book

Oddness

Two odd things I made recently. 

One is a one of a kind book with vintage paper corner detail.

:: vintage paper corner ::

 :: letterpress front page ::

 :: graph paper and vintage star chart ::

The other is one in a series of experimental letterpress prints that I am using in a book I'm working on. A mysterious house. It reminds me of a polaroid transfer!

:: its letterpress, believe it or not ::

It works.

Today, I printed on my Vandercook. After many months of fixing, tweaking, searching for parts, getting bad parts, returning parts, etc...it finally works. It works. It really works. And I feel really good about that.

:: pretty pretty vandercook ::

 :: and I looked at my sketchbook ::

 Last weekend, I spent the weekend in Silver Springs, MD at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair, which was great and inspiring and super fun thanks to my coworkers.

:: common press ::

:: our table looked so good! ::

Chymia

This is where I've been hiding for the last month, in this book!

This beautiful book is a collaboration between my coworkers and I at The Common Press. 



Chymia, a collaborative Common Book designed and printed by Marc Blumthal, Marianne Dages, Matt Neff, Ivanco Talevski, and Tricia Treacy at The Common Press in 2012. A limited set of letterpress prints using original blocks from the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library’s Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection accompanies each edition.


:: letterpress portfolio of original blocks from the collection ::

 We will be debuting this book at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair this weekend in Silver Springs, MD. Please come and say hello!



:: slipcase, book, and portfolio, binding design by Marianne Dages ::


:: silkscreen endsheets by Marc Blumthal ::


 :: left, silkscreen by Matt Neff, right, letterpress by Marianne Dages ::


 :: letterpress by me, Marianne Dages ::


:: etching by Ivanco Talevski ::


:: silkscreen by Marc Blumthal ::


:: silkscreen by Matt Neff ::


:: letterpress by Tricia Treacy ::


Lynx and Stars

I made this custom book for a very talented lady, who requested a journal with lynxes, graph paper, stars, and red. I decided to try something a little different and made the book with a soft curved spine. It turned out to be one of my favorite books I've made in a really long time.

:: vintage book illustration of a lynx ::

 :: the milky way, and letterpresses name plate ::

 :: typewriter stars ::


 :: curved spine ::

:: lynx ::

Beautiful Books

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I spent a day walking around the city and we went to several used bookstores along the way, something we both love to do. I always make a beeline towards the children's section, followed by the science and art, he heads straight for science fiction. I read his science fiction books and take pictures of the books I buy. It works.


:: german biology textbook ::


:: American Wild Life with heavily embossed cover ::


:: American Wild Life, three foxes ::

:: a drawing I made a few years ago from this same book, different edition ::


:: Science Stories, gorgeous ::


:: Science Stories, how the moon looks ::

Books

One of my new year's resolutions to myself is to consistently, steadily, make books all year round. To not wait for an order or a craft fair, to just make them and put them out there. So here is what is available right now, these are all handmade and one of a kind with a unique mix of papers.









Slow day.



For the last week, we haven't had the internet in our apartment. It's kind of nice. I've been cooking real dinners. The last two nights, Mike and I sat outside on our deck for a couple hours. I've been reading a great deal more than usual too. I'm about half way through "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula LeGuin. My favorite part are the descriptions of the planet Winter, with its "pale-scarlet" conifer trees and the "small secret ceaseless descent of snow."

Today though, I did catch up on my internet reading though and found these treasures

:: queen bees via the golden smith ::
:: three rolls of kaya via sri threads ::

In the studio, I've been mainly sorting and organizing which has been very satisfying and the type cases are looking all the better for it. I guess that's it. Oh well, slow day.

Mysteries

Sorry for the long radio silence. I was traveling and now I'm back in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, while I was away, the internet at the house stopped working (I'm looking at you, starts with V ends with N) and it won't be back until September 1st (I'm giving you the stink eye right now, starts with V ends with N). Therefore I'm forced to broadcast from an unknown location.

Until things are back to normal, enjoy these mysterious images.

:: justin berry ::

:: kevin appel ::


Custom Journals

Last year I was commissioned by my friend Catherine to make a set of four custom journals as graduation gifts for friends. Catherine supplied me with a list of the recipients likes and interests which I included in each one. This year, I had the pleasure of making two more.

The first one was for someone who loves fashion and textiles, flowers, feathers, and other delicate things.

:: the cover ::

:: a landscape opens to a history of shoes ::
:: graph paper, a page from a vintage autograph book, and a child's exercise book ::
:: a vintage postcard of Marilyn Monroe ::
:: the cover ::
The second book was for someone who loves the forest and the ocean. For the cover I had the perfect vintage illustration from a children's science book.

:: handmade flax paper and the ocean ::
:: fossilized marine life ::
:: vintage graph paper and a map of the Atlantic ::

Thoughts on Books

Yesterday, I had a particularly good day at the used bookstore and came home with a heavy stack of books. Looking at them made me wonder, how can you replace books with screens?

