TRAVELING IN A TINY HOME THAT IS REALLY AN ARTISTS' BOOK ON WHEELS

Peter and Donna Thomas have been making fine press and artist's books for over 40 years. When they started, as craftspeople at Renaissance Faires, they fell in love with the graceful beauty of "gypsy wagon" caravans that other vendors had made to sleep in or use as booths for selling their wares. In 2009 Peter and Donna built their own tiny home on wheels, designed after a typical late 19th century Redding Wagon. This blog documents their trips around the country, taken to sell their artists' books, teach book arts workshops, and talk about making books as art; as well as to seek out and experience the beauty of the many different landscapes found across the USA.

Peter and Donna started their business in 1977 and made their first book in 1978, so from 2017-18 are traveling to celebrate 40 years of making books with shows in a dozen libraries across the country. See the schedule on the side bar to find if they are coming to a town near you....

Follow the Wandering Book Artists on Facebook and Instagram!
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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Comic Chattanooga Choo Choo Encounter


We left the folk school with the wagon's roof covered with snow. We followed the Ocoee river west (past the former Olympic site) to Chattanooga where we taught a book arts class at the new community based letterpress shop called Open Press.


After the class I wanted to eat at the Terminal Brewhouse, where we had dinner the last time we were in town. We got downtown already really hungry. We found a crowd flowing out of the brewery door and a 1.5 hour wait. We were bummed and starving. And there were crowds flowing out of every restaurant door. I saw a person wearing a spiderman costume. Donna heard someone saying there was a ‘geek convention’ in town. A bit dispirited, hanging onto our grumpiness, we went into the old Chattanooga railway station, now a hotel, looking for food. We found the hotel was hosting Comicon Chattanooga, "Con Nooga": a gaming and comic conference. We had “dinner in the diner” surrounded by costumed characters and had to let that grumpiness go. How could we keep from smiling, sitting with a Lord of the Ring Orc on one side and Archie & Veronica on the other? After that we got a little video of the wagon and the Choo Choo which is posted below....



And if you are in Nashville come visit us this Saturday when we have the wagon on display and open for visiting from 4-6 at Platetone: Printmaking, Paper, and Book Arts.


2 comments:

Dorie and Sean said...

Ha Ha! What a kick. The company looks exciting, how was the food?
from
Dorie and Sean in too sunny SB

Laurie Becker said...

Now, that's hilarious!