The heart of this exhibit is an Abecedarian project that gives a lesson in civility for our time. It will soon be coming out in book format, hopefully by the first of the year (2019)
Letterpress booklet with poems and images of sculpture, 4x9.25 inches; 2015
Letterpress booklet with poems and images of sculpture, 4x9.25 inches; 2015. Booklet has die-cut cover and translucent image pages.
The Peoria Print Club has begun to develop and sell book-making kits. The first to go on sale are for making sewn Hard-cover pamphlets. These are single-signature structures with cloth spines, hard covers, and a cloth spine along with printed instructions on how to assemble the book. These 5 1/5 by 7 1/2 inch books are great for journals, addresses or passwords.
The instructions for binding can be downloaded from this link: HardCoverPamphletBinding.
This week I made up kits containing everything you need to make a 24 page case-bound notebook 6×8 inches, with a paste paper cover and cloth spine. It included pages, end sheets, spine reinforcer, punching guide, thread for sewing, pastepaper cover material, book boards, and book cloth.
Wednesday night, September 9, from 6:30-9:00 at the Prairie Center of the Arts. A short fun workshop will invite participants to use antique wood to create immediate and powerful letter and word compositions.
Just lately, I personally have been experimenting with setting wood type diagonally in the press bed, using triangular wedges and magnets for some inventive lock-ups. Combining that with hand-inking using multiple rollers and cutting and folding the paper after it has been printed has been leading to some intriguing avenues of investigation that I hope my students will pick up on and give me some surprises!
Wood type’s versatility always amazes. It can be old-fashioned in the sense of a wanted poster, or it can be painterly, atmospheric, almost abstract. it can communicate a message with utmost clarity or it can be subtle and nuanced, Meticulously planned or totally spontaneous.
Here are some of my recent experiments.
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https://www.facebook.com/robert.rowe.5855/media_set?set=a.1164486213566813.1073741837.100000163372294&type=3
Some demonstrations in letterpress printing for my intermediate letterpress class at the Prairie Center. First, printing a polymer plate with text using a some pressure print shapes affixed to the cylinder, so the type only prints in the shapes defined by the pressure print areas. Second, making a low-relief plate on MDF board with cut paper shapes and sealed with polymer gel medium. It is good to let the process take over and show provide some surprises.
DIRECTIONS HOME:
A new book from the Gold Quoin Press, 2013, printed letterpress in an edition of 200 copies. Now available for purchase. (signed and in hardcover box).
Directions Home is a collection of poems inspired by the names of specific streets, roads, avenues, lanes, and highways found in one Midwestern town. The poems were written by the Grandview Hotel Poets, based in Peoria, Illinois, who meet regularly to share and discuss their work. The group’s earlier collection is entitled Bluffs and Five Bridges: Poems from Peoria. The variety of items included in Directions Home seeks to engage the reader in a physical as well as a literary exploration of the complex feelings about traveling from—and returning to—home.
This book came to fruition through collaboration between the Grandview Hotel Poets and the designers and printers associated with Bradley University’s Gold Quoin Press, all of whom share a love of the printed word and the creative possibilities that spring to life under the caring hand of the craftsperson.
Poems by Barbara Clevenger, Jannett Highfill, Mark Liebenow, Janeil Page, Thomas Palakeel, Burt Raabe, and Elizabeth Klise von Zerneck
Design by Sharon Conlee, Joe Fitzanko, Becky Krohe, Kevin McGuire, Lisa Nelson Raabe, and Robert Rowe, design coordinator
Production Notes: This book was a collaborative effort between the Grandview Hotel Poets and Gold Quoin Press. Working together, the authors and designers printed and assembled this book at Bradley University’s book arts studio in four very busy weeks in July and August, 2013. All printing, with one very small exception, was done on a Vandercook Universal One and an SP-15 press using photo-polymer plates, pressure printing, collagraph, and wood type. Special thanks to OSP Printing in Bloomington, IL for die-cutting.
The Gold Quoin Press at Bradley University is dedicated to promoting collaborative endeavors between writers and designers, with an emphasis on experimental letterpress printing and hand binding. The press provides instruction and studio facilities to students and the community. Other titles published by Gold Quoin Press include Unclose the Door by Madeline Wiseman (2012) and Great Day for a Run by Kevin McGuire (2011).
Gold Quoin Press © 2013 Peoria IL ISBN 978-0-9839535-1-7
This book was printed in an edition of 200 copies.
I installed prints and books from the Gold Quoin Press at the Paper Nest in Iowa City, June 7th. the exhibit will run through the month of June. The opening was Friday night, June 7, which coincided with the monthly gallery walk, so there was a continuous stream of people for three hours.
The exhibit includes poetry broadsides with texts by Katey Schultz and Laura Madeline Wiseman, artist’s books by Robert Rowe, and collaborative book projects by classes at Bradley University and by the Peoria community letterpress group.
For gallery hours, call 319-455-6378 or visit the web site below.
http://papernestpress.com/
The Mission Creek Arts Festival is an annual event in Iowa City that brings together music, poetry, fiction and publishers. This year, the Gold Quoin Press has a table showing and selling books and broadsides produced in the last year by students, faculty and community collaborations. There were many publishers of small and large literary journals present along with university presses from the University of Iowa and Illinois. Sales were good and and venue is the pleasantly-down-homey Mill restaurant and bar.