I’m offering a workshop for visual artists related to career documentation, archiving and legacy considerations this coming autumn. It’s a 6 session class, held every other week on Wednesday evenings at the X Gallery Art Storage space. Each session will offer guidelines, best practices, and discussion about specific areas of artwork inventory and storage, studio workflow and management, archive formation, legacy goals and planning specific to artists.
Learn more and register on the X Gallery Art website
Presentation at Northwest Archivists Conference
On Wednesday, May 4 at 11am, I’ll be involved in a presentation about working with artists’ archives, touching on the importance of career documentation, collection preservation and storage, management, legacy planning for living artists, and stewardship specific to artwork collections. This presentation is part of the 2022 Northwest Archivists Conference “Not to be Forgotten: the resiliency and sustainability of archives to preserve untold stories” which will be held virtually from May 2-5. Register and find out more on the conference website.
Women in Type
Women in Type was a three year research project at the University of Reading led by Fiona Ross, Alice Savoie, and Helena Lekka, and highlights the contributions of women to the type manufacturing process. The British Monotype and Linotype companies each employed women as part of departments where they worked to develop and produce typefaces that were often attributed completely to male designers. The Women in Type website is the result of an effort to make this research more accessible to the general public. It includes an overview of roles and responsibilities, brief histories of women who were employed by both corporations (based on first person interviews), and an excellent reading list.
Marie Watt Studio Archive
Images copyright Marie Watt Studio (Instagram)
In mid-2021, I began work with artist Marie Watt and Studio Manager Madalyn Barelle to better organize their studio archives. I started by assessing their existing print and drawing inventory, sorting and labeling in addition to updating the records and inventory numbers in their studio collection management database. We were able to rearrange materials to increase accessibility and improve the work flow in that area of the studio, separating the archives into “deep storage” or legacy items, occasional use, and more frequently accessed works on paper. When applicable, archival enclosures were replaced to be more durable and most efficient with storage space (at a premium in a prolific artist’s studio). Much of this work was funded by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council in preparation for Marie’s mid-career print retrospective at UC San Diego, “Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt,” scheduled to open February 4, 2022.
As we look to the year ahead, I will continue to assist with annual archiving needs, inventory and database updates, digital record cataloguing, and ongoing discussions related to long-term legacy planning. It’s an exciting time in the studio as the team has grown to include another Studio Manager and a dynamic group of artist assistants. The pace and the amount of new work constantly in creation means a functional archiving and inventory system is important to both idea generation and productive workflow.
You can find out more about Marie Watt’s art, upcoming exhibitions and community engaged events at mariewattstudio.com.
Overdue Type Identification
In early December 2020 I was able to finally take Amy Redmond’s Long Distance Letterpress: Type Forensics workshop about type identification and inventory, which she had adapted for an online class. Amy’s approach to type identification is very much about stewardship. She focused on honoring the legacy of the materials in use, taking the time to learn how and by whom the type was made, and holding only the faces you need in service of keeping more type in use. Add her technical prowess and experience as both a typographer and with the inventory of the Stern & Faye type collection, and a dynamic and useful workshop was born.
When we moved most of our type and equipment from Stumptown Printers into storage, we chose to save out three galley cabinets which house the bulk of our display type at 24pt. and above. One of my projects is to go back though and better organize and identify the contents. Many of the ornaments have never been proofed, and the typefaces are only partly catalogued. Additionally, many of the galleys have surface rust that needs to be removed. So, I used the momentum from this workshop to take some needed action.
First, clean. I needed to remove surface rust on our galleys before I could do any work of substance. I used Evapo-Rust (on recommendation from Ivan Snyder), soaking then rinsing the galleys. I treated enough that I could fill one column of our cabinet so that I could start to move type and concurrently soak the prior galley after a transition.
Second, organize. I separated the typefaces that have been stored together and labeled their galleys. In many cases we have half a galley of identified type and the other 50% unidentified. This step resulted in a lot of galleys labeled “unident” and “type to distribute”. I did keep small display fonts of multiple sizes together (i.e. 24pt. and 36 pt. of the same face) because we don’t have unlimited space. I also consolidated and retied a lot of the standing forms. With only three galley cabinets to deal with, I was able to alphabetize the identified typefaces (leaving gaps here and there to account for shuffling as new faces gain their identity), isolate the galleys that needed attention, and set up a section for current forms in use.
