a (her)story-- a book

an announcement:
i've prepared
with enormous help from carol blinn,
my dear friend, who slaved over this job
through the dark of winter
(special edition with original printed cover and shifu left, 
photographed cover with printed sample on the right)
who did ALL the work
while i just printed and wove and wrote the stuff.
a little book for australia
about my journey through shifu
and printing.
after long conversations with carol 
who is a long time letterpress printer and book designer
and who is still my friend after this herculean effort to be done,
and alicia bailey from the abecedarin gallery
one of a handful of book arts galleries in the u.s.,
i decided to use the nomenclature
that the book arts community overwhelmingly preferred:
"botanical pressure prints*.

fortunately the only confusion
with the word shifu
is the martial art also called shifu.
sigh.

these will be available first in australia
and back in the states 
at the end of march, when i will put a button in the shop to order.
there is an edition of 50
with 12 special ones that have an original print for the cover
and a little shifu square inside.
below is one of the limited edition of 12 
complete with blue berry prints
should you wish to have a copy
the price will be posted soon, 
and you can let me know and i will set one 
aside for you.
(you'll have to wait until after OZ)

*botanical*
alchemy has a certain glamour.

here is a little much cooked pot of walnut ink
water & 
a short slurp of vinegar,
it's lovely stuff.
more botanical alchemy.

*botanical pressure print: specifically, what many of us once called eco prints, then later called contact prints; book artists find it useful to describe this print process on paper, because the term "contact print" is a photo process on paper. clear as mud, right? 

web

a web, 
if i were to spin one
the way ms. spider does,
it would include friends and book arts folks
from all around.
catherine michaelis and her husband bill moody
are friends i met through this world web.
they are artists, 
from washington,
on the other ocean.
my first stay on the pacific
was with these two lovely folks.
catheine has operated may day press for many years, 
and is now,
like my lovely friend carol j blinn 
(warwick press) 
making more one of a kind books, 
delving deeper into the world of artists' books
making more special small editions and unique books.
below you see catherine's most recent book, 
Beyond Blue
here's another shot
and
 what she wrote about it:
 The box is salmon leather that Bill made and I beaded it together. That was the whole reason to make that piece - for the salmon leather box! It is for a "box" show. The text is embroidered and wrapped around a seal knuckle bone. There is a "map" embroidered and beaded onto indigo dyed cotton and the box is also lined with the indigo dyed cotton, courtesy of your workshop!!!! Thanks for being excited about it! I want to just make salmon leather boxes now. . . 
Catherine wrote this little bit about the book for the show. 
Every box holds a story. That story may be known or yet to happen. The story for my box became known during its making, and began with a piece of salmon leather. Salmon are adaptable creatures; they are born in fresh water, but adjourn to the salty seas. Nearing the end of their life, they swim against the current back to where they were born to reproduce and die. The salmon from which this leather was made might have been on its return to the river, or on a runaway adventure into unknown depths and perils with the desire to embody the fierceness of Moby Dick, the TV fame of Flipper, or the allure of an Aegean mermaid. The story this box holds is none and all of these. It is told one stitch at a time, and strung into a semblance of meaning making. The point of the story is that whatever was once known was taken by the unceasing stealth of the Pacific tide, broken, and left for scavenging. There’s a map, for those wishing to find, but not be found.
the poem i haven't quoted here, but it is a 
very 
good 
poem.
~~~
catherine is serious about the embroidered book/box path that she is on,
she says that she will gladly accept commission work, 
along these lines, 
please contact her for a conversation.
~~~
therese swift-hahn sent this photo of me
from sandra brownlee's workshop this summer.
therese says it's the only photo she took in our workshop
it was great to share the table with therese
and great to look out the window
and see her spiraled by paper
as she worked in the meadow.
~~~
shanna leino sent me a new weight
 the woman knows how to make you want to enjoy
each step of the opening.
 i have two already
and always need one more.
now i have one more,
and it's yellow!
shanna will be at the guild of bookworkers 
annual meeting 
and selling tools, i believe.