, so I’m guessing being a pack rat is a bonus for this career.

With clients that include London’s illustrious Tate Museum, private art and book collectors, curators and libraries, you may be surprised to know that you can afford to buy a Louise Naomi Best original. Folded origami books, made from beautiful, bright colored paper and fabrics that bloom like flowers, start at six British pounds.

Right now, Louise is in Kathmandu teaching bookbinding to children in orphanages. She has no idea what to expect since she arranged everything over the Internet with linguistic challenges. Book art, Louise says is both art and craft. She hopes the children she teaches will learn to express themselves in a new and creative way while also making items they’ll be able to sell to help raise money.

And that sums up Louise’s approach to life perfectly–artistic, yet practical.