In my opinion, you can't. A book is to be enjoyed for its design as well as the information it contains and unlike a screen, it ages, often in beautiful and unexpected ways.

perfect tape

This is Cape Light, a book of photographs by Joel Meyerowitz. It's one of the first photography books I fell in love with.

catchy title

I have always wanted to get more acquainted with minerals.

These reproductions of crystals are so lovely.

In 6th grade, I think I was the only kid psyched to go on a geology field trip, which included going to a quarry, checking out some strata, and looking at core samples collected by geologists. It was awesome. I should have been a scientist.

The Boy Mechanic

Lastly, do you ever have the sinking feeling we're getting worse at doing things? All things? If not, you haven't yet read "The Boy Mechanic," a collection of 800 projects a boy should be able to do, such as weave a hammock, build a canoe, or build your own homemade electric locomotive model and track system.

Now how do you feel? Yeah, I thought so.

I love books. I love them as objects and for what they contain. I never want to live in a house without books. I can't even imagine what that would be like. Maybe books will end up like records, no longer mass market but still enjoyed by a small group of loyal enthusiasts. We'll see.

Gone Thrifting

:: mikasa plate ::

I went to the thrift store yesterday to look for old books. It was not a particularly good day for books, but I found some things, including a very pretty, large Mikasa plate.

:: wildlife encyclopedia ::

I did find one book, the A's of a wildlife encyclopedia, which I'll use in my books. I also learned some interesting facts about anemones, amphiuma, and the organizational habits of arctic foxes.

:: sweet little cup ::

Lastly, this little cup, made in France, with mushrooms and vegetables all around. A good day, with inspiring objects.

I've been thinking a lot about what I will want to print once the press is running. Postcards? I like designing postcards. I want the first few things I print to be made using the type I have in the shop, no polymer plates. Then again, I want to draw. Mostly though, I've been thinking about color, which will be my jumping off point regardless of what material I choose.

My roller gauge is set to arrive on Thursday, meaning I'll be able to set my rollers by this weekend. Oh, this is so exciting! Everything rests on you, lollipop-shaped tool!



:: picture via letterpress delicacies ::

A Book and Ore

I would start this off by saying, things here have been hectic, but that line is getting old, isn't it? So I will focus on what has been accomplished, and what's coming up.

:: custom guest book ::

I made a wedding guest book for my friends Tina and Robert, who's wedding I had the pleasure to attend last weekend. The bride requested a fresh spring green for the cover, and I was able to use some of the linen bookcloth I made several months ago. It was a perfect fit. The inset cover was designed and hand lettered by my friend Beth Schaible, calligrapher and printer extraordinaire. Inside, was a mix of handmade, lined, and recycled paper.

I've also been making many new books, some of which I will be posting in my Etsy shop soon.
While sorting through my paper, I found this illustration of "ore deposits" from a vintage encyclopedia. I haven't decided what to do with it yet, but you might be seeing it again soon.

:: ore ::

May has been designated Press Month, meaning I will be working in earnest to get my new Chandler & Price up and running, so expect to see some updates regarding Junior (aka Indiana Jones) soon.

To the library

I love libraries because...

1. They have books there
3. Librarians have the neatest supplies.

So, I'm very excited about this little addition to my hardcover notebooks. Library cards! A perfect place to write your name and contact information in case your book is ever lost.

:: now with library cards ::

I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of seniors from Tyler School of Art this morning. They came and visited my studio and we talked about what happens after art school, setting up a studio, finding work, making ends meet so you can make your work, etc. It was really nice meeting them all and I wish them the best.

I got to my studio a bit early and while I was there photographed a few books I've recently acquired.

I love the odd pinkish color of this illustration of the Red Eyed Vireo.

:: birds that every child should know ::

Then there's this vivid and bold cover. Love the giant V. Whenever I hear something about victory gardens, it makes me think of Rascal.

:: victory garden manual ::

The last one is Nature's Notebook which has beautifully drawn illustrations of wildlife. I wish Kingfishers lived in Philadelphia. I'd like to look over and see one of those on a wire.

:: nature's notebook ::

Gone Thrifting

If I could some how make it my job to go to the thrift store every day, I would. I love it. Looking through row after row of ceramic mugs, books, and sweaters has a calming effect on me. It's also a place where I look for supplies for making my books, old encyclopedias and children's books being a favorite source for illustrations.

books in progress, with letterpress printed page

I'm on the hunt for new materials since I've been working on making more hardcover books with mixed pages, and I think they're looking lovely so far. Every batch is a little different, because the materials are unique and change depending on what I have on hand.

So I went to a couple thrift stores in my neighborhood and came home with these little treasures.

Alaska

A National Geographic book about Alaska bound with sage book cloth and printed cover, which I've been reading. When I'm done, I think I'm going to make a notebook using the cover, though. It's so simple and sweet.

McCoy Mug

I also bought this mug...because I have a weakness for vintage brown mugs.