I am Chad Pastotnik, proprietor of Deep Wood Press which I established in 1992 when I purchased my little piece of paradise and built my first studio on the property. Nestled in the forest along the banks of the Cedar River in Northern Michigan’s Antrim County, Deep Wood Press has continued a centuries old tradition of hand-made books, fine bindings and other printed matter. With a foundation in fine art, careful attention to craftsmanship and detail the end result is, hopefully, more than a vehicle for information.

It is very important to me to maintain the traditional practices of printmaking, letterpress and book binding. The fine press world is somewhat moving away from analog composition but, admittedly, it is very difficult to set up a traditional print shop in the 21st century. Most of the type and specialized equipment is long gone so having put together a collection of very functional “vintage” equipment and desirable typefaces the best way to maintain it is to use it.

My books are printed via letterpress on fine papers and are illustrated with art work from original wood engravings, linoleum cuts and intaglio prints created directly by the artist. The text is from metal type cast here on a Linotype composition castor or hand set from the type cases. These sheets are then bound by hand in traditional and contemporary book structures using fine leathers, book cloth and papers from around the world often with a slipcase or drop spine box to hold them. All this is done here in one place. Each aspect of a book conceived, created and finished in these two buildings. Perhaps not a fast way to make books but I find it quite satisfactory.

Most of my inspiration comes from a deep admiration of what was done by fine printers from the 16th though early 20th century, classical sensibilities. Admittedly, I have little taste for more “modern” styles, even shying away from sans types for the most part though having a healthy collection of type of that sort. I was very fortunate to have been given a gift of a deceased fellow printers library in the early 90’s. Although I never knew the man these books came from I came to know his friends quite well by their inscriptions to him in the books they gave him: Morris, Grabhorn, Rogers, Updike, Cleland, Dwiggins – these are the men I learned my craft from and they led me back further in the past to the printers that they in turn held in awe. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to examine Gutenberg bibles, Copernicus’s note-book, illuminated manuscripts from the hand of Irish monks, Sanskrit scroll fragments and I know by these things that I have oh so far to go and learn. I’ll keep trying.

I get to share my wonderful adventure with my two children and partner Madeleine. While there are plenty of distractions, work in the studio is never work (well almost never) and being able to raise a family in such a wonderful environment is something I’m thankful for every day. Oh yes, and then there’s the trout…

Media

• Minds of the Press Interview from The Collectable Book Vault (2024)
• A Craftsman’s Legacy Chad is featured in the 2014/15 PBS television series.
  A Craftsman’s Legacy, episode 11 – The Book Maker.
• Radio Interview with Jerry Dennis and Glenn Wolff, Michigan Writers On the Air about Trout in Winter 2013 (mp3, 24.6 mb)
• Feature article about Chad Pastotnik from Traverse Magazine 1/2013
• Radio Interview from Michigan Writers on the Air 2010(mp3, 12 mb)
• Radio Interview from Ann Arbor Public Radio (NPR) 2008 (mp3, 3.6 mb)
• Radio Interview from Interlochen Public Radio 2006 (mp3, 2.2 mb)
• Radio Interview from the Great Lakes Radio Consortium (NPR) 1996 (mp3, 4.8 mb)
• Article about Chad Pastotnik from the Detroit News 12/2000

Collections:

Outside United States:

· National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

· The British Library, St. Pancras, The North American Collection, London, UK

· Oxford University, Bodleian Library Special Collections, Oxford, UK

· University of Edinburgh, Main Library, Edinburgh, UK

· University of Manchester Library, Manchester, UK

· Trinity College, Early Printed Books and Special Collections, Dublin, Ireland

· University of Otago, Special Collections, Dunedin, New Zealand

· Auckland City Libraries, Central City Special Collections, Auckland, New Zealand

· Universidad de Sevilla. Bibioteca, Sevilla, Spain

· Sojeon Cultural Foundation, Seoul, South Korea

· University of Alberta, Cameron Library, Edmonton, AB, Canada

United States

· Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York, NY

· The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library, New York, NY

· Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

· SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

· New York Public Library 5th & 42nd, Special Collections, Rare Books, New York, NY

· Harvard University, Widener Library, Cambridge, MA

· Princeton University Graphic Arts Library and Cotsen Childrens’s Library, Princeton, NJ

· Book Club of California, San Francisco, CA

· Newberry Library, Chicago, IL

· Grolier Club, New York, NY

· Boston Athenaeum, Boston, MA

· Getty Research Institute, Getty Library, Los Angeles, CA

· Yale, Sterling Memorial Library, New Haven, CT

· Stanford University, Cecil H. Green Library, Special Collections, Stanford, CA

· University of California Berkeley, Doe Library, Berkeley, CA

· Seattle Art Museum Libraries, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Library, Seattle, WA

· RIT Library, Wallace Library, Rochester, NY

· Rhode Island School of Design Library, Fleet Library, Providence, RI

· Brown University, Rockefeller Library, Providence, RI

· University of Michigan, Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Ann Arbor, MI

· University of Iowa, Special Collections, Iowa City, IA

· University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library, Philadelphia, PA

