September’s a time of organization and creativity. So in the spirit of the season, what better way to center those skills than with a masterfully hand-bound journal from Bay Area-based artist e bond? Remnants is a series of 25 one-of-a-kind handcrafted journals cloaked in carefully considered collage work with brilliantly hand sewn bindings.
Each 7 ¼”x5 ¾” book contains 64 two-toned blank pages that offer a magical multiplicity of ways to live with art. Her notebooks are richly textured works of art on the outside and true blank slates within. As collectors, we love that e bond’s work feels excitingly expansive and elastic.
And before you check us on a typo, bond’s full given name is a lowercase “e”, and there’s a kind of synchronicity between her namesake and the work she makes. Like her name, her art doesn’t give it all away up front. It invites inquiry, a little getting-to-know. It’s open, free-feeling and enigmatic. Much of her artwork has an organic, layered quality, the occasional poignant quote adding poetic oomph.
bond’s been making handmade journals under the studio name roughdraftbooks since 2003, a project that started with her building the books she sought for herself. Her one-of-a-kind creations blur the line between artwork and utilitarian object. Back in 2019, we released our first edition of notebooks with bond. A harmonious duet with her debut edition (re)surfacing, (re)journal was a meditation on the beautifully ambiguous, omnipresent nature of emotional spaces—the places where, she rightfully notes, we spend more time than anywhere else.
With (re)journal selling out shortly after release, we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome a new iteration of bond’s gorgeous notebooks to our collection. The covers of each Remnants journal feature unique college designs combined in 25 harmonious but distinctive ways. The book blocks are hand sewn onto bands using linen thread. If you’re worried they’re too pretty to write in, join the club, but take it from us: once you get over that, the pleasure of putting pen to these spectacularly sheathed pages is unmatched in its special sorcery. When you jot something down in Remnants, it just feels right, like you’re giving some well-deserved love to anything worth writing or doodling. Even a grocery list gets a lift.
Sorta makes you rethink the role of functional objects, and the nobility of the ordinary. Why shouldn’t everything we interact with ooze specialness? Remnants journals on our desks represent the fusion of art with everyday life in way that’s totally irresistible to people like us—and we’re betting you’re also on board.
