About Aredian Press
Through Aredian Press, my goal is to create works that are aesthetically pleasing and approachable. My hope is the reader finds the experience of my books an engaging diversion, full of amusement and wonder.
The art and craft of bookbinding presents a range of challenges from the choice of materials, to selection of structure, to the physical construction itself. Every element should contribute to the overall effect and purpose, with the end result an integral, harmonic whole.
My road to bookbinding has been unconventional. While first loves were art and literature, neither was viewed as a viable career path. Grounded by pragmatic parents, I earned a mechanical engineering degree. After working in the private sector for a few years as a noise and vibration consultant, I began a nearly thirty year career in federal service. First at NASA pursuing new technologies for space station life support, then at EPA investigating environmental wrong-doing, I had the privilege of working alongside many brilliant, dedicated people. With my 2013 retirement, I finally had a real opportunity to pursue life-long interests seriously. One bookbinding session at the Craft Guild of Dallas and I was smitten.
Since then, I have continued to study and practice. I am grateful for the opportunities to increase my knowledge and improve my skills while observing the exceptional practices of numerous talented binders. I enjoy membership in the Guild of Bookworkers, the Miniature Book Society, and the Movable Book Society.
Aredian Press was founded in 2016. A confluence of several drivers—discontent with making blank books, admiration for a local print maker, a particularly noisy flight, and accidental receipt of reminder texts—inspired its first three publications. I am grateful and proud that my work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. Using a lifetime of problem solving experience, and returning to passions of writing and art, I continue to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