Third, identify. “Unident” galley number one contained a calligraphic face that I am embarrassed to admit sat on the same galley for over 20 years. It was mixed with a couple sizes of Old English and I am afraid we didn’t poke farther back than that in all the years that we pulled type from this particular location. I selected a couple characters and referenced our copy of Mac McGrew’s American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century. It’s a pretty distinct face, so I was quickly able to identify “Freehand”, designed for American Type Founders by Morris Benton in 1917, and then cross-reference it in the ATF Specimen Book. As a child who spent hours practicing calligraphic standards with different width pen nibs, and a fan of the typefaces designed by Eric Gill and Jim Rimmer, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this hidden treasure. And, despite that appreciation, I hardly know what to do with typefaces so closely related to hand lettering. Luckily, I did have a very short poem by W.S. Merwin waiting to be set in type and this face was appropriate to that use.
The next step is to document this particular typeface by pulling a proof and counting characters using the specimen ID sheets that I adapted from ones that Armina Ghazaran (Type & Press) uses at the Museum of Industry in Ghent, Belgium. These are stored in a binder in our shop space and include location and name, in addition to the information about provenance. My goal is then to enter the data from these physical sheets into the spreadsheet template that Amy Redmond (Amada Press) developed in order to have a document that can easily be shared with others.
The Point Vol. 3
What a year it has been! As a volunteer and active Board Member at the C.C. Stern Type Foundry, we have had to put most of our public programming on hold due to COVID-19 risks. The museum facility is just too small to host people safely. Despite that, I have been able to go in after hours or on weekends with one other volunteer, and continue to apply myself to learning the operation of the Monotype Composition Caster. A couple weeks ago, we finally got all the type cast, proofed and printed in the form of The Point (issue #2)! It feels like an extra special achievement under the circumstances.
This week we also sent out the final 2020 newsletter via e-mail, summarizing this year’s activities and what is in store for the year ahead. It looks like we’ll be contending with many more months of the pandemic, so it’s going to be a hybrid of in-person skill building and on-line community building. The full newsletter is linked here, and a direct link to our end of year fundraising is here. Your support allows us to carry on the mission of the C.C. Stern Type Foundry.
X Gallery Art Storage
In the summer of 2019 I began helping out at X Gallery Art Storage as they expanded their business and took in some larger artwork collections, and I’m pleased to continue working with the team there in a part-time capacity for the foreseeable future.
X Gallery is a small company, serving Pacific NW collectors, institutions, estates, and artists. While the basic service is secure, climate controlled storage of artwork, over the past year X Gallery has increased capacity for inventory, research, placement and valuation services. We are in the process of implementing a new and robust Collection Management System, creating additional storage in the vault, and have just launched an updated website. As the site develops, we will include supporting resources for the public that we have found useful in exploring the life cycle of artworks and also expand private online access to collections for our clients.
While I have not moved away from letterpress printing completely, and have enjoyed taking on commission work at our little home studio, my intention is to continue to pursue an interest in archives and to find ways to blend that with my project management skills and printing. Through X Gallery I am introducing some career documentation services for visual artists. I am available to assist in organizing artist papers, records, materials and physical inventory with the goal of creating a maintainable archive. The level of involvement is tailored to the needs of the artist and can range from basic storage recommendations to materials indexing to more in-depth database set up. These services might be especially useful in preparing for a retrospective exhibition or curatorial studio visit, creating a catalog of work, documentation for critics, writers or art historians, and for long-term legacy planning.
You can download a .pdf outline of services here.
No Justice, no peace
It’s been over 50 days now that Portland has kept up the daily city-wide protests, continuing to put pressure on our local and statewide government to make drastic reforms to the institution of policing. It’s no secret that racism has long been an systemic issue here, and there has been constant conflict with the police bureau regarding excessive violence and white supremacist actions. There are community groups like Portland Copwatch and Pacific Northwest Family Circle focused specifically on these problems, organizations that have been ongoing. A documentary called Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, OR was released just a couple years ago. In two and a half decades of living in this city I have been a part of numerous vigils, demonstrations, and calls for justice in the wake of the deaths of black youth such as Kendra James, Aaron Campbell, Quanice Hayes, and Keaton Otis. I have committed to relearning the stories of these and others lives lost to police violence in our local community, setting and printing their names in type, and distributing the prints to daily demonstration sites.
