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 ::

A coffer full of words

:: A coffer full of words, 2012, Huldra Press ::

This new print was printed on the Risograph at The Common Press. I hope you like it. I'm very excited about the direction my new work has been taking and hopefully will have more to show you soon. I am also posting now at my new tumblr page, Tiger Feathers, which is about the things I think about. I'm going to keep posting here to show you new work and talk about the studio as well.

Printing!

Printing at The Common Press. 

What Is It?

At the Common Press, where I work, we were just given this press, but we're not quite sure what it is exactly... It was described to use as a plate press, and when I did a little research, I found similar looking presses that were called arming or embossing presses. If it is one of these, I'm wondering if there used to be some sort of heating mechanism and how it could be restored.

The only other clue here is that the maker's name is E. Ermold of New York. I did find some old printing trade publications that mentioned his name and that he sold embossing presses, but no images. 

If you know anything about how this press might work, I'd be interested to learn more. Thanks!

 :: new mystery press ::

:: E. Ermold ::

:: the steel base pulls out and has a broken wooden hinged frame ::

Colorful

:: printed wood type ::

It looks like it's going to be a busy next couple months, but I'm determined to remember to get outside and enjoy the spring. So this weekend I will be taking a little break and going to Delaware. It's a Delavacation. Not really. I'm going to go to the thrift store and the park and hang out with my folks. Maybe look for buttons

:: buttons galore ::

I have some new books in my etsy shop. Hurry, one's already gone!

:: new leather books available here ::

:: ledger & bass ::

Best Day Job Ever

:: Common Press poster by me::

I'm a lucky girl. My day job these days is working at Common Press, the University of Pennsylvania's letterpress studio as their letterpress tech/coordinator. I spent my first few months there organizing, cleaning, and getting the presses tuned up. Still working on that, I'm looking at you SP-15... Now though, we're turning our focus to printing new work at the press as well as archiving and documenting old work.

This poster is one of the new pieces I printed. It was printed using only wood and metal type from the studio on recycled French Paper.