Books make great gifts, pt. 2

A friend of mine recently moved to Korea, and to lighten his load, he sent a box of his heaviest books to my doorstep. Some hightlights:

An illustrated book of herbs (did you know that the marshmallow plant is an herb?),

and a 1937 reprint of Audobon's The Birds of America.

I especially like the title page,

and I think the title page of my next book will need to include &c., &c., &c.

Books make great gifts

I love getting books as gifts, and my friends know it. The main problems with having too many books are 1. I tend to move a lot, and 2. I've run out of shelf space, but there's no room in this little apartment for another bookshelf. I'm really excited for the day when I can dedicate an entire room to books, and call it my library. It'll have shelves up to the ceiling and a wooden ladder on wheels so I can easily get to each and every beautiful book.

Over the weekend, I got an old Encyclopedia Brittanica with anatomy lessons:

Last week I got a whole box of sweet old books from a friend moving to Korea. I'll post more on those later.

New Shops!

I'm so excited to open a few more new shops for Heroes & Criminals Press wares! If you're an online shopper, visit Felt & Wire, a curated shop dedicated to paper goods. While you're there, take a peek at their blog - it's updated regularly with news from the paper, books, and print world.

If you're in the Asheville area and like to shop in person, stop by Atelier 24 in downtown Asheville. This is a gallery that showcases art by lots of local artists (I think they're up to 70 artists now), with an amazing variety including wall decals and handmade guitars. I'm starting out small, with a wall that's all my own, with plans to (hopefully) expand down the road.

I'm also pleased to be in the Penland School of Crafts Gallery, to be in the company of some of the best artists and craftsmen working now. I've admired many of the artists that they represent for a long time, and I have to pinch myself some days to make sure this is real! Right now, they carry planners, journals, and cards, but I'm working on getting my prints and books up to par so they can be included as well.

Get smart, have fun

Upcoming workshops I'll be teaching at Asheville BookWorks are now officially posted! Go to their website here to register. Sorry for out-of-town folks, but these are evening classes most convenient for locals. If you want these classes made available as weekend classes, let them know!

Stiff Leaf and Drum Leaf Bindings
April 7, 14, 21, 28, 2010

Image-making on the Vandercook: Variations on Relief
May 4, 11, 18, 25 and June 1, 8, 2010

The Printed Book
August 11, 18, 25 and September 1, 8, 15, 2010

Introduction to Letterpress Printing
August 27 - 29, 2010

Cause manatees love books

I was recently invited to participate in a bookplates exhibit, and I took the opportunity to work on my engraving skills. I tend to make bigger prints, so being forced to create something small-ish made the prospect of engraving much less daunting. This was done on Resingrave, my engraving block of choice these days because I've noticed that I'm easily distracted by the wood grain on regular wood blocks! I really had fun with it, despite some problems with chipping, and am fairly pleased with the results. Well, usually pleased with the results - I'm learning by looking at work by my personal hero engravers out there: Barry Moser, Gaylord Shanilec, and local artist Andy Farkas, and by comparison my little engraving looks pretty sad. I'm trying not to get down about it, and at the very least each one of my prints are better than the last!

These manatee bookplates will be on display in a traveling show starting in eastern North Carolina this month. More details to follow!