Locked in Love ~ The Romance Continues: An Inside Look at the Interactive Art Project Inspired by Padlocks

Lee will present a review of her WiVLA (Women in the Visual and Literary Arts) ECO Fund grant project “Locked in Love” inspired by the European custom where newly married couples attach an engraved padlock to a bridge railing and toss the key in the water below to symbolize their commitment to love each other always.

Intrigued by the uniqueness of each padlock (and the sheer quantity of them), Lee decided they each need a ‘back story,’ a love story, to bring them to life. With no way to trace the original lovers, Lee solicited love stories to pair with each padlock photo.

Having always loved to learn how couples met, Lee has asked everyone and anyone to submit their own love story. The catch — each story must be no longer than 30 words. This is so each story will fit on the back of a lock detail photo, printed the same size as ATCs (artist trading cards, 2 1⁄2″ x 3 1/2″) to create our own Locked in Love (LIL) trading cards.

Locked in Love  is an interactive project where each person who shares a story will receive a set of handmade LIL ATCs. Lee created a Facebook page to reach a wider audience for submissions and sharing stories. February, the month of Love, Lee hosted an exhibit and make-and-take where guests can read stories attached to a bridge sculpture, create their own ‘locks’ and toss keys in the water. The romance continues because the Facebook page will remain active for anyone who wants to share a 30-word love story or submit photos of locks from around the world.

Several HFCW members have contributed their stories, and they will be shared during Lee’s presentation.

Lee Steiner is a native Texan and life-long artist. She is an accomplished bookbinder, painter, papermaker, and essay writer as well as book collector, junk re-purposer, and “Finder of Things.” After a lengthy stretch as a painter, during which she created commissioned works for corporate and commercial spaces, public areas in hospitals and restaurants, and private works for individuals with excellent taste, Lee returned to her true love, paper. Founded by Lee, Domestic Papers is her book arts business. Her handmade books feature a “vintage vibe” due to growing up in a creative family of hand makers and antique junk collectors always on the look out for old inspiration. The name Domestic Papers comes from her love of everything paper and her travel to faraway places in search of cool finds for her studio, always returning to her Texas home.

Lee makes custom map travel journals, sketchbooks from library discards, and the one-of-a-kind, warm, blank journals that writers love to get their hands on. She teaches bookbinding at local museums and through her own studio. She serves as president of the Houston Book Arts Guild and maintains a cozy studio in Art Square Studios on Commerce Street. Lee’s latest handmade books can be found at her online shop: http://www.DomesticPapers.etsy.com