Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Hersey.
Lisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was always interested in art, but up until I signed up for my first bookbinding class, I really had no idea what I wanted to specialize in. I graduated from Montserrat College of Art, in Beverly, MA, in 2012 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. My concentration was in Book Arts and I studied bookbinding and letterpress printing.
After graduation, I moved back home and really had no idea what to do with my degree or how to make art without any of the equipment I had access to at Montserrat. I got to go back in the campus and print a few times, but generally felt pretty lost, and wasn’t making anything that I really enjoyed.
A few months after moving home, I applied for a bookbinding internship at Shelter Bookworks in Orange, MA. I ended up interning for three months and then working part-time for Amy Borezo for the next six years. I learned so many new binding skills from Amy, and my passion for book arts grew stronger. I think it’s also important to know that at this time, I was holding other part-time jobs in order to pay the bills. I was working at coffee shops, restaurants, and editing school photographs, and none of it was as rewarding as working with my hands creating art.
In 2013, I set up a makeshift silkscreen studio in my parents’ basement and began Antler Editions. Soon after, I outgrew that and moved my studio to Holyoke, MA where it stayed for four years. In 2016, I received an Assets for Artists grant as a Holyoke artist, which is when I really began to feel like I had a shot at being an artist on my own.
In 2015, I moved to Easthampton, MA and began to explore the art community. I found work at Big Wheel Press, a letterpress print shop, where I am still printing part-time. I finally learned how to operate a Heidelberg windmill press, and have learned so much more about printing in my time there.
As I became more and more a part of the Easthampton art community, I knew it was where I needed to move my studio. In February 2018, I moved Antler Editions out of Holyoke and into studio 512 in the Cottage Street Studios right in a historic building in downtown Easthampton. Currently, I am working on moving all of my equipment into the studio, and finally getting my bindery set up with everything it needs so I can be more productive. I feel like my studio has finally found a home.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has definitely not been smooth, but it could have been worse. The largest struggles have been self-doubt, financial insecurity, and the general unknown!
It’s hard to get rejected from things and want to keep going, creating, and applying again. It’s hard when you have bad sales at a fair and spent so much time creating work and building the booth to just barely make the vendor fee back, never mind paying yourself hourly for sitting there. It’s hard to feel like one month you’re ready to abandon all other sources of income and work for yourself full time, to just barely get by the next month. When I don’t want to be in my studio working, there isn’t anyone keeping me there, it’s hard to stay motivated and on track. I’m grateful to have such an amazing support system to keep me going through all of this.
Every job I have held that was not related to my art, but brought in a nice steady paycheck has been so alluring. It’s hard to leave that to concentrate on my art, but I know those jobs have all kept me from creating, and each time I leave something better comes up.
My degree taught me how to be a great artist, but I learned nothing about how to turn that into a job for myself. How to file taxes, what receipts to keep, how to get paid, how to invoice clients, how to apply for a tax ID, these are all things a working artist needs to know, and none of that was brought to my attention before graduation. I am grateful to have been able to attend a few classes through Assets for Artists to help me, and to find mentorship from other established artists.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Antler Editions – what should we know?
Antler Editions is a small editions bindery and print shop. Working closely with a client, we make the project come to life. Whether there is a complete vision or a small idea, we take pride in choosing the best materials and fine-tuning minutiae details for each artwork, leaving all of the clients satisfied with their tactile works.
I have worked on projects from printing and binding zines to creating fine art clamshell boxes that hold cassette tapes. I have rebound family heirloom books, bibles, and flea market finds. I have collaborated with poets, artists, and therapists to make projects come to life.
Currently, I am working on an edition of artist books for another artist. I worked with the client’s vision to create a prototype that best made their idea come to life. The edition size is 30 and for each one, I hand sew the book and create a case for it, which then slides into a handmade envelope. Both the case and envelope are foil stamped. I really enjoy creating books for other artists, who have an idea, but maybe not the time, or skills, to work on the edition of books themselves. I am always looking for new collaborations.
I’m most proud of being able to create personal objects for people that they are able to share with others. Seeing a client pick up their project and hold it in their hands is so satisfying to me. I enjoy being able to see someone interact with the art in a way that you just can’t with a painting or drawing on a wall.
So much work and thought goes into creating a single book. Binding structure, text block paper, thread color, end sheets, cloth, size, texture, all of this (and more) comes together to create a book. My attention to detail sets me apart from others.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Definitely, the largest credit goes to my parents who have offered constant support, both financially and mentally. My mom cooked dinner for me every night when I moved back home and was working overtime. My dad has always encouraged me to start my own business. He has always been proof that hard work pays off, and taught me that if I’m going to do a job, I better do it right.
My partner offers me the daily support that is most needed when I come home frustrated late at night, just to wake up early and start again. He’s great at reminding me what I’m working towards when I have the, “Maybe I should just go work at a coffee shop!” crisis.
My friends have shown so much support for me. Whether they show up to my shows and events, sit at vendor tables all day, share my online posts, offer their vans for moving, or even just pick up the phone when I call to vent.
Professors, from high school to college, that have turned into friends, have watched and encouraged me all along the way.
The team over at Assets for Artists gave me a great financial support with a matched savings grant, as well as business and marketing classes, so I could learn how to achieve my goals.
There are so many artists in my studio building that have helped me out. I am lucky to share a building with some very well known binders who have been in the business much longer than myself. They’re great mentors for me and since moving in the building I have gotten to know a few of them very well. I have borrowed tools, taken unwanted materials, gotten project feedback, and been given countless lessons. I often get overflow projects from these artists as well, which has been great to build my portfolio with.
I feel like there are still so many people I haven’t mentioned, and I feel very grateful to have that problem! Often I feel alone working in the studio, and it’s great to sit back and think about all the people who have helped to get me where I am today.
Pricing:
- custom binding starting at $75
- book rebinding starting at $150
- handmade journals $30-$50
Contact Info:
- Address: One Cottage Street
Studio 512
Easthampton, MA 01027 - Website: www.antlereditions.com
- Phone: 413-204-2431
- Email: lisa@antlereditions.com
Image Credit:
Tina Zorzi, Cara Totman Photography
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