In August, Portlanders will be voting for a City Commissioner seat by special election. Redirection of police task force funding and the establishment of Portland Street Response (a non-police first response option, much like White Bird/Cahoots) are on the table, and the street protests are keeping these much needed reforms in the public eye. I’m hopeful that this momentum nationwide will translate to changes that have been needed on so many levels, and that as a city we can move meaningfully toward a more humane model. Lives are on the line.
May Day Affordable Cocktail Act
After the 2016 national election, I was pretty frustrated and unsure how to maintain a sense of hope. I think many around me felt the same. We were surprised that Americans voted against democratic progress, compassionate leadership, social infrastructure for more people. We were reminded again that feminist movements over the past two hundred years had helped institute some rights, but that women’s voices are disqualified by men’s. We were reminded that some people are desperate enough to do anything (to anyone) for power—for more money, land, and fame. We were reminded that racism is overwhelmingly systemic in this country. We were surprised that the backlash was quite so mean.
And so, in January of 2017, Donald Trump became the head of the Executive branch of our government. It moved me to march in the streets, buoyed by the company of thousands of other people around the world. The situation also made me want a strong drink (bonus if I could imbibe in the company of smart, sympathetic friends who would make me laugh.) After one such night, mourning the impending loss of affordable health care coverage, the “Affordable Cocktail Act” (ACA) was born. Marilyn Zornado and Barb Tetenbaum have organized many a themed cocktail event, so with their lead, we pulled together a small gathering of artist friends to host a competition and asked them to invent drinks to express the politics of the moment. We mixed and tasted and laughed and shed a few tears as we made drinks like “The No! You’re the Puppet!”, “The Flaming Sinful Cheater” (complete with charred cheetos as garnish), and the “Environmental Deregulation Toddy”. We voted. The winner was “The Pussy Grabber” followed closely by “The Alt-White” and “The Im-peach-mint” cocktails.
Over the last three plus years the ACA has convened occasionally to educate, share resources and advocate on issues important to us, sometimes at each other’s homes, and sometimes at a friend’s bar (thanks, Likewise!). Topics have included land use and conservation, equal rights, climate change, race and immigration, health care, affordable housing and houselessness. We have partially used art as a lens to express and explore politics in our society, looking at other other artists’ work, and letting the issues influence our own approach to navigating this time.
And we have kept up the themed cocktails, but dropped the competition. Our latest get-together was for May Day 2020, which meant we had an online gathering. While our “8 hours for work, 8 for rest, 8 for what you will” were all topsy-turvy, we managed to share some recipes for quarantine drinks and reflect upon what we have found essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above is my submission for the occassion.
Despite the often serious nature of the topics, we always manage to have a few good laughs, which is the best medicine against despair that I know.
United in Isolation Online Letterpress Festival
This Coronavirus situation has us all scrambling to figure out not only our new work situations, but also our creative connections. One of the pieces of printing that I really like is the chance to visit others practicing the craft in their studios, commercial shops, classrooms, working museums, community print shops, or kitchen table press rooms. It looks like that’s not going to be possible for a while. Luckily, a small team has put together a series of online studio visits called “United in Isolation”. On Saturdays they host 1-4 printers from around the world, each talking for about 20 minutes. You get a quick tour of the printer’s workspaces and equipment, and an opportunity to see some of their work they are creating. It’s a chance to “visit” people involved in printing all over the world!
