Updates, changes, what’s next

11 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Deep Wood Press in Future Projects, Letterpress, Mad Parrot Press, Moon as Bright as Water, Oak Knoll Fest, The Hunter Gracchus

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Books, future projects, update

imgp7597-copy

I am pleased to let you know that my website has finally been updated and that Moon as Bright as Water is now available to purchase on the Books & Broadsides list page and its own description page.

This will be the last book with the Chester River Press imprint. For 10 years I have shared this imprint with James Dissette in a venture which started out with two other partners centered out of Chestertown, Maryland and together we brought you The Chesapeake Voyages of Captain John Smith and Heart of Darkness as well a a few other private works. The two other partners are long gone now and James continues to use Chester River for his other non-fine press work so we felt a change was in order. Our new imprint is Mad Parrot Press and you are going to like it! An announcement of intentions will soon be forthcoming.

Just a month ago Oak Knoll Fest XIX was a wonderful event once again tempered by the untimely passing of one of the great bookmen of modern times, Bob Fleck – founder of Oak Knoll Books, just a week before the exhibit. Many glasses were raised and fond remembrances given to Bob and some of our other absent fellow travelers in the fine book world. My thanks to the institutions and private collectors that made journeying to New Castle once again enjoyable, enlightening and, thankfully, profitable.

On a personal note, some may have noticed the lack of books flowing out of Deep Wood Press the last couple of years. That will be changing very soon. This is actually how I make my living so it’s very important to me too — and necessary! A long separation and divorce has finally concluded, child custody and keeping my shop intact was my primary concern and I’m happy to report success on those fronts. Now I have an actual schedule once again and will use that time accordingly finishing Kafka which is due out this winter. More to follow soon from Deep Wood Press and Mad Parrot Press from the likes of Forster, Grahame, some regional poets & writers and my own rambling musings.

Please stay tuned.

Gracchus Musings & Interpretations

17 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Deep Wood Press in The Hunter Gracchus

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Franz Kafka, literature, short film

As I’ve been working on The Hunter Gracchus this past year or more I’ve read probably to much about Kafka from the terrible recounts of friend Max Brod to David Zane Mairowitz’s and R. Crumb’s musings on his life.

One of the most intriguing and humbling interpretations I’ve found is this short independent piece by Canadian film maker Glenn Stillar:

Gracchus Link to view Glenn’s adaptation (20 minutes)

Perhaps it is the north woods sensibility that draws me to this adaptation – the dialogue is paraphrased and, out of necessity of place and time, the setting is altered but in a wonderful fashion. Filmed in three days and starring Stillar’s relatives it nonetheless captures an essence of Kafka’s story and — the burgomaster is a treasure.

A Long Absence

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Deep Wood Press in Fine Press Book Association, Letterpress, Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair, Moon as Bright as Water, PR and Media releases, The Hunter Gracchus

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fine press books, frustration, future projects, travel

It has been over a year since my last post, my apologies. A few things on the home front have complicated life in the studio tremendously since last spring.

But – I’m back. And there’s a few things I’d like to catch you up on.

First up, I will once again be in New York next month for the FPBA Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair on April 9th. It will be held at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer across the way from the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. With luck, the new Kafka book, The Hunter Gracchus, will be completed and ready for viewing. All of the text is composed, corrected and ready to go in galleys, the paper is here, cover materials and presentation pretty well set. Just something funny about being an artist sometimes and the work doesn’t flow – I am not yet content with my intaglio prints that illustrate Gracchus and I won’t release the book until I am. That’s about it unfortunately.

I have a few small treasures to bring along regardless, a very small book by Robert Frost, Christmas Trees, which is a 100th anniversary printing of the title and a few small broadsides with artwork.

A couple of the galleys of type ready to go for Kafka

An exciting forthcoming project is a new collaboration with my old partner James Dissette which will come out under our Chester River Press imprint. Moon as Bright as Water is a newly translated body of poems by Qin Guan dating from the 11th century Chinese Northern Song dynasty. Never before published, this translation is by William McNaughton and David Young with a foreword by William McNaughton. Jim and I first started talking about this project over 1o years ago and sometimes things just take a little longer to perk their way into existence. Look for it this summer as we are now doing page layouts with the final text editing completed now. Here is an early prototype of the title page for your amusement:

I’ve also been busy here close to home, a collaboration with Blackbird Arts in Traverse City to create a new book arts center in Northern Michigan – Blackbird Book Arts & Press. Work began last fall with planning and moving presses into the space and I am pleased that our initial offerings have been a huge success. The space includes facilities for letterpress, intaglio, silk screen and workspace for bindery activities. Things will ramp up this summer with a variety of workshops and classes given by myself and other talented practitioners of the “black arts” from across the country.

I have been honored with being given one of the 2016 Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Awards. The grant is administered by Michigan State University Museum’s Michigan Traditional Arts Program. It was established with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and is sustained through a partnership with the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. This years current apprentice is Daniel Schneider who started working with me last September. Some of you may have met him at the last couple Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum Wayzgooses where he has presented his research on worker skill and industrial wood type production.