Deborah Howe
Lebanon, New Hampshire

Deborah Howe is the Collections Conservator at Dartmouth College Library. Previously, she headed the conservation lab at Northwestern University Library. She has taught classes at Columbia Center for Paper and Book, and the Newberry Library, and she currently teaches bookbinding classes at the Book Arts Workshop at Dartmouth. She is a long-standing member of the Guild of Book Workers and is on the board of directors of the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland.

Lost Horizon, 2012

Lost Horizon represents the visionary vista that one imagines in life: the horizon in the far off distance where our real world intersects the world we wish we lived in. Conway, the main character in the story, discovers the sanctuary of Shangri-la. I saw his voyage into the mountains as a multilayered experience reflecting physical and emotional challenges. Therefore, I used a technique whereby layers of leather are used to create this effect. The color of the leather reflects the somber mountains and the exposed sewing reveals inner structure and underlying strength.

Dimensions: 7.75 x 5.5 x 2 inches, 19.5 x 14 x 5 centimeters

Colored linen thread, grey-blue goatskin, handmade paste paper endsheets.