It’s on Facebook
OHS Library Move (Part One) Complete
For the past nine months I have been working part-time at the Oregon Historical Society on the temporary Research Library move, consolidating the collections at an offsite facility while the downtown location is completely remodeled. From June to September, I primarily worked on a small team under Archivist Valerie Harris, assisting with inventory shelf reads, rehousing materials and consolidating collections to create more space for the interim. Beginning in October of 2019, I was promoted into the role of Move Coordinator, working directly with Collections Manager Dana Miller to assist with logistics of the move, which happened in two stages. This involved mapping new locations for collections, offices, and the public research room; oversight of movers, flat file installation and shelving construction; deaccessioning out of scope collections; moving excessively large or fragile books, maps, documents and photographs by hand; more shelf reading and inventory work as collections were combined in a single location; and general communications with the moving team. While much of the work drew on skills I’d developed through decades of moving letterpress printing equipment and type collections, as well as running a small business, it was also a crash course in Library and Archive standard procedures. I’m thankful for the generosity of everyone I have worked with for sharing their knowledge with me through the process, and to the entire library staff for the teamwork involved in pulling off such an undertaking. Writing now, in mid-March, all the collections and library staff offices have been safely relocated offsite and construction on the 4th floor at 1200 SW Park Ave commenced. We are also all suddenly at home for the foreseeable future, as the COVID-19 State Stay-at-Home orders are in effect and the timeline for this pandemic are currently unknown. The final documentation for this portion of the initiative and planning for the return downtown in late 2020 may all happen remotely! Stay up to date on the Oregon Historical Society Research Library renovation and reopening on their website.
CBAA 2020 Conference
In the first days of January 2020 I attended the College Book Arts Association (CBAA) biennial conference, held this time in New Orleans, Louisiana. Though I have been peripheral to the activities of this association through the local print/book arts community, I’ve never attended a conference. The closing of Oregon College of Art and Crafts, and the eminent closure of other small liberal arts schools with book arts programs contributed to a sense of urgency on my part. In addition, the programming of the C.C. Stern Type Foundry is intertwined with college level curriculums.
The 2020 conference was entitled “Intersections” and focused on the possibilities for increasing access to contemporary book arts education. This was manifest in the themes of many presentations — social practice using book arts, making private collections public, zines in the world of book arts, book arts education in rural areas, cultural heritage publishing, developing a context for inclusivity. I found the abstracts often intriguing, but I found myself wishing that the presentations themselves reflected an enthusiasm I assume most educators have in the classroom, rather than the reading of an academic paper.
Kudos to the organizers for including opportunities and “prompts” to encourage exchange in an ongoing manner, for showcasing member book work in an exhibit that powerfully expressed the theme of the conference, and for reaching into their home communities to offer resources and connections beyond the conference grounds. Though I missed tours held on the first day of the conference, I heard great things about the Amistad Research Center at Tulane and also the Paper Machine workspace. I did make it out on a very rainy tour walking tour led by NOLA DNA, focused on early print houses of New Orleans, and to see the CMYK Kings zine exhibit at Antennae Gallery.
Opening remarks were by Rachel Bruenlin and Bruce Barnes of the Neighborhood Story Project, a nonprofit collaborative ethnography organization that works in partnership with the University of New Orleans. They gave an overview of the community-based publishing projects they have engaged in, including documenting regional music and storytelling traditions in their most recent book Le Ker Creole (The Creole Heart): Creole Compositions and Stories from Louisiana.
The keynote address by Rebecca Snedecker was also marvelous, and resonant of the theme as she talked about the process of compiling Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. She took the audience on a visual journey of discovery in her home town, illuminating how that ultimately led her to a greater sense of understanding of the history and culture of New Orleans, and a deeper connection to her own place.
Of course the chance to again wander the city of New Orleans, to experience the unique culture and landscape of that place, to join with strangers and cross paths with old friends in the middle of the streets, to see how a city shifts and responds to each generation of challenges … those intersections do resonate as especially powerful in the present time.
Ham at 20
The Ham at 20 poster project celebrates the 20th anniversary of Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and was coordinated by Jennifer Farrell of Starshaped Press. This collaborative venture featured a poster (or three) released each month of 2019, resulting in a collection of 28 posters by end of year. You can see my poster, designed and printed in collaboration with Brian Bagdonas, in Print Work. The edition was 50 for each poster, 25 of which were reserved for complete portfolios. You can purchase individual posters, year-end portfolios, and a catalog documenting the project from the Hamilton website.
C.C. Stern Type Foundry Rent Increase
The end of another year has crept up to the finish line, and the C.C. Stern Type Foundry is faced with a major rent increase starting January 1st, 2020. We have been so thankful for all the support we’ve received, and the low-cost programming we have been able to offer over the last decade. The Type Foundry is all-volunteer run, and depends on individual donations to fund the operations of the working museum and related educational activities. Please consider making an end of year donation to this vital part of our print community.
