As far as he can recall, Wil Phoenix has always been slightly obsessed with books…though not the reading type, but the empty ones…the dusty old journals, the marbled edged Victorian shop ledgers, the small distressed leather notebook or the prized sketch pads. A constant drawer he still carries a sharpened 2B pencil and sketch pad, happily losing himself drawing instead of finger tapping a smart phone. After time he realised he was just feeding a fetish, a borderline obsession. Finally he broke out and started thinking of others…the ultimate indulgent,selfish extension…MAKING!
He identifies as a bookmaker (not a binder) and has kept very few of the thousands he’s crafted over the years. Over recent years he’s managed to combine this with other passions notably history ,film ,comics and selected television.
Making for over 24th years and well established he carefully selects a few events to showcase his work. However the bulk of his income arrives from personalised commissioned pieces.
His work is still in high demand for it seems that even in this world of the cheap and the mass produced there is still a place for the individual, actual unique one of a kind piece.
It’s the variation of the actual commissions that keeps his approach fresh and friendly and is never overly precious about his creations. He “simply makes books “ adding , “to be used, to be enjoyed, books to be filled with adventure, woes and excitement…or just a shopping list” …there’s a book for everyone.
When quizzed why he chose this new event near Basingstoke ? he explained that he has always enjoyed the smaller , more intermit hotel conventions where attendees have more time to Browse and chat and by following the main themes are certainly easier to make for.
So if you get the chance, go find Wil in one of the traders tents and ask to sample his homemade shortbread ( in exchange for a cup of tea he quickly adds )
in the meantime check out his Facebook or instagram to preview the books he’s bringing or if you’ve any questions please feel free to ask. (Apparently he’s a Capricorn, not keen on long walks on a beach or cats on the Internet, but loves Turkish Delight. Oh, and William Shatner once spent twenty minutes getting him show how to draw horses on copper…go figure! Captain Kirk likes to draw…)
