Brilliant Printing at Brighton Press

Michele Burgess of Brighton Press is a fine arts book artist, creative soundboard, and part-time university professor who loves to share printing with those around her. For three decades, Michele and her husband have been enjoying the fruits of their collaborative efforts one pulled print at a time.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

AN ARTIST BY NATURE I am a visual artist obsessed with working in book form. My husband, Bill Kelly, founded our press in 1985 and it has morphed and grown before our eyes.

THE LURE OF LETTERPRESS I went to the Cranbrook Academy of Art for my MFA in the mid-’80s. There was a very funky letterpress there and small, crumbly piles of type. I enjoy the intentionality, the craft, the beauty of its collaboration with paper.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

CREATIVE COLLECTIVE We are a small band of like-minded people using the studio as a creative laboratory. We create and publish collaborative artists’ books that braid the visions of both poets and visual artists. Everything is original and achieved by hand.

Bill Kelly, who founded the press, Nelle Martin, associate director/production designer/letterpress printer and I collaborate creatively with whoever the artist and poet might be. Most often, one of us is one or the other, or, in Bill’s case, both. We also often collaborate with papermakers such as those at Twinrocker, Cave paper, and the Morgan Conservatory to get a certain color or weight that we’re looking for.

Sonja Jones, in her 80’s and a previous librarian, has been a guardian angel and does our boxmaking. Kathi George, our crackerjack copy editor who makes sure we don’t have a plate made with a typo in it. Jenny Yoshida Park also works closely with us on typography and website and catalog design.

Recent poets include Bill Kelly, Chard deNiord, Bianca Stone, and Martha Serpas. Recent artists, besides myself and Bill include:  Jinane Abbadi, Ian Tyson, Miya Hannan, Jenny Yoshida Park. A full list of artists and writers can be found on our website—34 years worth.

Sometimes we work with outside bookbinders Mark Tomlinson, Claudia Cohen, and Lisa Van Pelt, who have added creative ideas to the bindings. There’s a lot of back and forth regarding structure and content until it all melds together.

My favorite thing about it is that we never know what the final outcome will be until the B.A.T. (from the French phrase “bon a tirer” — good to pull. The subsequent prints should look like that one) is complete and that we can never remember whose idea certain things were. Synergy.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

COAST-TO-COAST PRINTING We are bi-coastal now. We do most of the production in San Diego, which is getting a little less cool every year, and we do a lot of the creative work in Vermont in relative solitude. We also work in other artist’s studios sometimes or at the dinner tables of our writers.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press
Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

PRINTING MENTORS Gerald Lange, Michael Bixler, Robin Price, Walter Hamady have been my letterpress mentors. William Blake, Sonja Delaunay, Ken Campbell, Anslem Kiefer, and Barbara Fahrner have been my book art mentors. The poets I work with inspire me. I get energy and fortitude from my collaborators at the press.

PART-TIME PRINTING, FULL-TIME FUN We decided years ago not to require the press to support us physically, so we teach at universities part-time.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

THE ARTISTIC PROCESSES I start a book from a small kernel of inspiration which is always mysterious in its origin. Sometimes, the poet is my muse or his/her words. From there, I usually start working on visual images that expand on, rather than illustrate the text. The best scenario is when the poet and I are working together from a kernel and we’re spinning a web together.

PRINTING FEATS I’m proud of the meandering path we’ve taken, despite the hardships. With regards to a project: A Woman Hit by a Meteor. Our paper was MUCH too large for the press, so we folded it and through that limitation were able to imbue it with a sensibility of folded maps in ancient, celestial atlases.

PRESS HISTORY Vandercook 219, old style.  I love the Vandercook, the sound, the weight, the intuitive simplicity of the machine.

BOXCAR’S ROLE Boxcar has helped us realize some visual formats that we couldn’t have done with lead type. Also, we were able to create Arabic calligraphy, Chinese and Japanese text that we couldn’t have done otherwise. Boxcar has been super-efficient, patiently helpful, both with my classroom needs and for Brighton Press.

Michele Burgess-Brighton Press

PRINTING TIPS: Perhaps a useful letterpress printing technique? Slightly more punch, less ink.

WHAT’S COMING NEXT A book called WHERE AND HOW BLOOD WAS MADE with poet Chard deNiord. It will be my most complex book to date.

Let’s See That Printed: Mindy Belloff of Intima Press’s ‘Minotaur’

We keep tabs on the many wonderful and intriguing designs that come through doors here for our custom-made photopolymer platemaking services. One that we’ve been following for quite some time is Mindy Belloff (of Intima Press)’s highly detailed illustration and creative typesetting designs in her latest fine edition book project.

As a book artist, letterpress printer, and educator, I have been a loyal fan of Boxcar Press, having ordered plates since the beginning of Harold’s enterprises. The staff have always been helpful, especially when polymer platemaking and digital spec instructions were still in their infancy.

During this time, I have sent to Boxcar a wide variety of digital designs of artwork, student work, and job work. A few years ago, as a new livre d’artiste was in the works, they took notice of the beginning of the work. As I firmed up designs and sent a flurry of large plate orders, I was asked about the scope of this project as it had piqued their interest. I was happy to share the text, but could not stop production and take time to send images of the various pages, as I was working so intensely, designing by night and printing all day. I had close to 2,000 sheets in my studio in various stages of printing for over a year and a half.

