Hello! This is Tilly! I’m still here doing book related things with Matthew and Robbi, and I will be for a while, so expect more of me.
Today I went over to Washington College’s Literary House to help our friend Jim, book connoisseur and printer extraordinaire, with the printing of Idiots’Books Volume 35. The work in progress is a broadside detailing the opportunities, or lack thereof, that any given baby can expect in the life ahead of them. The chart comes from Idiots’ Book Volume 32, Avoid Disappointment and Future Regret.
Jim has been practicing letterpress printing since the 80′s when he found an old Chandler Price press in a barn and asked someone what it was. I’ve practiced other forms of printmaking like etching, lithography, and offset, but I hadn’t yet tried letterpress. Jim showed me how to line up the registration marks, a tricky task involving miniscule adjustments that make a big difference. Once it was all set up, I handed Jim blank sheets and stacked the printed sheets in a pile. The yellow layer was printed successfully. Tomorrow it’s blue and then we still have to do a black layer, which will be the trickiest part to line up.
It was a joy to be back in a print-shop. After three semesters of offset printing, I knew I would miss the print-studio environment. I had been to the Lit. House only once before to see the Idiots’ mural when it was freshly finished. I’m glad I got to go back and make stuff in it.
Hurrah for printmaking!
Agreed, Tilly! Hurrah for printmaking!