What do you do again?

ecently, a dear friend of mine, Noelle, wrote about the transformation she has undergone since starting her graduate schooling and how, against all odds, she finally sees her place in the world. Graduate School has been the greatest thing I have ever done. Sure, I haven't had a good night's rest in over a year, and yeah, the massive amounts of debt resting on my shoulders keep me tethered to a Mr. Burns-like posture... But  similar to Noelle, graduate school has transformed my life.

I have always been a bit of a hippie child, thanks to my Dadu. But at times I have also been complacent with the convenience and consumerism of mainstream American culture. Book Arts works in direct opposition with these trends. The notion of craft is impossible to concretely define, as so many people have differing perceptions of the word and its meaning. But for any person who has labored consciously and deliberately with their hands to produce a piece of work which inspires reverence for the beauty, the precision, the form, and the execution of the piece understands what I mean when I say craft. It is the craftsmanship required in letterpress printing, bookbinding, and papermaking that makes the art form so valuable in our culture of consumption and disposal. When you hold a book in your hands and realize that the papers made from old rags, formed by precise and acute muscle memory of the maker, each letter in each word in each sentence in each paragraph on each page was set individually, one at a time, spaced specifically such that the text is most easily read by the viewer, the form of the book has been pieced together deliberately, each section sewn into the following, the spine covered with various adhesives, papers, and fabrics to allow the most flexibility for function and the most strength for longevity, you soon see the value in the object, the craftsmanship of the maker, and just how much we take for granted. How easily we forget what gratification can be had with working with our hands, how life altering it can be to create something, how grounded one feels when they remember the feeling of touch. How easily we forget this country was built by craftsman, artisans,  and farmers; how easily we forget this country was built with hands. Prominent culture in America places highest value on monetary gains, rather than personal gains.

My graduate experience has reinforced to me the power and importance of individual achievement concerning the expansion of ones knowledge, intellect, craft, and self fulfillment. Like Noelle, I am doing that what I love and can't express how happy I am to be able to do it, how grateful I am for the opportunity to cultivate these skills and values, and just how lucky I am that I found not only something that will make me happy, but something I am meant to do. I will never be rich doing what I do. But I will be happy and fulfilled. How many insurance salesmen can claim that?


*The amazing display cap above is by Jessica Hische, an amazing designer I came across in my perpetual search for awesome design and typography. The letter comes from her Daily Drop Cap project. 

First Big Conference

Last month I had the privilege to attend the American Printing History Association meeting, hosted by the Chesapeake chapter, held at the Corcoron College of Art + Design in Washington D.C. My professor was one of the main speakers and what better opportunity to attend my first conference.

Before the conference started the participants were offered a variety of tours to places like the the Library of Congress Rare Book room, the Government Printing Office, and the National Museum of American History. I chose the NMAH. First we traveled to the bowels of the building to visit the print shop. Due to possible lead contamination from the type, we all had to wear little hospital booties so we wouldn't track the lead through the rest of the museum. Inside there were a number of presses including a Chandler & Price clamshell platen press, a Vandercook SP25 Power flatbed press, three Civil War era  proof presses that were used on the battlefields, and a couple other presses I've never seen or heard of before and sadly don't remember the names. Then we moved onto the print collection room on a different floor of the museum where I got to see and touch an original Kelmscott Press Edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales!! I was so transfixed, I took about a million pictures of it, but of course nothing can compare to seeing the real thing. After the print room we went to the Dibner Library to look at collections of rare books including an original Galileo printed text about the moon, and a medieval medical text depicting "Wound Man," an illustration of a man who suffers all manner of wounds likely to inflict a medieval man.

After a short walk across the Mall, I enjoyed some refreshments and conversations at the Corcoron before listening to a beautiful talk by Boot Arts scholar Betty Bright. The New York Center for Book Arts had a panel discussing how they manage their facility. The Chesapeake chapter of the APHA had a panel discussing how they became printers, how they acquired equipment, and how they function as a group. Kathleen Walkup discussed the program she runs out of Mills College in Berkley, Ca. Lyll Harris, Kathleen's student, gave a wonderful presentation on one of the projects she has been working on involving using an medieval italian text as inspiration and model for a piece of her own. My professor, Steve Miller, spoke about his history in the Book Arts, how is work is driven by collaborations with authors and artists, and the people who have been most influential to him. His speech was so inspiring and encouraging for an up and comer as he illustrated how open and supportive communities are and the importance of establishing and maintaining them.

