wintertime | Sprouts Press

Besides being a bookbinder, printmaker and general maker of paper arts, I also like to grow a vegetable garden. And, every year, I watch in wonder as my seeds sprout and grow into seedlings and eventually make the journey outside.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I won’t go into the story of why I chose to name my artistic practice after the mighty sprout and its incredible journey. Instead, I’d like to tell how it has re-united me with an old friend. (If you like, take a look at my About section to learn why I chose the name Sprouts Press). IMG_0688_fotor

I should probably clarify a few things. When I say that I was re-united with an old friend, I’m not talking about a person, but an old love. A former romance, let’s say, with printmaking. But not just any printmaking, I’m talking about printing on a Vandercook press, in a studio, with oil-based inks. Sigh. So, when the annual Grimsby Wayzgoose Book Arts Fair call for vendors arrived in January I agreed, as usual, to submit an original print in an edition of 115 for their anthology. I thought it was time to honour my namesake in print format and decided to dedicate my print to the mighty sprout. Normally, I plan several weeks in advance and use the back of a wooden spoon to produce my 115 prints. Not this time. I’ve been teaching bookbinding workshops lately and my favourite is at a wonderful space here in Toronto, Graven Feather, where there is a Challenge Proof Press!!

After mentioning to them that I used to print on Vandercook press, and how much I loved it and how great it would be to print my 115 prints with something different than the back of a wooden spoon, it was decided that I could print on their press! So, this is how it happened, how I was re-united with printing on a press, with oil based inks, in someone else’s studio, by the mighty sprout. I drew my image, cut the lino block and printed it in a lovely leaf-green on light grey stock.

In total there are 130 prints in the edition, 115 for the Wayzgoose anthology and 15 for me! What a great day!!

In my last post I talked about how wintertime pulls me outside for a bit, and then pushes me back inside once I’ve had enough. While a nice cup of tea is always something I look forward to after a day spent outside, it’s not all. For me, being outdoors helps to clarify my ideas, of which I have too many. Sometimes I cannot focus on one long enough to achieve it before being overrun with the next idea or three. So when it’s time to go back in, I look forward to writing down my more-polished ideas, (I say more-polished because, of course, they will change several times more).

And then the real fun begins: pulling out the possible materials and seeing what fits the bill, what is the right colour, texture, pattern and thickness for my ideas. Of course, I’m talking about paper! So, please, bear with me while I share some of my favourite photos of my stacks of handmade paper.

This is a mix of the lot; mumble-jumble, mish-mash, all mixed up. While I don’t make paper too much anymore, I always used to use pigments rather than dyes, for more vibrant colours.

These papers were an experiment: hosta paper (yes, I hacked off and chopped up my parent’s hosta garden to make them into paper. Thanks Mom and Dad!) There’s some pine needle paper and then on top my lovely cotton & abaca black-blue super sparkle paper. I’m almost out of all three, so I choose my projects carefully these days.

I have many now because I’m in full production mode as I’m participating in the One of a Kind Spring Show & Sale in March of this year. This is my first year for this show and I’m pretty excited to be in the Etsy Section! I’ll be posting more on this adventure leading up to it, I’m sure there’ll be a few interesting things to talk about!