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Testimonials

From the 4/20/11 class at the Nashville Public Library"

“Excellent teachers – good for all levels.”
“Today’s bookmaking workshop with Peter & Donna Thomas was excellent! Great mix, pace, & personality.”
“Wonderful presenter. Very engaging personality. Clear instructions. Great info about products. Just a golden opportunity for us. Great opportunity to see Donna & Peter’s beautiful books.”
“Great supplies – informative – well presented. 2 very special instructors.”
“This class was beautifully taught. The instructors, Peter & Donna, were delightful.”
“Enjoyed all of the day – location, time or hours, teaching style, completing & learning two different books.”
“Awesome! It was great – not too hard but I learned a ton. Very exciting.”
“I had a great time! The teacher was patient but kept the class moving. My little books are a source of pride.”
“Really enjoyed it & great to have (almost) finished projects to take home.”
“It was amazing! I learned so much. It is wonderful that we have had such nationally known book artists teaching us!”
“It was great! Very well planned and fun.”

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"What a way to spend a Saturday, it was the best Saturday workshop in my life."

Jone Small Monoogian, Bay Area Book Arts

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Lecture: May 30, 2009. The Literary Book as a Work of Art.

Peter’s presentation gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of Book Arts.  It stirred up in me another passion for the art vs. information production. 

Dr. Leland Whitson
Trustee & Docent Director
International Printing Museum, Carson, California

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Workshop: May 30-31, 2009. Exploring the Miniature Book

I'm not sure when I've enjoyed classes so much. Perhaps it was the ukelele <smile>. Sometimes, walking into a new class even in a familiar setting can be a little daunting. You don't know what to expect. I was especially feeling that way, since my preconceived notion about Peter was that he was one of those highfalutin artsy book artists -cum-attitude. Boy, was I wrong! He taught me that I should learn to accept myself as an artist, and not restrict myself to my narrow notion of "I'm a printer; those book artists are all pretension." Yep, I was prejudiced. I hope that is changing now.

I loved how Peter and Donna's work reflects their love of play and creativity. Peter managed to express that and encourage us to play while we learned. I found the classes to be paced just right: slow enough that people new to binding could keep up, and brisk enough that people with binding experience were not languishing around waiting for the next step.

It helped very much that all materials were cut in advance. I was delighted that the materials were not the typical cost-cutting "stuff" I've encountered in classes taken elsewhere.

What I appreciated most about Peter is that he didn't talk down to us, and his cogent discussions of the future of the book and its current role as both object and art made me think, hard, about my home books and their ultimate fate. I left with far more than a few skills and some collectible miniature books, no matter how great that is. I am thinking, perhaps against my bent, about our printing future and the role of books, presses, museums, and collectors.

Marjorie Wilser, Museum Assistant

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Boston Book Arts • c/o Marcia Ciro • 13 Bay Street • Watertown, MA 02472 • 617-924-9269 • www.bostonbookarts.org

March 27, 2003

To whom it may concern,

This year, Boston Book Arts was pleased to welcome Peter Thomas as our spring workshop instructor. His two, one-day workshops, “Dowel and Flap Book”, and “Dowel and Scroll Book”, proved popular with our members. Students were able to complete a small illustrated book, even though the structure was fairly complicated, due to Peter’s good organization and preparedness. Each workshop provided great information about the genre of miniature books, as well as lots of fun.

In addition to the workshops, Peter gave a lecture about his work, allowing the attendees to handle many of the books he discussed. He was very accessible, tirelessly answering questions and extrapolating on the ideas expressed in his lecture. And it’s not every day that a lecturer can serenade his audience with original tunes accompanied by ukelele!

We look forward to having Peter Thomas back again.

Sincerely,

Marcia Ciro Sharon McCartney
Co-founders, Boston Book Arts

Boston Book Arts was established in 1999 by book artists who wanted to share ideas about their work and exchange information about the art of the book. We meet on a regular basis throughout the academic year, to discuss current issues pertinent to the book arts. Our membership represents a range of many different backgrounds and skill levels. In addition to regular meetings, we sponsor lectures, workshops, and visits to museum and library collections.

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Debbie West
Rubber Stamp Plantation
575A Cooke St. #1717, Honolulu, Hi  96813

"The Peter Thomas book workshop was one of the most enjoyable classes we've ever offered. His insights into the history and use of books help his students develop a new appreciation of books, in their various forms and functions. We left with a beautiful, completed work of art."

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"What a way to spend a Saturday, it was the best Saturday workshop in my life."

Jone Small Monoogian, Bay Area Book Arts

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October 30, 2002

Dear Colleague,

I write this general letter of recommendation for Peter Thomas with considerable pleasure. Peter and his wife Donna are thoughtful, skilled, and imaginative book artists. Their books are known to and widely collected by individuals and institutions, and for good reason. They fashion limited-edition works that superbly exemplify the art and craft of fine letterpress printing, and they also create unique artists' books that are innovative and clever, well designed and durable, and very beautiful.

Accordingly, we were delighted to mount an exhibit of Peter's and Donna's works--"Four Dimensional Art: The Books of Peter and Donna Thomas"--in the 2002 fall semester as part of our rare book exhibitions program. We found it very easy to organize a visually engaging and educationally stimulating exhibit around the books Peter and Donna loaned us, chiefly because their work reflects a number of consistent thematic concerns and approaches to bookcraft. I should also point out that almost all of their books are, in physical terms, easy to display (we relied on our university's preparator for a single item).

We also were delighted to have Peter as a guest speaker in our ongoing but irregular books arts and print culture lecture series. Peter was a dynamic public speaker. He quickly established an informal and amiable presence at the podium, and then proceeded to deliver an enthusiastic and intelligent talk that focused on the challenges printers and book artists confront in seeking a consonance between the textual content and the material nature of the book. Our reading room was packed to capacity with faculty and students; the next day, many of the faculty in attendance contacted me and asked if Peter's workshops were open to the public (alas, these were solely for book arts students).

Please feel free to contact me if you require addition information about our experiences with Peter. We very much want him to revisit us in the future, although next time we want Donna here, too.

Cordially,

Dr. Alan Boehm
Head, Special Collections