An ode to the handmade

A conversation with a colleague over some particularly fiddly letterpress registration as part of a complex book composition, about how she knew it would have been so much easier to design on the computer and print digitally, and why even knowing this she chose not to do that, led to the comment 'because digital doesn't make you happy'.  This was meant not just literally, but as an acknowledgement that it is the hands-on process of making which brings some of us as much satisfaction as the end result.

At a course run by the same colleague, learning to print on an Adana press, I printed 'Digital doesn't make me happy' onto a set of postcards, one of which I gave back to her, the rest of which sold at the Manchester Artists' Book Fair, mostly to other letterpress printers, and I thought that was the end of that.  In the months following, I found the phrase was still in my head, with related sentences and the idea of putting them into a book.  I couldn't shake it off so finally I have printed and made the book, resisting the urge to compose the text in the form of a rhyme, and presenting itself in what is probably the cleanest, neatest book I shall ever make!

It is a celebration of the handmade, and doing things the difficult way because we like to.  It is intended as a light-hearted, humorous comment, rather than a deep statement, though it does reflect the overall ethos of my practice.

Digital Doesn't Make Me Happy
Edition of 20, letterpress printed and hand bound
Will be on display and for sale at the Leeds International Artists Book Fair in March, and at BABE (Bristol Artists Book Event) in April.

Sunset

The sun has set on another artists' book fair (Leeds - full report to follow soon), and in fact the last book fair in 'the season' for me as I can't make it to Edinburgh or Glasgow this time around.  So there is a chance to step back and reflect on how things went, what I might change, where I go from here.

On schedule

It's the usual rush to get just a few more books made before the next artists' book fair - which is in Leeds in less than a week.

Today I have been up-cycling some previously made work.  I originally printed these as greetings cards at the end of the print run of bookmarks for the Bookmarks IX: infiltrating the library system project last summer.  They are composed of 6pt letterpress ornaments, packed together to create the pattern and text.  I only had enough ornaments to print a single word, so these cards were put through the press 6 times to achieve this noticeboard look.

At the end of 2011 I up-cycled the leftover greetings cards into notebooks with blank pages, for the abc Christmas market.  I also took these to the Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre last weekend, where I observed that people were very interested in them, but then looked disappointed when they opened them to find there was no 'book' content inside.  So I have been flexing my rubber stamps and have now added text to the pages, representing examples of delays and the reasons given that I have experienced over my rail travels.

Coming soon to an artists' book fair near you...

As a development of the artists' book fair activities I was involved in last autumn, and once more in collaboration with Pet Galerie Press, in the next few weeks I will be presenting work at:

Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre 6 

(25th Feburary, Turner House, Penarth)

and

International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair
(9-10th March, Parkinson Court, University of Leeds)

These are the first artists' book fairs where I will be presenting my work 'independently' of UWE so it feels like quite a change.  Please do come along to see the books and say hello if you are near either!