BOOK & PRINT

TRADITIONAL BOOK ARTS include printmaking, bookbinding, gilding, water marbling, and paper making. I have tried my hand at many different aspects of book design and construction. I find that books are perhaps the holistic way to combine my many artistic interests including illustration, typography, and traditional craft. 

LITHOGRAPHS

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ABOUT THE PROCESS

Lithography feels like the printmaking method most connected to expressive drawing. For me, it feels like a more direct translation from a sketch than most of the relief techniques I enjoy. I have practiced both plate and stone lithography and have experimented with layered prints that employ masking and traditional water marbling. 

RELIEF PRINT

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ABOUT THE PROCESS

I have worked in many types of relief print but primarily wood cut and letterpress. My letterpress training began in 2010 and in that same year I began commercial work under the moniker Panthera Press. My private press primarily produces custom stationery such as wedding invites, but when I have time I like to experiment with more conceptual prints. 

GILDING

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ABOUT THE PROCESS

Gilding has a long history within the book arts because it has such a powerful effect on the viewer. It is also a craft I find incredibly challenging. Mixing and applying a traditional plaster base for gilding is a difficult process to learn, but worthwhile for the focal point it can add to a design. I have experimented with many ways to apply gold to a design including traditional raised gilding, powdered shell gold, and more modern metallic pigments. 

 

Four Virtues

Pamphlet Book Experiments

 

This small series of pamphlet stitch books each features a different technical experiment. These short poems explore the ideas of Analog (blue), Frivolity (white), Mystery (Copper), and Truth (Silver). Each book’s binding speaks to the concept of the poem. For Analog I dipped my hands in ink and bound the book in one sitting. Everywhere my hand touched left a mark. This speaks to the nature of the handmade and the unseen effort that goes into the craft of book making. Each print is a memory into how the book was made. In Frivolity gold leaf and intricate details slowly overtake the pages as the poem progresses. The question of using decoration for decoration’s sake is brought to mind.  In Mystery the poem is obscured by panels and only initially visible through tiny peephole cutouts. The poem is revealed through the minute extra effort of turning the panels, but takes a different tone if the viewer decides to leave the panels in place and read only what is initially visible. Truth makes use of transparent photographs of personal memories. the words mingle in the negative spaces of the photos. This interaction references the fact that not only does truth of the experience shines through even when we misremember the details.

 

 

Four Virtues

Pamphlet Book Experiments

 

This small series of pamphlet stitch books each features a different technical experiment. These short poems explore the ideas of Analog (blue), Frivolity (white), Mystery (Copper), and Truth (Silver). Each book’s binding speaks to the concept of the poem. For Analog I dipped my hands in ink and bound the book in one sitting. Everywhere my hand touched left a mark. This speaks to the nature of the handmade and the unseen effort that goes into the craft of book making. Each print is a memory into how the book was made. In Frivolity gold leaf and intricate details slowly overtake the pages as the poem progresses. The question of using decoration for decoration’s sake is brought to mind.  In Mystery the poem is obscured by panels and only initially visible through tiny peephole cutouts. The poem is revealed through the minute extra effort of turning the panels, but takes a different tone if the viewer decides to leave the panels in place and read only what is initially visible. Truth makes use of transparent photographs of personal memories. the words mingle in the negative spaces of the photos. This interaction references the fact that not only does truth of the experience shines through even when we misremember the details.

 

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