What Rosemary Ponnekanti of the Tacoma News Tribune had to say about the exhibition;

     “With amazing dexterity, Mark Hoppmann shows what beauty can be created through simple pen and ink (or at least calligraphy nibs, colored India ink, conte crayons and graphite). Inspired by historical illustrations such as “The Book of Kells,” Hoppmann makes textures and borders with every imaginable linework: hatching, cross-hatching, flaring geometric shapes, curlicues, patchwork. It’s the ultimate doodle, intricate and flawless ” …..An art book that anyone who sees will instantly covet…” ©2012 The Tacoma News Tribune

     Each handmade book contains over 117 illustrations with virtually no text except where text is part of an illustration.  "I wanted the illustrations to speak for themselves."  Any additional text such as used for the colophon or title page was  composed in pen & ink just as the illustrations were.   After completion, the illustrations, rendered predominately with a dip pen using India ink and sometimes supported with graphite, conté  crayon, or colored pencil were scanned and laid out into pages, which are then output from an inkjet printer using archival inks onto 90 pound Canson Classic Cream® drawing paper.   Once the pages are hand deckled, they are folded, collated, and bound into a leather cover wrapped around the book block and held in place with bamboo clasps, driftwood, or some other found object.  The leather used for each book, is five to six ounce  vegetable tanned cow leather which is dyed and punched by hand by the artist.  As a final step, the books are then placed into handmade wooden boxes created by the artist, implementing used and found hinges, driftwood, rope, and..... a lot of rust.  Just as no two books are alike, so are no two boxes.  The book is available in two sizes in limited editions of 50 each.