June is Member’s Month here at the Book Arts Center, and we’re thrilled to continue spotlighting some of our dedicated and hardworking members! This week, we’re looking at Belinda Covell! Covell is a Buffalonian verging on one year of membership at the WNY Book Arts Center, and she’s made it clear that she’s loved every second of it, naming the Center as one of her very favorite places to be. Belinda began her involvement by taking letterpress classes, saying the experience was “love at first block.” (Get it? Like printing block? No? Okay.) During her first class, she was lent an interrobang, a block which combines the exclamation point and question mark, and immediately felt hooked by the letterpress printing process.
Belinda has printed greeting cards and books, and has even eaten one! (At the Edible Book Festival, that is…) When asked about a favorite piece that she’s created, she names her rose designed cards, which she uses for “every card-giving opportunity” she can find. Belinda describes her experiences with the Book Arts Center as “life-improving,” bordering on life-changing, feeling it is a wonderful resource for “all things bookish.” Belinda emphasizes the kindness and generosity of the Book Arts community, and felt that when the opportunity to volunteer with the Book Arts Center arose, it was an “of course!” moment for her, no hesitation needed. Belinda accentuates the point that “knowledge is power,” no matter the context, and that the Book Arts Center has provided her with that power.