12 lbs In A 10-lb Bag

Got all the heavy gear into the new studio last week. Bit of a blur. Moving the Ostrander-Seymour isn't a lot of fun, not the least because it's expensive: takes four guys who know how to deal with heavy moves. In Vancouver the people to call are Salmon's.

The frame weighs about a thousand pounds. The tricky part with a handpress move is removing/re-attaching the platen. The one for HM's press weighs about 400 lbs, and it has to be lifted up & held in place while nuts are attached on either side to secure it. (Removing is trickier, as it can sometimesbind on the supporting rods.) 

 

Last thing on is the bed. 

The little Albion seemed to get heavier every time it was shifted. The crew figured about 500 lbs. It sits on a cabinet 24 inches high, with storage below. The two presses are lined up against on wall, and look lovely together. 

The new space is going to work out well, once I shed a few extraneous pieces of equipment. High ceiling, a big window. Not Open To The Public, so please don't ask.

HM pondering what to do now...

AND ANOTHER THING

All 12 copies of Suminagashi are sold out. Shipping out before the end of the year; we'll be keeping people who ordered a copy updated directly. Photos of the finished book will be posted here when we have them.

Paper, Bound & Contained

Work on Suminagashi continues; Claudia's binding for the editon of 12 copies above. It actually looks bigger here than it really is!

Moving into the new studio this week. How's that for a paper cabinet? Will try to take some photos of the team shifting & re-assembling the Ostrander-Seymour.

Friends' Work

Some new-work news from a couple of HM's friends...

Sarah Horowitz has a new book coming out this fall, Lepidoptera: The Death of the Moth, with  stunning etchings swarming through the titular essay by Virginia Wolf. Printed, as have been her past books, by Art Larson, and bound in full limp vellum by Claudia Cohen. You don't see much of this kind of fine-press publishing anymore. Sarah's reputation grows, justifiably, with each publication and show. (Her books are distributed by Ken Shure as of a few years ago, so that should give you an idea of the level she's playing at.) If it's at all your kind of thing, don't think too long.

Speaking of Claudia, she's also working on the deluxe copies of the newest publication from the Library Council of the Museum of Modern Art. The Council issues an artist's book every other year or so, and Claudia has worked on previous titles (Vija Celmins' Stars, shown at top, is a personal favorite; an excellent facsimile edition is available). This new one, titled Tom Tit Tot,  features poems by Susan Howe and prints by her daughter, R.H. Quatyman. No specifics on edition size of price for the deluxe copies (probably 26 lettered), but the main edition is price at $3,000, so start from there. The Library Council's publications would make a good topic for a future post; I'll start digging. It's not that easy to find info on the series (i.e. easy answers don't appear at the top of a Google search). I bet they'll do one with Sarah Horowitz one day soon.

The last HM Artist's Pamphlet (My Dark Room) was a collaboration with photographer David George. Since then he has opened a studio in Seattle, and recently celebrated its first anniversary. Intriguing images created through manual manipulation and technical finesse. Very kool.

AND ANOTHER THING

Here aren't some pictures of the new HM print shop.

Wil Hudson & Kinngait Studios

Last January I posted a brief biography of printer Wil Hudson, who had just passed away. That post attracted lots of interest, which isn't surprising given Wil's work and the range of people it had brought him into contact with. One of the people who responded to the post was Bill Ritchie, who has worked at Kinngait for the past two decades and is interested in recording its history. To that end, Bill recently launched a site chronicling the work of Kinngait, and Hudson's contributions & life in particular.

One of the things the site underscores is the scarcity of Kingait [sic] Press titles on the market. A quick tour of the 'net today informs us that only one item is readily found, a copy of the 1977 calendar (described as "Eskimo," which everyone should know in this day & age is not a cool word to use), offered on Amazon for an ambitious $5,000.

Bill's new site makes for interesting reading. Working in Cape Dorset, I wonder if Wil ever had to resort to the Restoration-era strategy for warming up the ink in the mornings...