Donald Glaister is a book artist now living and working on Vashon Island, Washington. He began his bookbinding career after taking degrees in painting and sculpture from San Jose State College in California, and studying binding privately with Barbara Hiller in San Francisco, and Pierre Aufschneider and Roger Arnoult in Paris.

While working within the classical framework of the European binding form, Don’s professional career of more than twenty years in design bookbinding has centered on the exploration, development, and use of unexpected binding materials, visual humor, and spontaneous expression. His recent work includes an edition of sixty painted books entitled “Brooklyn Bridge: A Love Song” (see foolsgoldstudio.com), in which Don wrote poetry, made paintings and material studies, and produced the bindings. He is currently working on an edition of artist’s books exploring the physical and spiritual aspects of wooden sail boats.

Don has taught binding and design privately and as Professor of Book Arts at the University of Alabama.

Don’s bindings appear in private collections throughout North America and Europe, and in institutional collections such as The Library of Congress, The National Gallery of Art, The Getty Research Institute, The Lilly Library at Indiana University, The Ruth Mortimer Collection at Smith College, The Bridwell Library at S.M.U., The Houghton Library at Harvard University, The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, and The National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague.