mail art for jessica

Today I heard that my mail package arrived to Jessica Gowling's mailbox, so now I can share with you what it contained. Because I had such little free time, I wasn't able to sit down and put together an envelope of mail art for her in one go. Rather, I got the envelope and kept it nearby for weeks and weeks, tucking things into it as they came along.

The envelope traveled back and forth with me from home to work to home again. I doodled on it whenever I had some spare moments ~ waiting in the car, waiting for the computer to respond, relaxing before bed. Gradually, the doodle grew into a scene of a world I'd like to visit.

At the same time, the envelope also grew fatter. This vegetable print card from the Earth Day celebration at San Francisco Center for the Book was one of the first things to find its way inside. 

Potato fish and onions

Other items that jumped in were: letterpress prints from Earth Day, origami paper, a folded crane, a cheerful postcard picked up in a local cafe, and a sheet of paper that I made from the garden grass after I cut it one afternoon.

The final item was an experiment I was doing with Japanese paper strings. There are all kinds of different decorative knots one can learn. I wasn't too skilled, though. It took forever to get this slightly lopsided result!

This was my second mail art package to Jessica G. I was glad to hear she enjoyed receiving it and now I'm looking forward to getting one of her awesome zines. Meanwhile, we're approaching the end of the school year and I hope to have some free time in the summer so I can start to exchange art with more talented friends. Who wants to trade with me? :)

earth day prints

Today I volunteered at the San Francisco Center for the Book's Earth Day celebration. It was a cozy, low-key event with lots of free activities to introduce people to printing, book-binding, collage, etc. I thought the fair was going to be outside, like Roadworks, so I panicked a little when I got there and didn't see the street closed off. But when I got to the front of the building, a sign reassured me I was there on the right day: Free Squid Printing on Saturday!

Some cute letter pressed bookmarks were made for Earth Day and free to attendees.

Inside, I checked out the other booths before starting to work at mine (veggie printing). I went to see the main attraction first and found two large squid sitting quietly on the tables. One looked at me with a reproachful eye and seemed as though it might be alive ~ although at the same time it appeared too eerily calm for that to be true.

A volunteer was rolling ink all over the other squid. I felt a bit sorry to see them like that, but someone explained that the squid are donated to an educational science group by fishermen who accidentally catch them in their nets. The squid are frozen and then donated to schools for educational purposes or community groups like SFCB for making prints. I felt slightly better knowing that they hadn't been killed just for us. Now they would transcend death to become works of art... still, it was hard to escape their mournful eyes. I've printed with tiny squid before and didn't feel too bad or squeamish, but these large ones seemed to have a lot of personality. They did make grand prints, though:

Immortalized in ink.

Next I visited a postcard station where I ran a letterpress fish print, then drew on it some more and added collage to make a fine little card for Senator Feinstein to thank her for her earth-friendly actions and votes. Hope she likes it.

SFCB provided the stamp, address and everything ~ thanks!

Then it was time to report to my veggie-print-a-greeting-card station. It was pretty busy the whole day. We had potatoes, yams, carrots and onions for printing and used Speedball washable ink. Here's one made with potatoes and onions:

The dolphin shape is achieved by using a cookie cutter to cut the potato.

My favorite vegetable for printing turned out to be the onion because of its versatility and delicate effect. The concentric circles can be taken apart or stamped together and the texture of each ring can show through if the ink is not applied too thickly.

I had a great time at my booth and met lots of creative people.

At the end of the day I managed to bind a mini-booklet at another booth and had a brief opportunity to admire the items for sale by Maiden Hand and Gold Rush Press. I've come home with lots of printed goodies that I'm planning to start including in some of my mail art packages so I can share the bounty!

mailbox: from jessica gowling

The collage queen is delicious & the deer print divine!

Print artist and creative mind Jessica Gowling invited me into her mail art circle and sent me these beauteous items last month. With the Sketchbook Project completed, the time has come for me to send her something in return. I made one item already and have the easy part of the next one done. Can't wait to finish and mail my art to my Canadian pal up north! Thanks for the awesome art, @jessicagowling!

roadworks ~ {steamroller printing}

Had a wonderful day volunteering at Roadworks, a street fair put on by the San Francisco Center for the Book.  D. and I helped as "Inky Hands", mixing ink and preparing the lino cuts for the street-and-steamroller press.  This was our first time helping out, but now we know how to steamroll print (though we'd need some steamroller driving lessons first)!  Here's what we learned in ten easy steps:

1}  Carve a piece of linoleum.   This one is 3' x 3', which is slightly less than the width of the steamroller.  If you make a 1' x 1' plate then you can fit three across.

 2} Dampen your paper in advance.  At the fair, we used Rives BFK Heavyweight and Crane Lettra.  Both sides had been moistened with a spray bottle and sponge a day before.  Then the paper was sealed in plastic until it was time to print.

3} Mix the ink to the desired color.  In this case, for each batch I was told to use:  3/4 Daniel Smith Classic Lithographic Black #100 + 1/8 Warm Red + 1/8 Miracle Gel Reducer.  It was very similar to mixing oil colors, but much stickier and done in far greater volume.

4} Spread the ink out evenly on a piece of mylar.  Here we have three brayers just for that purpose.  Lay it out nice and smooth so the brayers don't get blobby when you're charging up with ink.

5} Ink the linoleum using smooth strokes that lift up at the end.  Don't press too hard, or you'll make lines in the ink.  After smoothing it on in one direction, do it again at a 90 degree angle to your first coat.  When it looks velvety, it's done.  (All this technical info was courtesy of a kind fellow who came all the way from Phoenix for the fair.)

6} Layer the following on the street: 

• a 4' x 4' piece of MDF
• a giant piece of mylar (on which you can draw out where to place the linoleum)
• the inked linoleum (face up, of course)
• a piece of paper on top of each piece of linoleum
• thin wool blankets
• a thicker blanket
• an even thicker blanket or shag carpet that covers everything

7} Roll firmly over your street press with your steamroller.

8}  Peel back the blankets and have someone with clean hands gently lift the paper off the print.  (It's ok to applaud and be excited when the prints are revealed.)  Inky handed people can then remove the linoleum from the press for re-inking as needed.

9} Set the prints out to dry.  Don't forget little weights if you're outdoors so the wind doesn't blow them away.

10} Decorate an old fence in your neighborhood with your fine work and sell to friends and passers by!

levi's workshop

Almost as soon as they arrived, it seems they are closing!  When I heard that the Levi's Workshop was packing up and reappearing in New York, I hurried on over to get a glimpse of the action before they were gone forever.  And I'm glad I did, as there was so much goodness to behold.

Here on the zine wall I found a lot of inspiration for The Sketchbook Project.  These were really fun to read.

Artists were at work.

Supplies for the printer.

Drying racks.

Printed work on the walls.

I did a little stamping with some stamps designed by artists.  Admired mini-accordion books printed with poems and watched the printers at work.  Now I know that if I want to learn to use the press, I'll have to go to the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Good-bye Levi's Workshop ~ have fun in New York.

3 places to create in the city

San Francisco has so many great places for creative collaboration.  Here are just three of them:

1} It's brand new ~ the Levi's workshop opened up this month in San Francisco's Mission District.  Their website says they provide all the good things mentioned above and more, such as field trips for schools and collaborations with Bay Area groups, businesses and individuals.  Anyone can book a Sunday workshop day even though they probably fill up fast. They're located at 850 Valencia Street.  I can't wait to visit!

2} Just down the street is another fountainhead of community creativity, the writers' den at 826 Valencia, which is cleverly hidden behind the well-stocked, independent Pirate Supply Store.  Pass through the red, velvet curtains to find talented and dedicated volunteers tutoring kids after school, encouraging them to write and publish their work.  They also conduct workshops for teachers and field trips for schools (which is how I arrived there, once upon a time, bringing a group of middle school students to write a screenplay).

The pirate shop in front is an excellent place to buy beards, eye patches and barrels of lard ~ all your basic pirate needs ~ and proceeds help keep the writing center afloat.  I bought a charming T-shirt on my last visit with this witty pirate-ism:

PILLAGE BEFORE PLUNDER

WHAT A BLUNDER

PLUNDER BEFORE PILLAGE

MISSION FULFILLAGE

{People are frightened by my message every time I wear it, and I suspect that they suspect that I might be a real pirate.  Sometimes they are impressed that I have been somewhere as hip as 826, but either way, they view me with renewed respect and surreptitiously glance at my hand to see if it's a gleaming hook.}

3} Finally, in a quick return to the main subject of this post, we cannot forget the San Francisco Center for the Book.  Workshops and lessons in antique letterpress printing, calligraphy, book binding, book altering, rubber stamping, embossing, and so much more ~ it's a place close to heaven for creative souls.  They also offer machine rental and have two-hour long field trip workshops for kids.  Personally, I'm interested in the Letterpress classes (amongst other things).

Someone I know just happens to be having an event there tonight as well.  The SFCB has an Imprint department and invited print artist Mike Wertz to create a small, limited edition letter press book.  It's titled Dog Dreams and you can meet Mike and pick up a copy at the release tonight.  You can even bring your (well-behaved) dog along with you!  But if you can't make it, then I definitely recommend looking through his portfolio for all its colorful, graphic goodness.

And if the reason you won't attend is that you're a staunch cat person, then may I recommend another Wertz-illustrated book:  A Curious Collection of Cats.  Betsy Franco's poems explore the many attitudes, triumphs and peculiarities of felines and are perfectly illustrated by Mike Wertz so that each becomes a concrete poem as well.  When I saw this one, I had to go to the book-signing, I had to have my own copy ~ and I'm not even a cat person (being quite partial to bunnies myself).  It's really that good.