Julia Ferrari has been making handmade books for over 30 years in the Monadnock region as a co-founder, with her late partner Dan Carr, of Golgonooza Letter Foundry & Press, utilizing the arts of letterpress printing from metal types and hand bookbinding. As an artist/ printmaker/ poet she works composing books of poetry with original art in small editions on beautiful paper. Throughout this time Julia and Dan regularly found the time to share their skills and vision with students, showing them how to set, proof and print from type. The process of acquiring skill in using their hands taught them the power of art to transform. Since Dan’s death in 2012. Julia, working solo, has continued to take on new students, maintaining the forward motion of the Press. As an artist, she creates one-of-a-kind mono-prints on an etching press. These are sewn (by her) into the hand-printed book, so that each book contains a unique set of prints reflecting a central theme. Julia sees her visual work as the elocution of a language of symbols that express the objects and emotions of human life. Julia is responsible for the design, hand-setting, printing and binding of the finished book, and passing on the craft is important to her. She is currently teaching workshops that blend typography with music in an improvisational process, combining them in unexpected ways. Improvisation for her is a way to avoid stagnancy in creativity, allowing and encouraging students to reach beyond any preconceived limits to a more open, creative place.