Announcing ... Marfa Community Print!
I’m very pleased to be involved in the formation of another community-based art space, this time in Marfa, Texas. The brain-child of Laura Thoms, Marfa Community Print (a non-profit organization) will provide much needed affordable access to space to create artwork, offer educational workshops, and help to bolster the creative community in this remote area of the country. She has planned a vibrant roster of visiting printers and artists for the year ahead, with most programming to commence in Spring 2020 when work on the space is complete and equipment can be moved out of storage. The organization is actively fundraising now, and your support is needed!
Kaba
A few years ago Brian and I made a trip to Amsterdam to see a friend and were also able to visit Thomas Gravemaker at Letterpress Amsterdam. The tour of his building revealed a lovely old canal house with an interesting history, many winding staircases & sets of doors. Thomas has a few hundred square meters in the front of the building, where he takes on commission printing and also teaches workshops. One recent workshop focused on Bram de Does’ Kaba ornament, and he pulled out examples of student prints along with the actual metal casting. As a part of the Drukwerk in de Marge organization, Thomas has possession of de Does’ process sketches for patterns and layouts with the Kaba ornament. I was captivated by what he showed us and set out to learn a little more about the story behind it.
Kaba was initially designed as a 6 piece ornament with 3 positive figures and 3 negative ones. Ultimately, de Does had just four pieces cast, and then discarded two of those as failures, leaving him with only the “a” and “b” designs. For nearly 30 years, Bram de Does worked on his Kaba design, sketching for a half hour every morning, playing with patterns, borders & vignettes. In the end, he became more fascinated with the possibilities of combinations than the ornament itself. Not only was de Does working with the idea of mathematical symmetry groups, he was also building on his method for composition on the Monophoto typesetting machine (circa 1970). He devised a key for setting the ornaments, with each possible position numbered 1 to 8. In this way, he could build a grid for each pattern or border and follow that guide when setting the ornaments themselves.
Bram de Does was employed at Johhannes Enschedé printing office in Haarlem, The Netherlands for much of his career, repeatedly taking a break to sustenance farm, and then returning to print. Beginning in 1958, de Does worked under Sem Hartz (Art Director) and the noted type designer, Jan Van Krimpen, and is probably best known for his work on the volume entitled Typefoundries of the Netherlands produced in 1978 (the last book at Enschedé printed entirely in letterpress). He continued to work at Enschedé through the transition from metal to cold type, and distinguished himself by designing one of the first company faces made specifically for the new technology of phototypesetting machines. Trinité (1979-1982) is a humanist serif face, created with three variants in length of the ascenders and descenders (hence the name).
de Does studied a number of solutions for harmony on the printed page and decided that “systematic sloppiness” was key, to show the influence of the hand, the absence of straight lines, and give a sense of what he called “functional swing” to the letterform. In 1989, de Does was commissioned once again to design a face for phototype, this time for Van Dale’s Dictionary of the Dutch Language. The result was Lexicon, released in 1992, a face meant to be legible at a very small size, which was issued in two versions.
Throughout his working years, Bram de Does continued his designs for the Kaba ornament as he sat at his kitchen table each morning, planning for what he thought would be three volumes he would print at his own private press, Spectatorpers. Inspired by the design of the Monotype Recorder, Max Cafisch’s writings, and the Granjon ornaments, he worked to create adornment based on the square unit (Ka’ba is the arabic word for cube) that would have some of the same humanistic harmony as Trinité. An early version was engraved and test cast by Henk Drost at Enschedé, but proved to be too tricky to set with the corner of the ornament coming right up to the edge of the type body. Overnight, de Does redesigned Kaba so that the positive didn’t come all the way to the edge, and had a slight calligraphic curve to the point. Ultimately this version was cast in a small font.
