Portable Magic: The Art of the Book contains color photos of 81 artist’s books. Each artist is one of the 150 members of the Santa Fe Book Arts Group (BAG), which includes bookbinders, papermakers, poets, storytellers, painters, printmakers, and so much more. Participating artists used a wide range of materials, designs, and techniques to create original works of sculptural or multi-dimensional book art. The artwork ranged from just a few inches high to six feet tall. The artists folded, stitched, punched, embroidered, beaded, wove, marbleized, collaged, printed, knitted, dyed, painted, drew, and typeset them. The books featured calligraphy, collagraphs, origami, doodled tangles, letterpress printing, linocut prints, woodcut prints, monoprints, image transfers, and rubber stamps. These works embody the scope of talent and the diversity of this exceptionally creative group of book artists. You’ll be amazed and inspired at the depth and breadth of the creativity.

This book is a companion volume to the exhibit Portable Magic: The Art of the Book at the New Mexico State Capitol in autumn 2017. It is not a catalog of the exhibit, but contains images of works submitted to the exhibit. Each member selected one submittal to be included in this book. Many of the artworks that follow were in the exhibit, but some were not.