Dwell Press :: letterpress

Unmarked Grave by Rob Evory Letterpress Poetry Broadside

 

In July of 2016, I designed and printed this broadside for Rob Evory. You can learn more about Rob Evory's work at the poet's billow.

It was an intricate project, at least for me, because of how I wanted the image to appear in the mirror, apparent but not apparent. Many hours with Rob's words and the images in the poems resulted in this poem, chosen from a selection provided to me. From the mock ups to hand setting the type, Rob did not have any input or see any stage of the production of the broadside. His first glimpse was when he opened the shipping box that traveled from Olympia, Washington to Michigan. The process, my process, is one of deep commitment, love for the words, tension, and trust. I am humbly grateful each time a poet allows me the honor to work with their words in this manner.

Rob holds the title of Inaugural Artist in Residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The broadside of his poem Unmarked Grave featuring my carvings and illustration are to be installed permanently at the park.

 

Broadside particulars:

13.5" wide by 12.5" high

Reich Savoy Brilliant White 118# Cover

Five color, eight passes through the press

 

This broadside holds a surprise of sorts when you pick it up and and have it in hand. Rob's response was: "Holy shit!"  I take this as the ultimate compliment.

 

Take a look and let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

What the Water Knows Letterpress Poetry Broadside

 

 

 

I am pleased to offer What the Water Knows a broadside of Sam Hamill's poem and my creative response.  

If you would like additional information about purchasing the broadside, please refer to the page above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Hum to My Shivering Letterpress Poetry Broadside

 

 

 

The Terroir Creative Writing Festival commissioned me to create a broadside for the Oregon State Poet Laureate, Peter Sears.  It was once again a pleasure to collaborate with the festival in this manner.

For this broadside, I studied snowflakes.  Did you know that even though every snowflake is different each one has six points?  I enjoyed learning about and designing my snowflakes based on actual photographs.  This book was interesting and helpful:  Field Guide to Snowflakes by Ken Libbrecht.

On the broadside, there are two batches of snowflakes which required two linoleum blocks to print the two different shades.  I carved these two blocks before purchasing a wonderful magnifying lamp. It was tedious and rewarding--all thirty-two of them.

This broadside passed through the press six times and is five colors.  As in all of my letterpress broadsides, the type is handset.  

The original artwork is carved in four linoleum blocks.

This broadside measures 9" x 12.5"" and is printed on Savoy 118# Natural White 100% Cotton Paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII. Letterpress Poetry Broadside by Wendell Berry

 

 

The lovely people at Terrain.org commissioned two broadsides to present and sell at AWP.  Here, the second of the two, is XIII. by Wendell Berry.

As I mentioned in the previous post, a major element of each broadside commission is research.  I spend time turning over every image in the selected poem, consider how they work together or create tension, and see how the various elements fill up or let the white space of the page expand.

For this broadside, I conducted many days worth of research. As for images in the poem, I couldn't get past the falling leaves.  I kept wondering what kind of leaves Wendell was considering when he wrote this poem.  What leaves he was watching out his window, or perhaps what leaves were falling while he was out walking across his land.  

Through Wendell's essays, I researched his land, noted the varieties of trees that he wrote about, and researched various sources regarding the state of Kentucky specific to Port Royal, the area where Wendell calls home.  A large percentage of trees in this area are oak trees.  Once I settled on the image of a quercus or oak tree, I considered every aspect of the tree from macro to micro, and settled on the cell level.

The artwork reflects a microscopic image of an oak tree cell enlarged to dinner plate size.  This was created through a process called reduction block.  Through this process, the linoleum or wood block is carved and printed, and carved again and printed, and on, so that the art can never be printed again.

Oh, boy howdy! this was a fun project for the research and the carving.

This limited edition is 44 signed and numbered prints.

The dimensions are 12.5" x 13", and it is printed on Savoy 118# Bright White 100% Cotton paper.

The print is four colors.

The artwork is hand carved in linoleum by reduction block process. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chauvet Letterpress Poetry Broadside

 

 

The lovely people at Terrain.org commissioned two broadsides to present and sell at AWP.  Here, the first of the two, is Chauvet by Alison Hawthorne Deming.

A major element of each broadside commission is research.  I spend time turning over every image in the selected poem, consider how they work together or create tension, and see how the various elements fill up or let the white space of the page expand.  For this broadside, I watched the wonderful documentary on the Chauvet Cave.  It is titled: Cave of the Forgotten Dreams and I wouldn't blame you if you ditch me here, make some popcorn, and settle in for a glorious time.  Truly.

Anyhow, if you're still here, I watched the documentary at least twice and then I researched each image in the cave.  I completed this via the documentary and online through some interactive websites.  I spent hours and hours playing around with the images in my mind before I set anything to the page.

Alison's lovely poem includes the line:  "vulva coaled on pendulous rock".  I ended up choosing this image, the believed to be oldest known image of a woman's body.  I love the fact that unless one does his or her homework it is unlikely that the vulva will be apparent in the art.  Otherwise, it's just an intriguing image on the page.  

This was  wonderful opportunity to explore and learn not only about Alison and her work, but a place far away from my everyday world, a place I will never forget.

This broadside measures 14.5" by 12" and is printed on Savoy 118# Cover Bright White 100% cotton paper.