Archive
Meet the Presses, Part 3
With this post we’re about one fourth of the way through our look at the Oak Knoll Fest exhibitors. If you haven’t seen them yet, here are Part 1 and Part 2.
Wilber H. Schilling, who started his career as a photographer, founded the Indulgence Press in 1992. Named for the medieval indulgences Gutenberg printed to fund the production of his Bible, the books and prints of the press can be found around the world in the collections of the New York Public Library, the British Library, and more. The Indulgence Press is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Since Michael Russem founded it in 1994, the Kat Ran Press has designed books, portfolios, catalogues, and ephemera for 21st Editions, Goshen Editions, The Grolier Club, The Limited Editions Club, Oak Knoll Books, the Veatchs Arts of the Book, and many more. They are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ladies of Letterpress is an international trade organization for letterpress printers and print enthusiasts that aims to promote the art and craft of letterpress printing and to encourage the voice and vision of women printers. It was founded by Jessica C. White, owner of Heroes & Criminals Press, and Kseniya Thomas, owner of Thomas-Printers. The Ladies of Letterpress community is continually growing and offers a place to read about adventures in commercial, fine press, art and zine printing, ask for advice and learn from other printers, share resources, and get inspiration.
LOLP Con 2012
The second annual Ladies of Letterpress Conference is a mere two weeks away, and we’re getting really excited to be exhibiting down in (hopefully) sunny Asheville, North Carolina. The conference starts Thursday, August 2nd and finishes on August 5th. Each day is filled with events, including a film screening, a silent auction, plenty of panels, a keynote speech by Abigail Rorer of The Lone Oak Press (who is also coming to Oak Knoll Fest!), and an expanded printer’s fair that’s open to the general public! We’ll be exhibiting at the printer’s fair, bringing titles about letterpress printing as well as a sampling of our other publications.
The conference’s early bird registration rate has been extended to July 24th, so sign up now.
Get in touch with the Ladies of Letterpress by following them on twitter, reading and commenting on their blog, and by finding them on Facebook. Also on Facebook, you can take a look at pictures from last year’s conference.
Meet the Presses, Part 2
Continuing from last week, we now take a look at three more of the exhibitors at Oak Knoll Fest XVII.
While Chad Pastotnik was earning a BFA in printmaking from Grand Valley State University, one of his professors showed his class a book structure. One thing led to the next and in 1992, a few years after graduating, Deep Wood Press was born. Its books and broadsides include some of Chad’s own works, stories and poetry from other present-day writers, and literary classics such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The Deep Wood Press is located on the banks of the Ceder River in Mancelona, Michigan.
As a history teacher in the late eighties, Graham Moss acquired an interest in paper conservation and book repair and in 1990 acquired a small printing press to print labels. Soon after learning about the differences in typefaces and designs, he became inspired to try more. When an Arab press was offered for sale, he bought it, and transformed his backyard shed into a print shop. Since those days, the Incline Press has grown and has published over fifty books. The Inline Press’s latest home is a three-story building from the 1820s located on one of the oldest streets in the heart of Oldham England.
The Fine Press Book Association was formed by a group of individuals sharing common interests in the art of printing, the matching of worthwhile texts with significant images and artistic expression through the structure of a book. It had its genesis at the 1996 Oak Knoll Fest and had its first official meeting in 1998. That year also marked the release of the first issue of Parenthesis, their journal devoted to fine printing and book-making. Today it has a worldwide membership of those interested in the fine book and contemporary fine printing, and continues to promote the appreciation of fine books and encourage their production.
Meet the Presses, Part 1
As Oak Knoll Fest XVII draws ever closer, we’re going to take a short look at each of the exhibiting presses, covering about three per week. So without further ado…
21ST Editions started in 1998 as 21ST: The Journal of Contemporary Photography, with the idea to broaden the dialogue of contemporary fine art photography by bringing together a wide variety of modern photographic work with the finest international writers. In 2000 the press expanded its offerings to include fine press, handmade monographs on the work of various photographers to complement its Journal anthologies. In 2009 the press established its Legacy Editions imprint, which surveys the broader horizons of history, art, and culture. 21ST Editions titles have been acquired by museums and special collections libraries from all over the world. They are located in South Dennis, Massachusetts.
An interest in fine printing, sparked by the work of Roy A. Squires, led bookbinder Don Rash to do some letterpress printing when he had the time and equipment available. In 2003 he acquired the press of his dreams and soon after founded the Boss Dog Press. A relatively young press, they have produced one book, Rules for Bookbinders by Fritz Eberhardt, and have several others in the works including a catalog of bookbinding tools and equipment previously owned by Loyd Haberly. They are located located just outside of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
After studying letterpress printing with Red Ozier Press and bookbinding with Timothy C. Ely, Los Angeles native Mark McMurray began printing under the Caliban Press imprint in 1985. Among his books are a narrative poem about one of John Coltrane’s last concerts, shaped poetry written during WWI, an elegy to jazz great Miles Davis, and a light-hearted look at French and English printers in Paris. He now lives in Canton, New York and, when he’s not printing, works as both special collections librarian at St. Lawrence University and as a teacher of book and printing history.
The Oak Knoll Biblio-Blog 