As always, it’s been a busy weekend of gluing, sewing, cutting, and printing, but things are starting to feel under control & on a roll!
The first bit of news, and perhaps most importantly is that I’m getting my own press! It’s not quite here yet, but I should have it in 2 or 3 weeks!
(That’s mine, the black press in the foreground!)
For the past several months, I’ve been doing my printing work at The Arm, here in Brooklyn, and Dan Morris (it’s his place!) has been great about getting time for me to come in and use the presses there when I need to. Dan’s also a press expert and, in addition to having a studio full of amazing equipment and about 8 presses of his own, accumulates equipment and happened to have a little press come in that’s just right for me. He’ll be refurbishing it a bit and getting it ready to roll, and then I’m in business! Having my own press opens up a whole new world of possibilities, though, as I can do a lot more experimentation, not to mention print whenever I happen to have a little bit of time (even if it’s 10:00 at night!).
The press I’m starting with is a Golding Official tabletop press, from 1915, according to the previous owner and based on the serial number. This is all especially exciting as the first rounds of the wedding invitation designs I’m doing are close to done, and I’m getting close to actually printing…which I’ll be able to do on my very own press now!
More on the press when it makes its way to me!
I’m also just about to finish the ongoing leather portfolio project, and am thrilled with the results so far. This is a little peek at everything clamped up to dry after pasting:
This weekend was all about getting custom orders done and ready to ship…and I think the stack that’s now ready will all head out the door and across the country tomorrow morning!
To get us all off on the right foot for this first full week of May, the closing words of Robert Bly’s poem “For My Son, Noah, Ten Years Old”:
…
So I am proud only of those days that we pass in undivided tenderness,
when you sit drawing, or making books, stapled, with messages to the world . . .
or coloring a man with fire coming out of his hair.
Or we sit at a table, with small tea carefully poured;
so we pass our time together, calm and delighted.
5 Comments
as always, the work looks gorgeous! congrats on the new press.. that’s so exciting!
How are you not using more exclamation points when announcing that you’re buying a press!!!!! After so many months of looking for one and hoping you’ll find one and creating more work for yourself with all of your good ideas, this will be so great! (Although I’m still wondering where you’re going to put it. On the table where you do all of your work?) And can I say how happy I am that I don’t have to lug it up the flights of stairs to your apartment? Ugh!)
All of this is just to say congrats! You should send yourself a Brooklyn Bookbinder letterpressed card!
Thanks for the kind words, Beth!
And for you, skb:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you picture me jumping up and down now? Because I’m that excited!!! It’s really thrilling, and I’m sure it will seem even more real when we’re hauling a 150 lb press up 3 flights of stairs on what will inevitably be the hottest day in late May. That’s how much I love printing.
Congratulations, Maggie! That’s such exciting news. Good luck moving it and getting set up, and I look forward to seeing what you do with it!
Oh, and it could always be worse - my dad has several tons worth of printing press in our basement, and getting them down there was bad enough; I can’t imagine how we’re ever going to get them UP the stairs. So compared to that, 150 lbs. is nothing!