Spring is in the air, and so is an anniversary

I'm sure to post more about it, but here's your early warning for our next big letterpress-lovin' confab. Come stroll and sip amid the presses this spring.

The animal parade continues

Our neighborhood art group recently rounded up work to show at Blackfish Gallery, 420 N.W. Ninth.

At first I was stumped as to what to make for the chosen theme, "Birds of a Feather." Then it occurred to me: chiyogami chicks.

You can catch them pecking away in the window from Feb. 28 to March 31.

Dragons roam everywhere

I haven't had much studio work to post 'cause the writing's going so well, but I had to share this, from the Japanese inkstone cover that I use as a weight.

Xin nian kuai le

The view of the new year today: wet, but bright and full of promise. For one, I hope the dragon brings me continued focus on the book, and the will and words to power through the last two-thirds.

Thanks to Yao Xiao Long for the fine characters.

Here's the text of the card I printed this year, from C.A.S. Williams's Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives (Tuttle Co., 1941):

"The Eastern dragon is not the gruesome monster of mediaeval imagination, but the genius of strength and goodness. He is the spirit of change, therefore of life itself. ... Hidden in the caverns of inaccessible mountains, or coiled in the unfathomed depth of the sea, he awaits the time when he slowly rouses himself into activity. He unfolds himself in the storm clouds; he washes his mane in the blackness of the seething whirlpools. His claws are in the fork of lightning, his scales begin to glisten in the bark of the rain-swept pine trees. His voice is heard in the hurricane, which, scattering the withered leaves of the forest, quickens a new spring."

Happy dragon!

Where has this book been all my life?

Every time I take a trip to Powell's City of Books, I pinch myself that I live in Portland and can visit this book Mecca anytime.

I always come home with a surprise, and this time it's Visible Traces, which highlights the greatest hits in the, as it's subtitled, "rare books and special collections from the National Library of China." I thrilled to see it there on the shelf, then kicked myself for not being aware of its publication some years ago. Geez, where was I? (I know, in the throes of Operation Boyfriend.)

For now, I tease you with the cover and this brief description. I hope to return with another post showing some of the treasures inside. I almost gasped seeing some books depicted that I was able to handle when I worked for a summer in the conservation department at the National Library of China. Only this time I was able—through English translation of the Chinese text—to really figure out the when, where, and how of the books, making them even more stunning than I thought.

I'll savor this book in the rainy season ahead.

It's not all books in the bindery

We've got tango, too. The twice-monthly women's lead practica marked its two-year anniversary today. Tangueras Susan and Ursina give it a whirl.

The dragon begins to stir

Today I met my last editing deadline for the year, and yesterday put the finishing touches on my latest letterpress project, which should go in the mail any day now. Here's a preview:

In case it's not obvious, my new favorite typeface is Keynote.

Speaking of favorites, here's an awesome piece hanging in the studio, pulled off by Em Spacers Rory Sparks and Kyle Durrie during a residency at Wisconsin's Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. It never fails to blow my mind imagining wood type that huge, much less the machinations required in printing on that size paper.

I love the attribution.