People often ask me how or why did you choose bookbinding? My response usually unfolds through the telling of a natural course of events, from entering art school in 1972 to the light bulb moment in 1978 when I first saw the design bindings of Edgar Mansfield and William Matthews at the V& A in London.

But from the beginning, I credit my late father, Loring West Spitler (who passed away March 2008) for encouraging me to pursue bookbinding and the arts. An avid reader, his love for travel and geography inspired all of his five children by bringing the world to us through a family stamp club.

After memorizing all the countries of the world and reciting them continent by continent, we each chose a country to concentrate our collection on. As a young girl of nine living near Los Angeles, I picked Monaco. What could be better than movie star Grace Kelly turned princess?


Lucky for me, Monaco produced outstanding engraved stamps. After hours of studying them, the colors, serial images (Princess Grace in multi-colors or the birth of Albert II commemorated), I grew to love printing, which led me to a BFA in printmaking from the Calfornia College of Arts & Crafts, and eventually to the London College of Printing in 1980 to study bookbinding. Thanks, Dad.

Loring Spitler overlooks Las Cruces, New Mexico, from the top of Picacho Peak, ca.1978.

Organizing the new bindery took a high priority in order to complete fall edition jobs and other commissions before the holidays.
I-10 West.

Our move to New Mexico took four long months during the hottest part of the year and by six big truck loads traveling 950 miles each way.

My mouth dropped when Mike Die of Cutter’s Edge near Smithville, Texas, moved my Jacques Shear with a lifting magnet. The cutter dangled like a Christmas ornament and in a matter of seconds it was on the trailer.



Don and I moved most of the equipment ourselves like this guillotine by using a series of rotating dowels. The Lifting Magnet is on the right.

This was a move of a lifetime — an adventure to say the least, including a busted window on one trip, torrential rains, fishtailing trailers and even the breakdown of a fully loaded 26 foot Penske truck only 50 miles west of Austin with our classic 1955 Chevy station in tow.

That trip took four days and three extra motel rooms, but brothers Mitch and Curtis Johnson and crew at the Comfort, Texas, Truck Center made the disaster a pleasant one, including feeding us and providing an air conditioned room for our cat, Sugar. Mind you, the folks at Penske were quick to put these guys on the job.

Yummy BBQ awaited us as the cargo on our truck was reloaded onto a new one. Curtis’ son examines the vintage airplane engine that had to be transferred, along with a collection of petrified wood on other rocks from my Texas garden. We felt like Lucy and Desi in the movie, The Long, Long Trailer.

Mountains of boxes fill the space in Don’s future museum area.

Now, after all these months, we still face the continual task of un packing and countless work to do on this old building. But daily we wake up to face the view of Turtleback Mountain and we are happy to be here.


We stayed at this brick motel one block from our building while the living space was remodeled. The blue roof seen in the picture is the church across the street from our place.

Don stands proudly by our last trailer load full of his treasured rusty parts for future yard art, not to mention the hidden gas pumps laying down inside!

Hands On Bookbinding to Move

It will be a great effort to move the bindery this summer but, after 20 years in Texas, I will be returning to New Mexico. My husband Don and I have purchased a 5,500 square foot commercial building in Truth or Consequences (yes, a real place), in the southern part of the state.

Here it is, in desperate need of colorful new paint.



The bindery entrance will be in the smaller space on the right, while Don will have a move in ready space for his dream aviation museum, featuring early civil and airline history displays, artifacts, folk art, toys –all non military. We have been living with the collection for years!



Interior shots of Dons space left, and part of the bindery space, right. It has been an auto museum for the past 15 years. There is a two bedroom apartment at the back side of the building where we will live.



Truth or Consequences was originally called Hot Springs, but the name was changed for the game show in 1950. It is famous for its hots springs and for being a retirement area. In recent years, it has become a haven for artists. The downtown is going through a revival and all of the motels have been spruced up and feature spas or bath houses — a great place to visit! It is a funky town, but it suits us. It will feel like the big city with a population of 8,000 after living in Smithville, Texas.



Priscilla on her 53rd birthday in March while walking in Galisteo, New Mexico.

I will always be grateful for my years in Texas, which really shaped my career and where I made so many good friends, colleagues, and have had such great students. But I will not be gone forever. Don’s family are all in Austin and I will plan to return regularly for workshops and other classes. Keep checking this site for updates and also for future workshops in Truth or Consequences.

A display of Marblesmith papers.