Recently, I was asked by Boxcar to reveal more about the fine edition book I have just released, after two intense years of work, which follows.

The book is titled, “A Golden Thread.” It is 92-pages, in a format of folios, featuring the text of “The Minotaur,” a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1853). It is composed of 100 original drawings, some with hand painting, and 200 press runs, in an edition of 40, printed on cotton rag papers with a sheet size of approximately 15 x 21 inches. It is a contemporary twist on the medieval illumination, letterpress printed on a Vandercook Uni III automatic press.

The story begins in blue and gold ink, with our hero Theseus, as a young boy. As the story unfolds, Theseus grows to be a young man and journeys to Athens to find his father, King Aegus.

Theseus has an unpleasant encounter with the wicked Medea before he finds and is embraced by his father. He soon learns of the fate of seven young men and seven maidens, to be chosen as a sacrifice to the Minotaur, a beast housed in the labyrinth of Crete.  Theseus volunteers to sail to Crete with the youths. (By now, you may recall the details of this tragic myth.)

When the ship arrives in Crete, the evil King Minos throws them in the dungeon, to await their fate. Enter the heroine, Ariadne, who secretly releases Theseus and leads him to the entrance of a maze.

The middle section of the book, as Theseus makes his way through the labyrinth to find the Minotaur, is designed with typography that blankets the page. The plates for this section were, of course, quite large, and many pages were printed on one side of the sheet, and then turned (plates and paper), to accommodate the sheet size. Most pages have 5 to 6 press runs each.

In the third and final section of the book, Theseus emerges victorious, having slain the bull-headed Minotaur monster. Our heroine awaits, still holding the golden thread at the entrance to the maze. Theseus and the other 13 youths sail back to Athens, where they encounter more obstacles and tragedy, as expected in a classic Greek myth.

On the final page of the story, our hero becomes King. Below is an image of the page showing two of the four-color press runs, which includes ornamented initials, and border drawings.

The book is hand sewn and beautifully bound with a blue leather spine and gold gilding.

Mindy received a fine press book discount for her entire project for the plates Boxcar Press created.  We appreciate her giving us a sense of her book “A Golden Thread” with words and photos.  Mindy Belloff produces fine letterpress printed book and broadside editions at her Union Square studio under the imprint Intima Press. Her artist’s books have been included in many publications and she received an award for Excellence in Book Design.

You can visit Mindy’s website for more on the Minotaur edition at Intimapress.com.

CBAA: Broadening Book Arts Opportunities

Boxcar Press is a proud supporter of letterpress printed short-run books.  We offer a 10% discount for fine press work and encourage all printers to explore projects like this.   Many printers are first introduced to book printing through their academic experience at college.  It is very likely their instructors were members of the College Book Art Association (CBAA).  Bridget Elmer, President of the CBAA,  provides an overview of this organization and the numerous options to members and those interested in the printed fine press book.     

A relatively new art form, artists’ books constantly defy a clearcut definition, as do their makers. While some books incorporate letterpress printing for text and image, others might incorporate screen printing, hand lettering, digital printing, or no printing at all. Similarly, their bindings may be in a traditional codex format, a series of broadsides, or a one-of-a-kind altered book. Teaching students both the history and methods of making artists’ books is a unique and evolving challenge.

The College Book Art Association (CBAA) is a non-profit organization committed to the teaching of book art. The association strives to support education about book art, including both the practice and analysis of the medium. It welcomes as members everyone involved in teaching and all others who have similar goals and interests. In addition to the educational community of teachers and students, CBAA’s over 400 members include academic librarians, curators, independent scholars, museum professionals, international private collectors, and practicing artists.

CBAA membership has many benefits, including project assistance and travel grants that are awarded to artists, teachers, and scholars, as well as scholarships for students and recent alumni that are co-sponsored by a growing list of partners including Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Mills College, the Morgan Conservatory, Wells College, and Women’s Studio Workshop. CBAA fosters book art visibility and community engagement by organizing member exhibitions and regional events. CBAA also cultivates the expansion of book art criticism by publishing the scholarly journal, Openings: Studies in Book Art, and facilitates dialogue on the Book Art Theory blog. Finally, members have the chance to convene in person every year by attending CBAA’s annual meetings and conferences.

In 2019, CBAA will hold their biennial meeting in Tucson, Arizona from January 4–5 at the University of Arizona. Themed The Photographic Artist’s Book, this meeting is an interdisciplinary landmark for CBAA—keynote speaker Christina de Middel will discuss the ways her work blends documentary and conceptual photographic practices, and discussion sessions will explore topics including Printing Photographic Images Using Letterpress. Participants will tour the UA Book Art and Letterpress Lab and a multi-venue exhibition of photo-based artists’ books will be on display at the Joseph Gross Gallery in the UA School of Art and at the internationally known University of Arizona Poetry Center. Registration opens soon for this exciting opportunity to learn more about CBAA and the history and contemporary practice of photo-based artists’ books.

CBAA’s 2020 biennial conference will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana from January 2–5 and hosted by a dynamic collaborative of academic institutions and community-based organizations, including Tulane University, Loyola University, Baskerville, and Paper Machine, among others. With a theme of Intersections, the conference program will aim to expand the discussion of book arts and foster an inclusive field that embraces both academic and independent educational programs, welcoming ideas that come from all races, classes, genders, and levels of education.