We also were able to go to the Corcoron's Georgetown campus and check out their printmaking facilities and listen to many more small sessions from how to use book arts to artfully represent scientific research to the logisctics of running your own shop, either independently or within an institution. It is amazing how inventive people can be in order to do what they love. We were so blessed to be able to have our closing reception in the Georgetown University Library, over looking the Potomac. The whole experience was so wonderful to experience and inspiring to know there are so many other passionate people who are excited and active.

While I was in DC, I was able to spend some time with my brother, Danny, who I don't get to spend much time with. We had a glorious few days of reckless dining, rogue pedestrianism, and irresponsible consumption of cheap doemstic beer which we are both too old to really do anymore. It was lovely. Highlight of the Weekend: Danny holding this puppy like a tuckered out toddler.

Lessons learned about Papermaking from Letterpress Printing

unny thing about Graduate School is that you never have any time for anything but school, work, and a little sleep. I've been told this is not everyone's experience with grad school. My dad brags about how he had more time in grad school than any time in his life. I do not, hence my ghastly maintenance of this blog. It should be of comfort to all that my absence is merely a result of throwing myself head first into my program and not just being lazy.

This semester has been a whirlwind of making paper, designing, printing, sharpening knives, and paring leather plus so much more. Its amazing how much work 15 credit hours really is. I recently finished a recipe book of my family's Thanksgiving recipes. Its a powerful experience when you come to the end of a project and reflect back on the efforts extended to create this object. This was my first project in which I made the paper. Let me tell you, there is nothing that teaches you about papermaking more than printing on it. I learned so much about how you want to form the sheets for letterpress printing. I used old cotton t shirts Boy and I had lying around. You would never know that the cotton had pit stains and the like from the bright white sheets I pulled. I don't know the science behind it, but somehow when I turned off the Hollander beater to drain my pulp, that cotton looked virginal, as my friend Mukti would say.

In pulling the sheets, I was too stingy on the amount of pulp in the vat and too generous with the amount of water. The result was very thin sheets. And I mean thin. I was determined to stick with them for my book however.

As for the book cover, I made the paper from seasonally patterned fabric I found at the fabric store. At the time I was more concerned about the color and didn't really think about the quality of the fabric. Big mistake. The fabric was similar to the cotton calico prints you can get for quilting but was very low in quality. The Hollander blew the fibers apart such that running your fingers through the pulp, you felt nothing. Ordinarily, you can feel the pulp run through your fingers with the consistency of whipped rice, or shredded wheat.

Each couch (pronounced cooch) resulted in half a sheet on the felt and half still on the mould. Out of the whole vat which should have rendered 20ish sheets, I only got out 5. I was so disappointed. I did the math and were I to be creative, I could still cover the majority for the edition. And the color was spot on.

During for first print run, I realized that I really needed to dampen my paper. Dampening paper, while it sounds scary, is actually one of the best things you can do to produce a quality print and impression. Imagine you spilled a glass of wine on the counter. You grab your dry, hard kitchen sponge to clean it up. You get some of the wine, but you certainly didn't absorb very much. But when you dampen the sponge and then lap up the puddle, you are able to really absorb it. It is the same with dampening paper and printing. Moisture is attracted to and bonds with moisture. It works that way in papermaking, it works that way in printing. The ink absorbs so much more on dampened paper. You have cleaner lines, more even inking, gorgeous impression, and a print that is so fun to roll off the cylinder you get chills every time. With each meeting of paper and type, the printer feels the embrace which really teaches you what it means to create a lasting impression. But all puns aside, it is a practice altering moment for printers and one that not many practice anymore in the interest of speed and convenience.


So what did I learn about papermaking through printing?

• Thicker is better (within reason)
• The quality of your fibers will determine the quality of you sheets
• Dampen. Always. (within reason)

*The amazing display cap above is by Jessica Hische, an amazing designer I came across in my perpetual search for awesome design and typography. The letter comes from her Daily Drop Cap project.

What Summer?

ne thing about getting two masters degrees in three years, you have no life. For me, this includes summer break. I mentioned previously about my awesome time at the University of Utah's Book Arts department in May. Sadly, this remains the extend of any exciting summer activities. Instead of hitting up the beach or travailing about Europe like other people I know, I chose to stay in this sweaty little burg and take some much needed Library classes. Thats right, ladies and gentleman, I voluntarily stayed in 105 degree heat and humidity to learn about the Dewey Decimal *ahem* Classification (not system, get it right...), HTML coding, and just how much money academic libraries spend on databases. Some of my classes were wonderful, some were not so much.

