I just pledged $200 for a woven cotton blanket with a Jim Woodring design. It's one of three blankets offered in Beehive Books' latest Kickstarter, Illuminated Tapestries, featuring original artwork from Woodring, Lisa Hanawalt, and Yuko Shimzu.
Each is limited to an edition of five hundred pieces, never to be re-released. They are made entirely of organic cotton, domestically sourced, and woven on looms in South Carolina.
Beehive's own publishing practice, which often features unusual formats, large sizes, and handmade production touches, has been plagued by global supply chain issues caused by COVID, climate, and war for the last few years.
"It's exciting to be able to work domestically, with a family business, to produce such beautiful crafts," says Beehive Books' Josh O'Neill. "Our work with our wonderful partners overseas continues, but everything has become harder in recent years. We always try to look at challenges as opportunities for invention, and this is certainly one. We're so happy to be able to do this project domestically, working with a family of incredible craftspeople in South Carolina, using organic and abundant domestically sourced materials. These blankets make a perfect companion to our books, and come from the same place of love for art and craft."
