Sonya Macdonald will be selling her creations at the Design Exchange Market next month.
THE buzz today might be about iPads and blogs, but one woman in Napoleons is still perfecting the art of bookbinding.
For Sonya Macdonald, it runs in the family. She inherited the skill from her uncle Barry, who bound volumes for the South Australian Parliament – she even has his apprenticeship notes.
Of her creations, Ms Macdonald says: “They’re made to last a lifetime. They’re made to be tactile.”
While the weather is still too cold for her to start any leatherwork – it doesn’t dry well until at least November – Ms Macdonald is keeping busy this spring.
Next month, she will be one of the stallholders at the Design Exchange Market.
Ms Macdonald said the event offered something different for craftspeople of the Ballarat region.
“The people who go there are looking for something local, something handmade and something that represents art or a rare trade,” she said.
Ms Macdonald said most of her regular sales through the year were online to customers in the US and Britain.
“They can see the work online and see the quality,” she said.
The Design Exchange will be the first time Ms Macdonald has offered her works at a market – and she is still a bit nervous.
“I’m scared to death,” she said.
The Design Exchange will be held on Sunday, October 7 at the Mining Exchange on Lydiard St.
