Check out my New Blog! Parkhurst Paper Arts is home base for native Pacific Northwest artist, Randi Parkhurst. Randi is a full-time artist and arts instructor, specializing in artists' books and handmade art papers. Her work is featured at galleries and art shows throughout the Northwest. Randi lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington State with her husband and their beloved Chihuahua.

Randi's latest works include books in boxes, made exclusively from her own handmade, marbled or embellished papers. These books challenge the perception of what a book is. In her latest piece, Patience, the viewer is taken on a journey like that of a puzzle or Russian dolls: A book within a box contains a book within a box...Randi says. "I want my audience to expect the unexpected when viewing my work. My books are to be handled and played with. Unlike a book with words telling a story, my books tell a story by enticing the viewer to open and explore them. Their rich papers are textured and there are little books nestled inside cubbyholes to pull out and open. My books' 'stories' are about the journey and the surprises along the way."

 The Evergreen State College Library has acquired two of Randi's artists' books for their Rare Books Room collection. Her piece entitled "Ocean Passports" won the Honorable Mention at the 2008 Capitol City Visual Arts Exhibition at the Minnaert Center for the Arts.

"I am happy to say I do my creative work full-time.The challenge of making something intricate is what keeps me interested in making art. I like complicated plans that I have to draw out on graph paper,” says Randi. “It seems that all my experience as an artist has led me to and prepared me for the world of books and boxes. My work now consists of not just 2-dimensional work, but sculptural pieces as well. An artists' book engages the viewer, just as a theatre or dance performance does. It has a beginning, a middle and an end.”

For over 20 years Randi has been making handmade papers and embellished art papers. Her papers may be painted in several layers of transparent colors or they may contain a grid pattern of threads between two sheets of paper. She also makes papers that have the look and texture of rich leather or tree bark. Each sheet is an hour's worth of work. Her artists' books are filled with these tactile and lovely papers. "Making my own papers to use in my art work gives me a sense that what I'm making is truly original," she says.

Randi is a self-taught artist and continues to learn new techniques by attending art workshops and intensives around the country. In May of 2008 and 2009, she attended master bookbinding workshops at the Paper and Book Intensive,  studying with renowned book artists Hedi Kyle, Gillian Boal, Dolph Smith, James Reid-Cunnigham, Barbara Mauriello and William Drendell.

Randi also teaches art workshops in the fine arts and crafts fields. Her next workshop is Leather and Bark Papers at the Seattle Center for Book Arts on August 9th. She enjoyed teaching papermaking at The Evergreen State College in 2008 and continues to offer classes in Olympia, WA with Floating Leaf Studios. When asked about teaching, Randi says, "I encourage would-be artists and those whom have put aside their talent, for whatever reason, to find that creative person inside them. It is one of my greatest joys to see that 'ah-ha' moment on the face of one of my students. I learn so much from them, too."