Coincidentally enough, I was searching for a couch for us to crash at in the Salem/Boston area when I got a message from Julie offering us a place to stay for a few nights in her home. She also mentioned her own work as a book and collage artist and so I was further intrigued. Matt and I pulled up to her house on Thursday night and we were warmly introduced to her husband Timothy, their children, Adeline and Henry, (and Chloe, who longer resides at home,) and their puppy Layla.
(totally cool family, by the way!)
We had a delightful time getting to know each other, and the next morning Julie invited me to see her studio and talk about her work. She started off primarily focused on collage and assemblage, but was drawn to the broad range of ideas present in the book arts world.
Her work also covers a range of ideas, but often works with the hidden stories in found objects, photographs, and texts from other places and earlier times. Her definition of a book, like my own, is also rather broad, and her delightful collections fit well into the many subjects that the book arts world chooses to highlight. It was great to hear her talk about the ways she collects these objects and develop them into contemporary artefacts.
Matt and I then headed into Boston to visit the Boston Paper Collective (a soon forthcoming post) and the city itself before returning to Julie’s for a second night. The next morning, we had breakfast together before Julie and Timothy took us to the Peabody Essex museum with a lovely historical Chinese house and a great Man Ray/Lee Miller exhibit. And, with a warm goodbye, they sent us on our way on to NYC.
Julie and the Lutts, thank you so much for your hospitality! We had an excellent time and I’m sure that gracious spirit of yours will come back to y’all in many ways.