Hands On Bookbinding offers a weekend workshop dedicated to Paper Marbling and Pastepaper Decoration

with instructors, Pam Smith, aka Marblesmith,

and Priscilla Spitler.

Saturday & Sunday, April 28 & 29, 2007

Where: Buescher State Park, WPA Hall, Smithville TX.

Workshop fee: $250, which inlcudes all materials/equipment.


Pam Smith is a fine printer and paper marbler who resides in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and produces papers under her Marblesmith imprint. As an instructor, her enthusiasm for the craft is contagious.

Priscilla Spitler is has been creating paste and pochoir (stencilled) papers for her books and fine bindings for over 20 years.


It is sure to be an action packed weekend. To accomodate the popularity of this workshop, it is being held in a large recreation hall with access to outside work areas overlooking a small lake in the park.

Find details and registration information under: Workshops.

Spitler pastepaper design.

It has been a diverse year at Hands On Bookbinding comprised of edition work, workshops and fine binding, some of which involved travel to other sites.

Binding the deluxe edition of Passions in Print dominated production work in January 2006 to meet a February deadline for its book signing in Santa Fe.



Written by friend and colleague, Pamela S. Smith, the book tells the history of private press work in New Mexico and the passionate artists, writers and printers who created the book works from the mid 19th century to the present. Pam’s extensive research inspired the Museum of New Mexico’s Lasting Impressions exhibit held at the Palace of the Governors Museum, Santa Fe, since 2005 (ending February 2007).



Passions in Print deluxe edition.

While a handsome trade edition is still available from the Museum of New Mexico Press, the deluxe edition of fifty bound at Hands On were hand sewn, rounded and covered in black and rust colored cloth, with gold stamped title and lines on the case. They were housed in a sage green cloth slipcase. The edition was pre sold even before I had completed the binding!



In February 2006, several student participants of the 2005 Fine Binding Intensive returned to the bindery to learn decorative techniques and to design work to apply to the books completed in the 2005 workshop.



Tony Lyon’ publication.

A series of workshops on casebinding techniques, from the beginning, were held in the spring and repeated in summer 2006, in between steady production working including small editions for Tony Lyons’ fishing books, as well as two new publications from Bob Baris’Press on Scroll Road. A farmer by day or season, Bob prints fine letterpress editions on Twinrocker papers, beautifully designed and illustrated with handsome wood engravings.



June was a month full of travel and book activities from beginning to end, starting with the fourth Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial for American Bookbinding, held at the SMU Bridwell Library in Dallas. My binding of In the Garden, with text by Colorado book artist Laura Wait, was shown in the exhibit.



Immediately following, I departed on a road trip to northern Indiana for the Paper and Book Intensive (PBI) which took place in a private school outside LaPorte. The first week I had the luxury of being a student in Laura Wait’s painted book workshop, learning new techniques that will no doubt be used in future fine binding and artist books.



PBI Painted Books completed in Laura’s class..


During the second week at PBI, I put on my instructor’s apron and taught edition binding techniques. Students learned production tips for dealing with multiple works via the use of jigs, team work, while reviewing sound methods of making case bound books.



On the return trip, I stopped in Iowa City to teach another edition workshop for the Midwest Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers at the University of Iowa’s book conservation laboratory.

While in Iowa City, it was a pleasure to see and handle the large collection of works by book artist Paula Hocks in the U of I special collections, particularly to see how well cared the books are by the protective housing created by the conservation staff.



In the fall, the long awaited centennial celebration for the Guild of Book Workers meant a trip to New York City. Three days of open houses and exhibits around the city October 12-14 were part of the event. Historical talks on a century of book workers in North America were presented at the New York Academy of Medicine. Who would have ever imagined that I would represent Texas in these talks, but next year in 2007 I will have resided in the Lone Star state twenty years.




Gary McLerran, Mindy Dubansky, Craig Jensen & Don Etherington at Grolier opening in NYC.

The GBW centennial exhibit was hosted by the Grolier Club in New York, where I was pleased to have two books displayed, one in the retrospective and one in the contemporary exhibit. Additionally, I was proud to be included in the extensive miniature book exhibit held on the second floor, in the collection of Neil Albert and all featured in a hardbound and slipcased deluxe exhibition catalog published by the Grolier Club.

The Guild celebration was made complete by a banquet cruise around Manhattan.


Kristen Baum & Jim Canary waiting to board the boat for the GBW centennial bash.