islands fold

islands fold publishing is one of those lovely little treasures that you find on the west coast that somehow dives under the radar while doing everyone the huge favour of existing.

islands fold is an independent publisher and artist residency created and operated by angela conley and luke ramsey. islands fold carries a wide range of small books, prints, and even tees that are created by artists who are members of the i.f. stable of chums and associates, or who are actually living in-residence supported by those people who choose to purchase their publications and products online.

what’s very cool about this company is that islands fold invites artists to their residency free of charge, where they get to collaborate and produce unique art. it’s an admirable model that may or may not be producing wealthy artists but it is producing amazing art works at very reasonable prices.

i’ve bought several items from islands fold and they arrive in plain envelopes that have been handwritten - well of course - but there’s little doodles on the envelope and a thoughtful little note on the receipt that tells me that this is a very human arts/business.

my favourite item so far has been a book called the diamond. illustrated by english artist jim stoten. islands fold’s eleventh artist-in-residence, the diamond is a graphically gorgeous book that incidentally contains a story about searching for all the wrong things in all the right places. it starts off with three characters who discover a large diamond floating up high in the trees. they are unable to reach the diamond and the story unfolds from there. the comic took jim two years to create. the book design was made by luke ramsey. each book takes about 25 minutes to assemble by hand! did i say that it's a stunning, beautiful, and lovely little book?!!
well.
the end product is sensational!

jim’s site is eclectic and full of his art - finished and in-progress - and there's even a downloadable book of his.

be sure to visit islands fold and scour the site. there are gems and even diamonds to be found there!