Now, I'm consumed with thoughts of the impending semester which start in a mere week. Not much of a break. The good thing about this experiment they call graduate school is that because I am doing two programs, each semester is a chance to mix it up, do something different, and prevent the fatigue of doing the same thing all the time. Now my mind races with prices of sharpening stones, goat skins, making my own paper, the complexities of really good typographic design, and how the hell I am going to exert any kind of authority to the newbies when I still feel like the newbie. This semester is going to be a doozie for me. I've got a full plate of classes, plus an assistantship, all while still working at the special collections library. Here is what I'm going to be taking:

Printing III - Students initiate and produce an edition of a relatively extensive book and/or participate in production of a Parallel Editions volume. Emphasis is on production, with manuscript selection and editing being critical aspects. Photopolymer platemaking processes are introduced in a desktop publishing environment adapted to historic tools and mediums. Such subjects as marketing and distribution of limited edition books are covered.

Binding III - A concentrated study of the use of leather as a binding cover material. Various binding styles and structures appropriate to leather treatment are studied. Familiarity with the preparation and application of leather in bookbinding is achieved through a series of assigned projects culminating in a final project. Though not the primary focus of the course, binding design and innovation will be studied and explored.

Tool Sharpening - For all my new fancy leather paring tools, and perhaps, my kitchen knives.

Book Repair - I don't even know where this class is going to go, but it will be a great way to learn to repair books and will let me know how I would like conservation type stuff.

Directed Research - 100 hours of papermaking. I will be making all the paper for my projects this year using old t-shirts and bed sheets.

Practicum in Teaching in the Book Arts - I will be assisting my printing professor with the first year printing class. I'll be there to help the students and do demonstrations.

Graduate Assistantship - With the help of another second year student, I will be assisting the Book Arts Department with any and every thing that they need. I'll be maintaining the work spaces, organizing and managing the exhibition space on the fifth floor, as well as planning for local events we are involved in.

In October there is a conference for people who wish to teach letterpress in Washington DC that I am going to look into going to as well.

A lot, right? Its going to be a lot of work. I will be tired and often. I will be cranky at some points, but I also will have a blast for most of it. I'm already looking forward to Christmas break back in the snowy mountains where it will be cold and I can sleep in!


*The amazing display cap above is by Jessica Hische, an amazing designer I came across in my perpetual search for awesome design and typography. The letter comes from her Daily Drop Cap project.

"The Complex of All of These" - Amazing Video

I discovered this amazing video a few days ago and am transfixed by it. I find myself watching it over and over. I love photo streams like this. The artist really shows how intricate and difficult it is to make something completely by hand. So much skill and patience is required for this kind of work and her process is mesmerizing. For those of you interested you should check it out. This is the kind of stuff I'm learning to do and its so wonderful to see the process.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128340180&sc=fb&cc=fp

Happy 4th of July Y'all!!

Believe it or not, but the weather has been quite pleasant this last weekend. Of course, there is a nice thin glaze of perspiration on the skin, yet somehow its been tolerable. Late evening has brought with it gentle breezes which have cooled off the sweltering heat from the hard ground and made evening walks a pleasant refuge from the day to day.

This was not my first 4th of July away from home. In 2004 I went to Australia to pick up my brother from school and he made sure to welcome me with an impromptu 4th of July BBQ for us Yanks. But this is the first 4th of July living away from my family, friends, and the traditional festivities I normally attend with great excitement. So to celebrate in our own little way, Boy and I made sorbet from all the seasonal fruits that have popped up recently.

It was super easy and lots of fun. All it took was lots of strawberries, several peaches, a few scoops of blueberries, some stevia leaves, a pinch of salt, and a healthy dose of Vodka all tossed into our food processor and TADA...


Pretty much the most amazing summer-time-in-the-sweltering-melting-heat-of-Alabama after lunch, after work, after dinner, after hard day of reading and napping treat possible.

Survey says: Yumm...

A lovely weekend, we've had here. Friends, food, a teensie bit of fireworks, and to top it all off, a good read. In honor of the book, and my profession's honouring of it, I have started To Kill a Mocking Bird again. I loved this book the first time I read it and it feels only fitting to read it again now that I live in Alabama. I decided that I am going to read southern books for the rest of the summer. What better way to learn about the culture you live in, than through the stories people write about it.