In 2012 Bram de Does finished his first book using Kaba, 56 pages of hand set type and ornaments printed in five colors, 90 forms, edition of 240. We set off to visit the Special Collections at the University of Amsterdam to find this book, and hoped to delve farther into the archives and working papers of de Does. We only got as far as the bookstore. They had copies of both his handset limited edition letterpress printed books and a larger edition offset litho book published by the University Press entitled The Kaba ornament in vignettes borders and patterns, which shows sketches, pattern development, and reproductions of letterpress work. It also contains essays by Bram de Does illuminating his approach to this particular ornament design, a large part of which is based on mathematical “symmetry groups” (particularly translation, reflection, rotation, and glide reflection as defined by E.H. Lockwood and R.H. Macmillan in Geometric Symmetry). This interest in patterning seemed to engross de Does until the end of his life in 2015. He never stopped exploring the overlap in artistic and scientific symmetry through sketches and writing.
Photos: (Above) Thomas Gravemaker at Letterpress Amsterdam holding Kaba ornament A and B; (Below) sketches and layout grid for book design, handwritten notes on ornament design, letterpress book pages using Kaba printed at Spectatorpers, Kaba ornament design archive and cast pieces.
moving along
In mid-June I started a new part-time, entry-level position at the Oregon Historical Society as an archivist assistant, working on a temporary project to move the research library. I’m lucky enough to be working under experienced archivists and librarians, learning a bit more about the field and about standard procedures. The materials in the library will be relocated to another facility while the library is renovated, but most materials will still be accessible. This means we are methodically combing through the existing collections and making sure they are properly housed and catalogued in order to move them. New shelving units will be ordered for storage off-site, so there is plenty of measuring and calculating of linear feet required to shelf the materials being moved. Of course, there are many diagrams on graph paper and a multitude of spreadsheets to coordinate all this. But there is also a lot of time handling paper and books and getting a hands-on experience of the Oregon Historical Society’s library collection. A few of my favorite finds so far are pictured.
Los Ultimos poster hanging on the wall in the new studio
Los Ultimos (Endless Letterpress)
This documentary about the past, present and future of letterpress in Argentina is currently circulating the world at public screenings, and showed to a small audience in Portland this past month. Filmmakers Pablo Pivetta and Nicolas Rodriguez Fuchs were in attendance, and patiently answered our questions about the evolution of print in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas. Shot over a period of 6 years, the story weaves together those who are forced to give up the trade and a small group of people who are just discovering the wonders of printing from hand set type. Perhaps this film will help shed light on the interest of newer generations in letterpress printing, and to connect traditional practitioners in Argentina with those eager to learn.
The first press into the storage container ….
Endings and beginnings ...
As of February 2019, we have ceased the commercial operations of Stumptown Printers Worker Cooperative, so for the past couple months I’ve been reassessing how I spend my working hours. For the last 20 years my identity has been wrapped up in the collective operations of our business and the print trade, with all other activities playing second fiddle. While I don’t have the means to take a sabbatical from work altogether, I am able to refocus the work that I’m doing.
The majority of our printing equipment is in storage, but we set up two presses in our new garage studio and started in printing right away. Despite the fact that we’re not completely unpacked yet, it promises to be an efficient little space (180 square feet!) once we’ve organized all the tools and supplies and type and cuts and paper and dies and …. well, you get the idea. I’ve been taking on some commission printing from past customers, in addition to doing a bit of consulting and instruction with printers in their own studios.
The opportunity to increase my project management work has been very satisfying as well. Look for future entries about the specific projects as they move ahead! With this shift I am also continuing to build my skills as a consulting archivist through courses and volunteer time (at the C.C. Stern Type Foundry and in the Special Collections at the Multnomah County Library). So I have faith that I will gradually piece together a new routine to build upon my skills and also move towards new ones.
Garage shop shaping up …
Hamilton Wayzgoose
From November 2-4, 2018 the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum will be hosting their tenth annual Wayzgoose in Two Rivers, WI. The museum has grown into a vital organization that not only preserves the legacy of wood type but also passes on the knowledge of it’s manufacturing processes. It’s also now the home for the legendary Silver Buckle Press, formerly at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. For many years I’ve heard from friends and colleagues that the Wayzgoose is one of their favorite gatherings, so I’m excited to attend this year. Along with my partner, Brian, I’ll be presenting during the breakout sessions about the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. It’s an honor to be on the schedule with so many people doing inspirational work in the fields of design, print and preservation from all over the world.