In the Beginning…
Welcome to the very first Renaissance Art blog post! We’re happy that you’ve joined us, and hope you keep coming back for more behind the scenes goings on in the studio here.
Renaissance Art started about ten years ago, when founder Arthur Scharf found himself inspired to start writing in a journal again. Thus began his search to find the perfect journal to record his ideas, thoughts, adventures, and visualizations – something simple, something handmade, and special enough that he would want to use it on a daily basis. The End.
Hold on – not that simple. Arthur scoured the city, even venturing out to the neighboring towns in order to find this journal. Nothing matched his needs, which wasn’t a particular ‘look’ or ‘brand’, but a vague notion of wanting something that had a quality that would foster his creativity and continue to do so on a daily basis. Arthur soon realized that if he was going to have what he wanted – he would have to make it.
For months, he spent all his evenings in bookstores, reading about book construction, paper, boxes, finally culminating with his first attempt to make a handmade paper book. The End.
OK, again, not really the end. Actually, Arthur gave the first book he ever made to a friend who was about to go on a student exchange in Spain. One book for one friend turned into many books for many friends, and soon Arthur found himself making enough books that he began to sell them at summer art festivals. His customers provided the feedback he needed in order to refine his work and expand his line of products. Soon after, he began making his signature leather covers.
In 2002, Kristel Driessens joined Arthur as both his partner in Renaissance Art and in life. Together, they are responsible for all the designs and have put their work, from journals to photo albums, portfolio and stationery, in stores all across the country. You won’t have to struggle like Arthur had to in order to find the right leather book; the quality you seek for your inspiration is here now.
To Be Continued…
Tags: Arthur, Kristel, Renaissance Art, The Beginning
March 21st, 2008 at 7:30 am
[...] a suitable replacement, we decided to just get our own sewing machine start making our own bags (sound familiar?). We also use the machine to sew up all of our book covers, bags, moleskine products, menus and [...]