christine trexel
Books have been an integral part of Christine Trexel’s life since early childhood. She grew up on a farm in southeastern Colorado and spent many happy hours lost inside the pages of a book. She firmly believes a day without time set aside for reading is an incomplete day.
As an adult, she began her journey of creating her own books, which led to boxes, and then to making paper while living in Oregon. She has been fortunate to have taken a wide variety of classes at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, as well as, with internationally known artists in bookbinding and papermaking.
Christine lived in Panama for years where she learned to harvest and process plants from her garden to make paper for the books and boxes she creates. The wealth of vegetation, forested experimentations, and a great love of learning.
“It is truly a magical experience to convert a growing thing into a beautiful piece of paper”.
Christine uses high-quality materials in constructing her books and boxes, believing that each individual piece deserves the best. The thought of someone writing on the blank pages pleases her. Perhaps her creation helps facilitate their creation; what kind of writings might there be—ideas, fancies, dreams, fears, hopes, despairs, comforts, musings, histories—anything could become part of it.
“People often say I couldn’t bring myself to write in it; but on the contrary; the book’s life would be unfulfilled without their contribution.”
Christine is married to Clark, a talented woodworker, and a model shipbuilder. They live in Astoria on the sunny south slope with their menagerie of three dogs and three cats.
Christine’s work has been carried in the following galleries:
Bambusillo, El Valle, Panama
Papyro Yo, Panama City, Panama
Christine spent an inspiring week in late June 2017 at the Biennial Focus on Book Arts Conference as a member of the planning committee.
The conference attracts participants from around the country with a wide variety of workshops taught by well-known book artists. It was an opportunity to learn new techniques and network with some truly amazing artists.
Christine was proud to have her piece "Building the Universe: The Platonic Solids" selected for a juried book arts show at 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland this past April. The piece was purchased and will reside in the Bainbridge Island Art Museum.
