Erin Fletcher : Fine Binding & Edition Binding
Roald Dahl: Series
Buy Some Damn Art is run by blogger and art enthusiast Kate Singleton, who features an up-and-coming artist each Tuesday for a 6-week period. In October 2012, BSDA exhibited six new bindings of mine based on six different Roald Dahl titles. The stories of Roald Dahl are the most memorable from my childhood and continue to captivate me into my adult life. I knew the whimsical attributes of his tales would provide a playful and expressive platform for my bindings. Please scroll down the page to see all six titles. 

In addition to the online exhibition is an interview conducted by Kate, which can be found in the archives at Buy Some Damn Art.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
published by the Penguin Group. London, England. 1996.
Printed in England by Clays Ltd., St Ives PLC


Private Collection, UK

Bound as a modified Bradel in three parts. Spine covered in Hahnemuhle Ingres Earth. Boards are covered in Hahnemuhle Ingres Earth and collaged with a variety of different papers including Red Lokta, Moriki Avocado, Red Walnut Cave Paper, Rose, Sand and Antique Ingres. Edges painted with acrylic paint and distressed with sandpaper. Paper wrapped headbands in red walnut Cave Paper. Endpapers in Red Walnut Cave Paper. Title stamped with a sans serif typeface in brown foil.

Book is housed in a clamshell box covered in brown Canapetta. Trays covered in Moriki Avocado and lined with Hahnemuhle Ingres Rose.

15.2cm x 23.3cm x 1.5cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
In the story of Fantastic Mr. Fox, the title character devises a devious plan to outsmart three very dim-witted farmers in order to steal from their prosperous farms to feed his fellow wildlife friends. The design of the binding reflects this through abstract geometric representations of the farms and the underground tunnels dug by the creatures in the book.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by The Folio Society. London, England. 2002.
Printed in Great Britain at Cambridge University Press.


Private Collection, UK

Bound as a modified Bradel in three parts. Spine covered in black Hahnemuhle ingres and gold Ferro paper. Boards are covered with smoke Hahnemuhle ingres. Design creating with several paper onlays with black ingres, lime green Cave Paper, purple Lokta and echizen ribbon Japanese paper. Head edge painted with a gold fluid acrylic/paste mixture. Fore edge and tail painted with a light grey acrylic paint/paste mixture. Headbands are wrapped in paper to match spine. Endpapers in gold Ferro and black Hahnemuhle ingres. Title stamped with a sans serif typeface in gold foil.

Book is housed in a clamshell box covered in black Iris bookcloth. Trays covered in smoke Hahnemuhle ingres and lined with light gray ingres.

14.5cm x 20.7cm x 2cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's most eccentric character is certainly Willy Wonka. The design of the binding is a geometric representation of Wonka's appearance collaged across both covers. The gold endpapers are reminiscent of the coveted Golden Ticket.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.
The Enormous Crocodile - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by Jonathan Cape. London, England. 1988


Private Collection, UK

Bound as a millimeter structure with a scant amount of black goatskin at the head and tail of the spine that runs across the joint and onto the boards. Covers wrapped in black Hahnemuhle ingres. Black crocodile onlay on front cover. Leather wrapped headbands in black goatskin. Edges painted with a black acrylic paint/paste mixture. Endpapers in vibrant green Lokta. Title stamped with a sans serif typeface with silver foil.

Book housed in a clamshell box covered in black Iris bookcloth. Trays covered in black Iris bookcloth and lined with black Hahnemuhle ingres. Volara foam lines the outer tray to protect the textured crocodile skin. Box secured with black satin ribbon.

20.5cm x 26.6cm x .8 - 1.6cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
To rid the jungle of the horrid crocodile, the elephant flings him straight into the blazing sun to be scorched alive. The text is bound completely in black to reflect the unfortunate demise of the crocodile.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.
James and the Giant Peach - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by Viking (Penguin Group, London) 1995.
Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St. Ives PLC


Private Collection, UK

Bound in the Rubow millimeter structure. Chartreuse buffalo skin lines the head and tail edge of the boards. Covers wrapped with handmade paste paper by the binder. Hand sewn headbands with polyester thread. Edges painted with an acrylic paint/paste mixture and distressed with sandpaper. Endpapers in red walnut Cave Paper. Title hand tooled with Centaur handle letters through brown foil.

Book is housed in a clamshell box covered in brown Canapetta bookcloth. Trays covered in Hahnemuhle Ingres Smoke and lined with Moriki Avocado.

15.9cm x 22.9cm x 2cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
A handful of enchanted and mischievous crocodile tongues sets James on a magical journey to freedom and independence. The handmade paste paper decorating this binding is an illustration of these marvelous little creatures.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.
The Twits - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by Jonathan Cape, London. 1980


Private Collection, UK

Bound in the Rubow millimeter structure. White buffalo skin lines the head edge and blue-grey buffalo skin lines the tail edge of the boards. Covers wrapped in handmade paste paper by the binder. Leather wrapped headbands correspond with leather edge. Edges painted with a light grey acrylic paint/paste mixture. Endpapers in smoke Hahnemuhle ingres. Title hand tooled with Centaur brass handle letters in carbon.

Book housed in a clamshell box covered in black Iris bookcloth and smoke Hahnemuhle ingres. Trays covered in smoke ingres and lined with light grey ingres.

14.7cm x 22.8cm x 1.3cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
The Twits are a nasty couple that live to play nasty tricks on each other. As a child, I reread this story so many times and the one trick that stuck with me was the spaghetti dinner. Mrs. Twit prepared a scrumptious meal of worms for Mr. Twit and dressed it up as spaghetti; she only revealed the prank after he had began devouring the meal. The handmade paste paper reflects this evil prank from the story.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.
The BFG - by Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
Published by Jonathan Cape; London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, Chatham, Kent


Private Collection, UK

Bound in the Rubow millimeter structure. Amadine buffalo skin lines the head edge and scarlet goatskin lines tail edge of the boards. Covers wrapped with handmade paste paper by the binder; paste mixture is made of acrylic paint, vinegar and sugar. Leather wrapped headbands correspond to edge of board. Head edge painted to match amadine buffalo skin, fore edge painted light grey and tail edge painted to match scarlet goatskin. Endpapers made from laminated cucumber papyrus onto Hahnemuhle ingres. Title hand tooled with Centaur handle letters through silver foil.

Book is housed in a clamshell box covered in silver Canapetta bookcloth and light gray Hahnemuhle ingres. Trays covered in light gray ingres and lined with smoke ingres.

15.8cm x 23cm x 2.1cm - Completed in 2012


Exhibition History
  • Online exhibition for Buy Some Damn Art


Artist Statement
At night, the BFG creeps into villages collecting and administering dreams to all the children. He has amassed quite a collection of jars, each filled with dreams or nightmares. The dreams appear as cloudscapes of brilliant blues, while the nightmares raged as dark red clouds. The handmade paste paper reflects these treasures collected by the BFG. The endpapers are made from cucumber papyrus to represent the BFG's most favorite food: snozzcumbers.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.