Charlene Matthews Bindery

SOME OF MY WORKS

The Services I Provide

FILM PROJECTS
Screenplays: Cloth and leather case bound. I do a single sheet sewn rounded binding with foiled titling on the cover and spine if desired. Bonded leather is the most common covering material.
Prop Work: Aging paper, leather, duplication of vintage books hardback and paperback and new books to suit.
Script Presentations: I can keep up with your imagination. Or keep it plain and simple.

BOOK ART
I am a Book Artist and my books are scattered around the world in various Museums, Libraries, and collections. Here is a sample, just to give you an idea of the breadth of my working materials and binding repertoire. Please refer to my Catalogue for specifics.

ARTIST BOOKS
Books made to house Artist texts/art/photographs in various mediums. The bindings for these books are usually of a special type, designed to suit what the Artist has inside, not to take away from the content, but to enhance. Care is taken to select the right cloth, leather or unique covering material and titling.

RESTORATIONS
I began book binding over 30 years ago with the goal of book repair. I love book repair. I am pretty good at it. I can re-back spines in matching materials, basic inner paper repair, repair broken/chewed corners, heads and tails, and titling. I prefer to keep as much as the original book as possible, it is very rare for me to fully rebind a book. I am also very conscience about keeping the representation of the book era, i.e. materials and typefaces.

BOXES
I LOVE box making. Slip cases, clam shells, butterflies, sliding trays inner partitions, specialized cloth, leather, inserts, magnets, the goal being to house an object to its finest. Generally, my boxes, as with Artist Books, are of Museum quality. Foiling and silk screening are just two options of titling.

CORPORATE WORK
These are mostly presentation bindings. They generally are a single sheet sewn case binding, like a screenplay, fabric is commonly used, with foiled Logos made from a die.

SPECIAL PROJECTS
These are one of a kind books people make for special occasions, poetry, photo albums, Birthday books, and personal diaries. Most of these projects are of very personal nature and I do not put them on line. Many of them combine exposed spine binding, a matching box, and original artwork and text of all sizes. I usually push the creative boundaries on these.

The Bindery

My first Bookbinding class was in 1985. In 2000 I opened up my Bindery on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, around the corner from my house.

My Bindery is a hand bindery, meaning I make books and boxes by hand. I do have some large equipment for cutting and backing, and a Kwikprint 86 for foiling titles, along with various hand tools. I counted 22 different types of glue one day.

My diverse customer range covers the rich and famous to the elderly on pension.

I supply sewn rounded signature and single sheet case bindings, exposed spine bindings, concave spine bindings, experimental bindings, full leather and half leather bindings and stock a large cloth supply. With my Kwikprint, I am able to make labels, and titles, in various foil colors and real gold, as well as hand tooling.

I do book restoration and repair of all types.

Box making is a specialty of all kinds; slipcases, clam shells, of odd shapes and sizes.

The smallest book I've made is about one inch, the largest around four feet by fifteen feet.

I generally do not do any text block or photo printing. But I will hold your hand during the process. If you have an idea for a book, it is best to discuss it with me prior to printing pages, but everything can be dealt with.

Consultation for book repair is free, as with any book project. Please call for an appointment, but walk-ins are usually fine.

Charlene Matthews Bindery
5720 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90038 USA
(323) 962-2109
binderess@gmail.com