For the last two weeks, I had a wonderful opportunity to work at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, in Minneapolis, as an artist in residence. The Center is huge and vibrant, full of school kids doing workshops every day, and artists and adult learners working away in the various studios at night. Every day, presses were humming, silkscreens were washed, fibres were beaten, fresh sheets were pulled, paper was printed, folded, marbled, lino was carved, books were bound. It was amazing to be surrounded by so much book-related activity, and to meet so many people passionate about 'the book'.
I used my time at the Center to work on a project about rivers, sort of a set of poetic tools for navigating a particular river and its surroundings. I used one of the larger Vandercook presses to print two 18" x 24" maps, both of which included pressure printed images, something I had never tried. It was scary to be simultaneously experimenting AND trying to complete a fairly ambitious project in such a short time. However, if I was a little less neurotic, I might just say it was exciting.
