Welcome to Ateliê Urucum!

A place dedicated to handmade bookbinding

Pleasure to meet you, my name is Julia Maria

Hello, my name is Julia Maria. In this first post I wanted to introduce myself, share a little bit of my story with handmade bookbinding and tell you about Ateliê Urucum and this blog.

Since the beginning of my career as an educator, psychologist and Early Childhood teacher, I cherished the importance of making things with my own hands and of staying connected with art. By making things with my own hands I can better understand the characteristics of each object, I can notice how they are made, and stay connected with the human process of creating tools, art, clothes, and books. 

In bookbinding, for example, something very powerful happens when we create a book with materials like paper and thread. The feeling of seeing a notebook taking shape is wonderful. Making books gives me time and opportunities for ideas to arise! When I am sewing a book I feel my whole body connected and present in the process and many times I get engaged in deep reflections that are connected to different aspects of life. I feel connected to human creations. 

Books for life

I started Ateliê Urucum because I've always been in love with hand made books. This passion was built with dear friends of mine. We would go on outings and draw together in our notebooks. I use these notebooks in many different ways and each one of them had different purposes in my life: 

Travel notebooks! Pages occupied by my writings, collages and drawings of the places that I visited. They help me to remember and to get to know the places. Paul Valéry once said “There is a huge difference between seeing something without a pencil in your hand and seeing it while drawing it" (2012). I agree with this idea, the act of drawing brings a very specific type of presence and attention to the physical space, by drawing I can learn more about the place and elements that surrounds the spaces I'm visiting. Afterwards, I can build memories, it is always wonderful to revisit a book and to remember. 

Notebooks to write and get in touch with emotions and to register everyday life. I can write the famous to-do list, which organizes "my head" and makes it possible to prioritize what I'll do on the next day. These books support me to maintain a balance in our fast-paced contemporary life. 

Notebooks to write down an amazing lecture. Notebook to sit in a caffe and record the reflections and wonders of a powerful and beautiful exhibition that was visited a few moments ago. Sometimes, I would draw a simple map, to remember how the rooms were organized and to recall each piece of work that left an impression on me. 

Notebooks to learn, to connect with others, to elaborate feelings and ideas, to create projects and to make your ideas happen. Notebooks to experience the passion and enthusiasm of living together.

Book binding - research, action and constant learning process

These books became so much a part of my life that I started to get interested in the work of artists who made handmade books. I saw handmade books with a variety of structures, folds and cuts. Artists created different structures and use a variety of materials and types of papers. Since then, I decided that I wanted to learn and to get connected with the act of making books.

During this time, I also learned a lot from the children who I see every day! They invent books with paper and use a stapler, tape or string to connect their pages. I saw beautiful books being invented by these skilled hands. Children are constantly teaching us about the value of life and they often reveal their desire to build little notebooks to draw and write their stories, projects and inventions.

Handmade books made with thread and needle. I've been learning so much in this journey of sewing and connecting sheets of paper with different types of folds and stitches. And I still have a lot more to learn. Handmade bookbinding happens together, it is taught from one person to another. And most (or everything) of what I have done so far is due to the contact and learning with thousands of other people who are as passionate as I am about this art, the act of hand bounding books.

Ateliê Urucum: handmade book and blog. 

Urucum's books are made with quality material and I wish that the person who receives these books can occupy the pages in the most varied ways.

I have much more to share about Ateliê Urucum. This is a space that allows me to share my learning processes with you. Connecting with people is at the core of the making process. This blog also supports me to continue researching, reflecting and learning about the art of making books. 

Thank you! Let's dive into this creative journey together!