Katherine Ruffin demonstrates printing on an iron hand press in conjunction with the Protest in Print exhibition at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College, November 7, 2017.

Saturday, October 27. “Why the Whole Book Matters: Making Books the Hard Way in 21st Century America,” Katherine Ruffin ✧ “Chasing the Ideal Book,” Carolee Campbell

The standing-room-only crowd of over fifty attendees learned about the bookmaking practices, personal histories, and artistic philosophies of two book artists: Katherine McCanless Ruffin who shares her passion of print and paper with her students at Wellesley College and Carolee Campbell who realizes her vision of the ideal book through thoughtful concept and high craft.  [Read more]

Left, Tim Fay demonstrates the Linotype. Right, a brass Linotype mat. (Isabella Myers)

Friday, October 26  Hosted by Route 3 Press proprietor Tim Fay

Tim Fay welcomed us into his shop in Anamosa, IA where he prints the Wapsipinicon Almanac. He’s been producing this 160-page, letterpress-printed publication featuring essays, fiction, and reviews since 1988. Before we arrived, Fay was working on the 25th and final volume of the  Almanac (published bi-annually in the 1990s). While he plans to continue printing under the Route 3 name, as he’s done since 1977, from here on he’ll focus on smaller projects.  [Read more]

Via the Contact form:

Student in type design in écal (Swiss), i’m looking for Hermann Zapf ‘s archives: especially high quality drawing/printing specimens/proofs of Melior typeface. Waiting forward to hear from you,
Arnaud

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Kathryn Clark at Twin Rocker, circa 1980, she trained many apprentices who spread the craft. (Todd Matus)

Friday, October 26. “The Hand Papermaker’s Database,” Nicole Donnelly ✧ “The Revival of Hand Papermaking in the USA in Late 20th Century,” Peter Thomas ✧ “Order in the Stacks: Organization of a Paper Library,” Virginia Howell

Peter Thomas began the session by describing how the history of hand papermaking in the United States can be divided into to two eras: before 1907, when apprentices were making paper under a master; and after 1907, when individual artists were making paper for their own use. It was in this second era that individuals, such as John Mason and Dard Hunter, began experimenting and then disseminating information, which then led to the revival of interest in handpapermaking and a proliferation of workshops. The students of these classes then dispersed across the country to start their own businesses and teach others the art of papermaking. The revival really was hand-to-hand, passed down through a community of artists.  [Read more]

Detail views of the felt hair mark texture of Renaissance paper and a back mark artifact in a Renaissance drawing; such artifacts inform Farnsworth’s investigation of Renaissance paper and his ongoing quest to recreate its exceptional textures for contemporary artists. (Donald Farnsworth)

Saturday, October 27. “Renaissance Paper Texture,” Donald Farnsworth ✧ “Typographical Variants on Wove and Laid Papers in Baskerville’s Virgil,” Cathleen A. Baker

Both presenters gave a lively and engaging account of their extensive research processes and each offered conclusions that highlighted the benefit and difficulties of direct material analysis research.  [Read more]

Mhd. Hussain Kagzi getting ready to form a sheet. (Mina Takahashi)

Friday, October 26. “Papermaking by Hand in India,” Radha Pandey ✧ “Daluang Beaten Bark Paper and Contemporary Artists in Indonesia,” Lisa Miles ✧ “Traditional Japanese Kites & their Influence of 21st-Century Kite Makers,” Scott Skinner & Ali Fujino

Radha Pandey discussed papermaking by hand in India and what that process entails, as well as traditional dyeing techniques alongside her own experiments with non-traditional natural dyes. Pandey discussed the history of this kind of paper, and then went on to describe each step in this traditional papermaking process, from the beating of the fiber with large wooden hammers, to the techniques used for pulling sheets, to burnishing the paper on curved wooden boards. Pandey noted that the position the papermaker is in while pulling sheets influences the quality and thickness of the paper, as does the floating action of the mould when in the vat of pulp. Pandey argues that when pulling sheets from the vat, the seated or squatted position of the papermaker is what allows them to consistently make the same thickness of paper throughout an entire run.  [Read more]

Lynn Sures Nariokotome Boy, 2017. Colored pencil on handmade kenaf paper, 16″ × 24″. (Lynn Sures )

Saturday, October 27. “The Nexus of Being and Place: Interpreting Human Origins in Handmade Paper,” Lynn Sures ✧ “The Driving Force of the Universe Made Visible,” Heather Peters ✧ “Printmaking with Dirca Bark Paper,” Zachary Hudson and Andrew Zandt

Lynn Sures reported on her work funded by the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship into early human and animal origins, beginning with drawings of fossils on her own handmade abaca, flax and hemp paper. After research in museum collections in Washington DC, she traveled to Kenya with her handmade kenaf paper to document archeological sites where early human remains had been found along with evidence of tools and tool making, or “the development of the ‘maker’ in a species that directly preceded ours.” All of these drawings were then reinterpreted in pulp paintings. On the process she says, “These drawings are very literal. I’m trying to understand who I am looking at.”  [Read more]

Conference attendees in the composing room of the Grinnell Herald-Register composing room. (Tad Boehmer)

Wednesday, October 24. Led by Gary Frost and Rich Dana

As part of the pre-conference historical printing tour on Wednesday, 18 visitors got an exclusive preview of the Grinnell Herald-Register Renovation and Restoration project. Like many small-town papers, the Herald-Register closed their in-house printing operation decades ago, but unlike many others, the owners mothballed the letterpress shop rather than scrapping it. Conference-goers were the first outside group to inspect the local team’s progress in bringing the “back shop” back to life, peruse the extensive collection of standing job type, and talk one-on-one with the Martha Pinder and Peggy (Pinder) Elliot, third-generation owner/publishers of the beloved twice-weekly newspaper.  [Read more]

A post sheet-forming group portrait, Timothy Barrett holds the megaphone. (Barry Phipps)

Friday, October 26.  An audience participation demonstration
with Tim Barrett & his team

After a call for assistance, twenty-two people were ready to help with this ambitious project, and a bigger crowd was ready with their cellphones and their enthusiastic presence to see the action. The full 5 × 27 foot sheet required 88 liters of water, 23 liters of (bleached abaca) pulp and 58 liters of formation aid. This solution was gradually and continuously added using buckets at either end while the nearly two dozen volunteers held and moved the mould. Although we tried practicing with 40 lbs. of dry marbles just before the real process, it turned out to be ineffective. Marbles move differently than pulp.  [Read more]