An appreciation of Enid

by Tim Sheesley

I first heard about Enid from a group of her faithful artist friends while teaching lithography at the Cheltenham Art Centre. Merle Spandorfer was taking my class and she was insistent that I meet her friend Enid who was very interested in lithography. It didn’t take long before I was caught up in Enid’s detailed and involved book projects. Beginning with her first book The Bewildering Thread in 1986, we ended up working on a major book project together almost every other year for more than twenty years. In that time my hair went from black to gray, and I moved from Philadelphia to upstate New York. On our many collaborations Enid always greeted me with enthusiasm and excitement about the work we were doing. A tasty lunch and some really good brownies usually accompanied this, whether in Wallingford, Philadelphia or her visits to Otego with Gene.

It was always a pleasure collaborating with Enid. She knew what she wanted and she trusted my skill in helping her find the artistic details that are discovered in a close collaborative effort. She never compromised her vision but was open to suggestions and allowed the process to move in her direction. Her book projects were born in collaboration with writers, friends, colleagues, and constructed in collaboration with letterpress artists, bookbinders, and me. We developed a rapport such that over time I knew what she wanted in her books and we were able to solve many image-making aspects of her work together in our studios.

Enid had the perfect combination of talents necessary for a successful book artist. She maintained and orchestrated a career in the arts that required creativity, vision, and a tremendous amount of personal fortitude, patience, will power, planning, and marketing to achieve her accomplishments. Most importantly she had support and encouragement from her family, friends and the art community. She will be missed.

Tim Sheesley