Roberta Lavadour

Honored Artist 2003




"Artist's Books" Hand-made Books, Juror's Award


I’ve always been captivated by the thought of making things from the
materials in my immediate environment and have always said that the best thing anyone ever did for me, in terms of my artistic development, was to push me out of the house on summer mornings when I was a kid, saying, “Find something to do until dinner time.”

I’ve made books since high school, learning by trial and error. Years later, I discovered that “book arts” was a recognized art form, and that artists had been making and exhibiting artist’s books for decades. My subsequent training has continued to be mainly independent investigation, augmented by intensive workshop study offered by various book arts programs and institutions

Moving to the place I live now has had a profound effect on my work. We live in the foothills of the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, and having an amazing array of natural materials available literally out my back door is a constant source of inspiration. Often, I am transported back to those long summer days spent exploring my surroundings when I was a kid. I don’t paint or draw - skills that are usually associated with making art—particularly well. But I do know what is beautiful and interesting to me. And when I come across those things, or have an extraordinary experience while working with handmade paper or a found object, I use my vocabulary of book structures and printing techniques to try to share that experience with others.