· Lafayette College, Skillman Library, Easton, PA

· Smith College, Neilson Library, Northampton, MA

· Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

· Johns Hopkins University, Garrett Library, Sheridan Library & Milton S. Eisenhower Lib, Baltimore, MD

· Washington College, Miller Library, Chestertown, MD

· University of Delaware Library, Hugh M. Morris Library, Newark, DE

· Williams College, Sawyer Library, Williamstown, MA

· Connecticut College, Charles E. Shain Library, New London, CT

· Smith College, Neilson Library, Northampton, MA

· University at Buffalo, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

· Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Buffalo, NY

· Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU Libraries, Richmond, VA

· James Madison University Libraries, Harrisonburg, VA

· University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

· University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, PA

· University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Penn Library, Philadelphia, PA

· The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

· Swarthmore College, McCabe Library, Swarthmore, PA

· Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

· Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

· Butler University, Indianapolis, IN

· University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, IL

· Knox College, Seymour Library, Galesburg, IL

· Library of Michigan, Lansing, MI

· Michigan State University, Special Collections Library, East Lansing, MI

· Grand Valley State University, Special Collections, Alendale, MI

· Central Michigan University, Clarke Historical Library, Mount Pleasant, MI

· Western Michigan University, Waldo Library & Brennan Law Library, Kalamazoo, MI

· Kendall College of Art & Design, Grand Rapids, MI

· The University of Notre Dame, Hesburgh Library, Notre Dame, IN

· St. Ambrose University Library, Special Collections, Davenport, IA

· Oberlin College Libraries, Oberlin, OH

· University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, UWM Libraries, Milwaukee, WI

· University of Wisconsin – Madison, Memorial Library, Madison, WI

· University of Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Lawrence, KS

· Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Special Collections, Topeka, KS

· University of Georgia, main library, Athens, GA

· Emory University, Woodruff Library, Atlanta, GA

· University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington, KY

· University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC

· Grove Park Inn Resort, Asheville, NC

· East Side Freedom Library, Saint Paul, MN Minneapolis

· College of Art & Design, Saint Paul, MN

· Walker Art Center Library, Minneapolis, MN

· Gustavus Adolphus College, Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library, Saint Peter, MN

· University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Love Library, Lincoln, NE

· Creighton University, Reiner-Alumni Memorial Library, Omaha, NE

· Brigham Young University, Hull Library, Provo, UT

· Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, UT

· Butte Silver Bow Public Library, Butte, MT

· University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Missoula, MT

· University of Denver, Anderson Academic Commons, Denver, CO

· University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

· University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

· University of California Davis, Shields Library, Davis, CA

· University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

· University of California Riverside, Rivera Library, Riverside, CA

· University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

· Scripps College, Denison Library, Claremont, CA

· The Claremont Colleges, Claremont University Consortium, Claremont, CA

· University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR

· Withworth University Library, Harriet Cheney Cowles Memorial Library, Spokane, WA

· Whitman College, Penrose Library, Walla Walla, WA

· Wellington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

· University of Denver, University Libraries, Denver, CO

· University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX

· University of North Texas Library, Denton, TX

· Texas A&M, Evans Library, College Station, TX

· Aman Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX

· New Mexico Highlands University, Donnelly Library, Las Vegas, NM

· University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ

Miscellaneous:

•    Published: 1000 Artist’s Books, a gallery-style book by Sandra Salamony with consulting editors and co-curators Peter and Donna Thomas. Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books. 2012
•    Commissioned work, Michigan State Archives. Reproducing historic Michigan iconography and maps from imagery and sometimes original plates via letterpress and intaglio for Archives use. 2011 – present
•    Feature Article in ForeWord Reviews magazine, Sept/Oct 2011
•    Instructor at the Hollander’s School of Book & Paper Arts in Ann Arbor, MI. 2008-2012
• Grant Award – Chad Pastotnik has been awarded one of the 2016 Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award. The grant was given as acknowledgment for the 15+ years of training apprentices and students.
•   Recipient of 1998 & 1999 MCACA (Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs) grant to create a deluxe edition of ten books for the 1998 & 99 edition of  the Dunes Review: Poetry and Creative Nonfiction of Northwest Lower Michigan. Anne-Marie Oomen, editor; Dunes Review Writing Project
•    Visiting Lecturer – Analog Design in a Digital World – sponsored by Teesside University in Middlesbrough, Cleveland College of Art in Hartlepool and Keynote speaker for a letterpress conference Designing for Printing: Books, Letterpress Printing & Design at Chetham’s Library in Manchester, England, 2010
•    Featured Review for the book Heart of Darkness in Parenthesis, The Journal of the Fine Press Book Association. Issue 19, Autumn, 2010
•    Award Recipient the Carl Hertzog Award for excellence in book design, 2010
•   Feature article in Chicago magazine Jan. 1995

Affiliations:

• Board of directors, Louis Jou Foundation. Les Baux-de-Provence, France
• Fine Press Book Association
• The Guild of Book Workers-National and Regional Chapter
• Mid America Print Council
• TypoCrafters
• Wood Engravers Network