The designer of this book Irma Boom, won the gold medal for “Most Beautiful Book in the World” prize at the Leipzig Book Fair for this book. When I heard that I had to check it out. It is pretty amazing. I was afraid to touch it since the exterior is completely white- matte paper. The book displays over fifty of artist Sheila Hick’s woven textile pieces. The cover is embossed with what looks like one of Sheila’s tightly weaved pieces. The book is very thick, almost feeling like a big block. The pages have been cut in such an irregular, textured way that the sides of the book feel like a woven piece themselves. It’s really nice to run your fingers on. The inside layout of the book also has a lot of white too that frames photographs of Sheila’s work. And wow, Sheila’s work is amazing. She weaves with all kinds of material- from the normal wool, cotton and linen to the more experimental stainless steel fiber, Japanese rice paper, razor clam shells, rubber bands and goat’s hair. Each one looks like a well composed abstract painting but also with the added incredible texture. So does it deserve the title-most beautiful in the world? I have a few other nominations for that title but this book has definitely made it to my top ten. Pick up a copy here. Learn more about this book here, Sheila Hicks here and Irma Boom here. (Thanks Rena for the suggestion of this book.)

© Julia Rothman 2007