There is only so much you can learn from YouTube

Tragically, unlocking a new skill often comes with an inflated sense of confidence in our abilities. Once we first compare our work to that of a master, our confidence quickly fades. Those familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect know this juncture as descending into the “Valley of Despair”. From the valley, one feels as though they’ve exhausted their resources for learning, yet they still recognize a massive gap between the quality of their work, and the quality they desire to achieve.

If you stick with your craft from this point forward, you’ll no longer be advancing in leaps and bounds.

As bookbinding grew from interest into passion (and then into consuming artistic purpose vehicle and lifestyle pillar), so too did my confidence in my abilities.

Just as quickly as I convinced myself that I was GOATED however, I became conscious of my relative incompetence.

During this frustrating time when inspiration was hard to come by, I found the work of Eiko Nakao.

Eiko Nakao (79) established Atelier Eiko with her husband Yoshi in Osaka, Japan 44 years ago. In the time since, she’s created a massive body of work and exhibited her book art around the world. Eiko’s works, which feature complicated patchworks of material, show that there’s much more to a book than the contents of its pages.

Eiko’s mastery of leather is most evident in her case binding of LE TOUR DU MONDE EN 80 JOURS. 80 distinct textures are brilliantly combined to make an explosive “80” across the case. This was the book (2nd prize - French International Bookbinding Biennale, 2005) that made me write Eiko and ask if she would consider teaching me some techniques. I didn’t mention anything about the valley of despair.

She graciously accepted. I made bullet train arrangements to visit her studio.

I arrived at Atelier Eiko early on a Thursday in May. After exchanging business cards and gifts (as is customary is Japan) we discussed my admiration for her full-leather case bindings, a technique I was eager to learn.

For seven hours, we worked while I furiously took notes. She seemed considerably less fatigued than I after a full day of concentration. Clearly, I was still swimming in the kiddy pool while she had been ripping laps like Phelps for decades.

“I will see you tomorrow again at 10:00am” vocalized the robotic Google Translate voice from her phone.

The brief visit that I had planned to her atelier turned into two full days of collaboration. When it was over, I could hardly believe what I’d made.

To work with madame Nakao is to experience mastery. She commands needle and thread more natively than most do a fork and knife. Her hands, which likely have double my grip strength, work without hesitation. Her graceful cadence and atelier full of highly-customized tools give the impression that she’s bound more books than I have hairs on my head.

Since my Japanese was limited to phrases needed for ordering beer and saying thank you for beer, we didn’t have the luxury of shooting the breeze too much. That’s not to say that we had any challenge communicating. A natural teacher, Eiko’s movements are so deliberate and demonstrative that one reaches a mutual understanding with her simply by watching.

Eiko is kind, methodical and above all, patient.

Being surrounded on all four sides by magnificent books and world-class equipment gives one the feeling of working in a sacred arena. With the trust and tutelage of my sensei, I found profound focus. I could feel new neural pathways dedicated to bookbinding strengthening with each passing hour. I watched the valley of despair fade behind me as I took my first steps up the slope of enlightenment.

Working with Eiko leveled-up my XP bar roughly 30 times and simultaneously humbled me back to level one. I left feeling like I knew both everything and nothing at all about bookbinding. Such is learning.

Making a book is an endless source of fun.

The octopus is a symbol cemented in the iconography of Osaka, thanks to it being the birthplace of takoyaki (fried batter balls filled with octopus).

I found this to be a fitting coincidence, given an octopus is the only animal capable of matching Eiko’s dexterity.

Readers of Bounty Archive can view selected works from Atelier Eiko here: