bookish lady

I’m headed to NYC for the BUST Craftacular, happening in less than 12 hours!  It should be a blast–hope to see you there!

Details:

http://www.bust.com/Craftacular/BUST-Holiday-Craftacular-2008-NYC.html

Saturday, December 6, 2008:

The Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market is happening at 5 Thomas Circle from 12pm-6pm!

Deets: http://www.craftmutiny.com/events/bootymarket.htm

Experienced letterpress printers:

Start those holiday projects tonight at Pyramid Atlantic during Letterpress Happy Hour!

Pay only $10 ($20 for non-members) to mix, mingle, and set type or print whatever project you’re working on. We’ll choose ink colors together.

Email me at letterpress (at) pyramid-atlantic (dot) com to RSVP.

8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(5 minute walk from the Silver Spring Metro)

Haven’t tried letterpress yet? Email me to set up a lesson before the next Happy Hour (December 3)!

Last night I went to the second meeting for Moving Parts, a collaboration between Pyramid Atlantic and CityDance.  The idea was to make an edition of artists’ books, and I was invited to be one of ten artists to contribute.  We will each design and produce 50 (!) copies of a miniature art book inspired by the company’s dance performances.  Then collectors can purchase a box filled with one of each artist’s books.

The director of CityDance, Paul, encouraged us to immerse ourselves in the activities of the dance company over the next 7 months or so, going to whatever rehearsals and performances we want, and even invited us to participate (as dancers) in their classes every morning!  I think it’s an amazing opportunity but I have some fear/intimidation to get over before I do that!  If you know me even slightly you probably know I spend a lot of my time dancing, and I’ve wondered how I could incorporate my love of dancing and movement into my artwork but was at a bit of a loss, so this will be an interesting opportunity.  I’m excited and a little intimidated by the project and the other artists participating.Currently I’m just collecting ideas.  I’m interested in exploring the term “moving” in its emotional context, as I’ve been thinking about the way I communicate my feelings and practicing being more expressive.  I’m also thinking about the link between dancing and anatomy, and “parts” in the anatomical sense, and the way that we locate emotions in parts of our anatomy.

I’ve got no idea what will come of these ideas once I start attending rehearsals and performances–I can’t wait to be inspired by the dancing I’ll be witnessing in the coming months.

I’ve had wolves on the brain.  I forget where the obsession started.  I know Sabeth made a great etching of a wolf during our workshop a few weeks ago.  Around the same time I had the urge to track down Maxine Kumin’s poem “After Love” to quote it to someone:

Afterwards, the compromise
Bodies resume their boundaries

These legs, for instance, mine.
Your arms take you back in.

Spoons of our fingers, lips
admit their ownership.

The bedding yawns, a door
blows aimlessly ajar

and overhead, a plane
singsongs coming down.

Nothing is changed, except
there was a moment when

the wolf, the mongering wolf
who stands outside the self

lay lightly down, and slept.

Then I started listening to Tender Forever a bunch, especially “Tiny Heart and Clever Hand,” in which wolves make an appearance.  Then I was thinking about all this on a walk to the library, where on the new fiction shelf I noticed 2 fantasy novels about people living with wolves.

Anyway this is what came of it:

I’ve been thinking about a wolf as a stand-in for a person, in particular one who doesn’t express emotion easily, but Becca pointed out you could also read it as a statement about habitat destruction and aerial hunting.

Letterpress Printers: It’s time to start thinking about holiday cards and gifts!

Join me Wednesday for another Letterpress Happy Hour at Pyramid Atlantic.

Pay only $10 ($20 for non-members) to mix, mingle, and set type or print a project you’re working on. We’ll choose an ink color together.

Email me at letterpress (at) pyramid-atlantic (dot) com to RSVP.

8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(5 minute walk from the Silver Spring Metro)

Haven’t tried letterpress yet? Email me to set up a lesson before the next Happy Hour (December 3)!

Join me at Pyramid Atlantic on Saturday, November 15 for a small group introduction to letterpress on our Vandercook presses!

This three hour workshop provides a basic overview of letterpress printing. You will learn the following letterpress basics: type setting by hand, presswork, inking, editioning (a small edition of three), and Vandercook operation. This short workshop is open to all experience levels but is primarily geared towards the beginner and those printers new to Vandercook technology.

10:00 am –1:00 pm.  $60.  RSVP to lshack(at)pyramid-atlantic(dot)org.

I remember my interest in book arts exploding at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair and Conference four years ago.  The biennial event is back this year, at the fancy new Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at Montgomery College (Takoma/Silver Spring campus).

The opening reception is Friday, followed by two days of conferences and the fair, which features many of the country’s best book artists, fine binders, letterpress printers and their works for sale.  It’s a must-see if you have any interest in book art.

Here are a few images of work by artists in the fair:

Experienced letterpress printers:

Join me tonight at Pyramid Atlantic for another Letterpress Happy Hour!

Pay only $10 ($20 for non-members) to mix, mingle, and set type or print whatever project you’re working on. We’ll have silver ink on one of the Vandercooks.

Email me at letterpress (at) pyramid-atlantic (dot) com to RSVP.

8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(5 minute walk from the Silver Spring Metro)

Haven’t tried letterpress yet? Email me to set up a lesson before the next Happy Hour (November 19)!

Come check out the printmaking, papermaking, silkscreen, bookbinding, and letterpress studios at Pyramid Atlantic today!

8230 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

I’ll be there demonstrating from 1pm-5pm.