Chapbook

Spring semester I letterpress printed a 20 page, 5 folio, single signature chapbook containing images and text created and written by yours truly. This part fact, part fiction piece pushed me from the ends of devastation and euphoria and everywhere in between.I was faced with, what felt at the time, insurmountable obstacles.

Writing your own material to print is incredibly rewarding and highly frustrating. I am not the creative writer in this little duo, and I have always struggled allowing people read my writing. But I wanted to get this idea that has been rattling around in my head. Boy was going back to where it all began, he and I. And it got me thinking about this cool idea for a chapbook. Only trouble with that is the words you write need to be worthy of being printed on the page. Pressure to write something good...

The extent of my previous art training was an AP Art History class I took in high school (that's right, I got a 5, people). I have no formal training in design, drawing, or even the most basic functions of photoshop. The most consistent thought in my brain during that semester: "Why the hell did I think I could get a master's in ART when I can't even draw?" The artwork to accompany the text was the biggest struggle I encountered. I spent tens of hours pouring over certain images I was determined to make work. Finally, with the support of my professor, I had to abandon all the work I had done and start from scratch. I was faced with not relying on other sources but having to create the images all on my own. Again, I was faced with creating something worth creating.

After hours of toil, tears, and a few break throughs I have my first printed chapbook, The City.

Shadows, Saints and Pirl

Dear friend and fellow book nerd, Noelle, lent me this book before I left Good Ole SLC. What with all the packing, driving, unpacking and domestic bliss that has monopolized a good portion of the last month of my life, I was unable to start the book before I left. Intrigued though I was about the book, other distractions kept getting in the way and I found myself here in Bama a week already and still had not embarked upon the book.

I started the book rather voraciously and then tapered off a bit, slowly, reading bit here and there when I had a moment. The first chapter is perhaps the most interesting, thought provoking, exciting chapter in the whole book. The book is introduced by the revelation that in the city of Barcelona, there is a place, a basilica where the forgotten books of this world are kept, waiting to be discovered again. For any passionate reader this is perhaps the most exciting concept ever conceived. This palatial cemetery, winds and twists into your imagination, filled with endless possibilities of stories to be discovered. From this place, you are lead into the story of a boy and what he found there.

After the excitement aroused in the first chapter, it took me a little while to get invested in the story of the boy only because he was a boy and a slave to his passions, which is rather different from even a teenager being a slave to his passions. The story veers off from that which he discovered in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and into an obsessive childhood crush which, while altogether relevant for the remainder of the story, just isn't as interesting as what is to come. After the boy became more of a man and he focuses again on his discovery the story really picks up. I certainly do not wish to divulge any secrets or spoil any endings so my descriptions will end there. But I will say that the last week I have been consumed by this book and unable to put it down. The imagery is haunting and beautiful, the story twisting and compelling. It is very dark at times and I find myself wishing to learn more about the Spanish Civil War. Beautiful. Loved it. Recommend it to anyone looking for a good, exciting read. Disclaimer: There will be blood... (Ha!)

Meet W.C. Fields: American Comedian, Notorious Drinker, and Patron Saint of our Kitchen. Last year at some festival Dan came across this statue of the comedian and brought it home to live with him. He used to oversee Dan's desk, where he would bless the writer with his wit whilst Dan would wile away the hours working on homework and his various writing projects. Now he lives in our kitchen, overseeing the food prep and keeping watchful eye on our liquor. Dinner is always a little bit funnier now...




I promised I would keep everyone updated on the puppy. First of all, I must report that I have foolishly spelled the poor little girls name wrong. Her name is officially Steamboat Pirl (part Pig, part Squirrel). She is eating like a real puppy now and while still tiny, she is huge compared to how puny she was just a few days ago. Her spine, hip bones, and rib cage are no longer visible and her little belly is nice and swollen from eating. She has the energy of a real puppy now. Even tugging on a little pink rope...


That's all for now kids. Orientation tomorrow then school on Wednesday. I should have some interesting things to say then. In the mean time, a word of advice: Corn Whiskey Moonshine out of a Mason Jar should NOT be passed around like lemonade...

Textbook Nerdiness

I bought my text books today. I was flipping through and got excited about some of the illustrations.

For you nerds who are interested...