| Title | The Wild Book |
| Artist / Creator | Bettina Pauly |
| Artist's Nationality | German |
| Place of Publication | San Francisco, CA |
| Publication Date | 2011 |
| Structure / Binding | Tunnel book. Pictures are rubber-stamped by hand on Somerset paper, using stamp pads with archival ink. Small pieces of copper sheeting sewn to the paper. Panels are cut out by hand. Machine stitching is used as a design element and to add stability to the structure. |
| Medium / Materials | Lokta paper, Somerset paper, glassine paper, copper sheeting, rubber-stamped pictures, stitching |
| Paper Stock | Nepalese Lokta paper, Somerset paper, glassine |
| Number of Pages | Four Panels |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 8.5 x 6 x 8 inches expands out to approximately 8 inches long |
| Edition Size | Open edition |
| Signed & Numbered | Yes |
This project was inspired by my first Wild Book, in which I sewed thin layers of driftwood onto the paper. The combination of rubber-stamped pictures, copper sheeting, and stitching gives this book a unique feel. It suggests the craziness that can be found in professional kitchens and restaurants during the peak hour of business. When I was working in Europe as a professional chef and later as a head-server, there were times when walking into the kitchen felt just like the look of these pages. Still—even though knives are swirling through the air—there is a lightness and playfulness that you will always find in the back of the house of well-run operations with great people around who love their job and who just want to create the most delicious fusion of flavors for their guests’ palette.
The pictures are rather random to make this wild book even wilder.
Artist Bio
Bettina Pauly was trained as a professional chef, then worked as a head server throughout Europe before she received a B.A. in Hotel-Economy from Hotel Management School in Heidelberg, Germany. After coming to the U.S. and working in hospitality here, she went back to school and studied at the Academy of Art University San Francisco in the Fine Arts program under Chris Rolik and Macy Chadwick. She gained further book arts knowledge at the San Francisco Center for the Book, specifically taking advantage of classes taught by artists such as Julie Chen, Kumi Korf, Paul Johnson, and Mary Laird. Bettina is living in San Francisco as a book artist and working as a letterpress printer with Kim Vanderheiden at Painted Tongue Studios, Oakland, California. She teaches workshops at the San Francisco Center for the Book, the Academy of Art University and O’Hanlon Center for the Arts. She loves books and boxes both as physical objects and as containers of meaning. She is interested in a variety of folded, sewn and woven structures in which she can incorporate her printing. Her award winning work is included in library collections at: St John’s/Saint Benedict College Minnesota, Minnesota, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, University of Denver, Colorado, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, San Jose State University, California, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Her work is shown at Galleries in the Bay Area and in Portland, Oregon, and has been featured in 500 Handmade Books, Good Mail Day, 1000 Artists’ Books, Thread Loves Paper, Ed Hutchins’ Moveable Book Society Newsletter.