Slow mail

I think the ongoing demise of the handwritten letter & the ‘snail mail’ posting of cards or notes to mark occasions (special or otherwise) is rather sad. A txt msg or email will never be a good substitute for receiving an interesting piece of post – you can’t beat the excitement and anticipation of finding an intriguing envelope waiting for you in your letterbox! And what about penmanship?! Do the kids still handwrite… you know, with ink and actual pens?

I love this postcard, found a couple of years ago at the wonderful (but now sadly closed down update: open again! see comments :) Bowne & Co. Stationers in the South Street Seaport area of Lower Manhattan
(postcard © John Derian Company, Inc)

As I appear to be a confirmed (and grumpy!) Luddite when it comes to the ubiquity of digital communications I’m very happy to have some of my work included in the screen printing and papercutting sections of this nifty new book by Charlotte Rivers (published earlier this month):

‘A wolf and a bear in a winter wood’ – screen printed cards

papercut ‘snowflake’ cards

And I’m delighted to find myself sharing its pages with a super-talented friend…

Jesse Breytenbach, Cape Town, South Africa (letterpress & block printing)

… and a whole host of other great, old-school stationery practitioners. The book is divided into eight sections: hand-drawn illustration, screen printing, letterpress printing, block printing, digital illustration, calligraphy, papercutting and collage/3-D/sewn, and includes brief but informative descriptions of each technique followed by inspirational examples from around the globe. Here are some of my favourite discoveries from the book:

MrYen, Leeds, UK (papercutting)

Sesame Letterpress, New York, USA (letterpress printing)

Winged Wheel, Tokyo, Japan (letterpress printing)

Karolin Schnoor, London, UK (hand-drawn illustration)

Katharine Watson, Washington DC, USA (block printing)

If you’re looking for some inspirational stationery eye-candy the book can be found online here (Amazon UK) or here (Amazon US) >

Wings WIP II

Some more work-in-progress photos of the papercutting project I’ve been (slowly) working on over the past couple of months…

Originally inspired by the structures of insect wings (which are infinitely varied and fascinating), evolving into unintentional maps of imaginary cities…

… and complex azure reefs.

Naming the animals

I’m very excited to have this little accordion fold book I made, entitled “13 Wonders from a Cabinet of Curiosities”, included in an exhibition organised by Curious Matter in Jersey City and Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to the opening(s) [being some 5870 kilometres away!] but if you’re in the area pop on over to Curious Matter (from 3 April) or Proteus Gowanus (from 16 April) to see, what I am certain will be, two fascinating exhibitions.

In case the text in the above image isn’t sufficiently legible, here are the dates, times and locations again:

Please join us for two artist receptions
to celebrate our special two-part exhibition

NAMING THE ANIMALS
Curious Matter, April 3 to May 15, 2011
Proteus Gowanus, April 16 to July 17, 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011
3:00 to 6:00 pm
at CURIOUS MATTER
272 Fifth Street, Jersey City, NJ
&
Saturday, April 16, 2011
7:00 to 10:00 pm
at PROTEUS GOWANUS for Paradise III
& Naming the Animals
543 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY

A PDF version of the exhibition catalogue can be viewed here.

My book will be on display at the Proteus Gowanus venue in Brooklyn.

Wings WIP

I’ve been doing a bit of papercutting when time permits,

thinking about flight,

and savouring the spring light…

Venation

I’ve been doing some papercutting when time permits – these are some work-in-progress shots. I’m not 100% sure where I’m going with these, but wherever they take me I’ll be happy to follow…