Jamila Rufaro: A native New Yorker with roots in Jamaica.
She can quote from every episode of Seinfeld. Her heroes are Rosa Parks and Lisbeth Salander. Juxtaposition that provokes a smile, or even better a laugh, are her favorite.
When I was about eight years old I made paper angels out of notebook paper and sold them to my aunts. In one way or another I’ve been selling my artwork ever since. Paper angels evolved into sand art terrariums and bouquets of flowers made out of formed wire dipped in resin. In Germany I learned the art of making stained glass windows. I also began teaching. Crocheted hats and vests, were all the rage back then.
In the 80s I sold t-shirts with Kinte cloth appliquéd on them. In the 90’s I taught myself peyote stitch and made dozens of amulet purses, necklaces, rings and earrings using small Japanese seed beads.
More recently my focus turned back to paper in the form of card crafting using ephemera, collage techniques and a style called steam punk. Loss of full-time employment led to a collage class, which led to my current obsession with book arts. My work area is pretty cluttered and I love the experience of finding the perfect element to complete a project buried in the rubble.
Jamila Rufaro currently lives and works in Palo Alto, CA and is a member of Bay Area Book Artists. You can see more of her work on her website: www.jamilarufaro.com, her Facebook page for book arts: www.facebook.com/J.BookArts, www.BayAreaBookArtists.org and Etsy: .
