Adventures of the Wandering Book Artists: I Sing Behind the Plow

Sunday, September 17, 2017

I Sing Behind the Plow

We have just driven the miles and miles across the US. Partly because we have all the appointments in the east, also because we love visiting the John C. Campbell Folk School. First, let's check out the highlights of the last couple of weeks:

Iowa:

University of Iowa, Center for the Book

The show of our work at the University of Iowa Special Collections Library ran July 6- September 13, 2017. It was the first exhibition of our work to celebrate 40 years of making books. Thanks Iowa, for supporting our work. The second show is at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, running from August 7- October 7, 2017.

Gary Frost, from the conservation department at the U, tries to talk Peter into a questionable repair of the wagon.

Always a pleasure to share our work, here with MFA students of the book arts in the University of Iowa paper making class.

Donna knitting beside the Iowa River, flowing by the University

Illinios:

In Champaign Urbana we visited the University of Illinois and among other things saw an amazing book by a little known jeweler named Ernest Rinzi. It is written in code that has not yet been deciphered. The illustrations were composed by arranging his handwriting to create the image.

You can read more about it on the University Tumbler page:
http://illinoisrbml.tumblr.com/…/ernest-rinzi-all-from-god-…

Cincinnati, Ohio:

Peg Rhein has welcomed us again at her home. She hosted a meeting of the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, with a tour of the wagon, then potluck dinner and time for sharing work.

Here is Donna showing the book, "Sometimes I Pretend" at the CBAS gathering.

Parked for the night beside Peg's sunflower garden: so lovely.

Kentucky:

Berea, Kentucky is a town that is dedicated to craft work, filled with stores featuring the work of Kentucky's finest artisans. On the edge of town, at the Kentucky Artisan Center we found the work of fine press printer Gray Zeitz of Larkspur Press. Displayed in a glass case, just like the jewelry, was one of his letterpress printed and handbound books that feature the poems of Frederick Smock, poet laureate of Kentucky 2017 - 2018. Gray exclusively prints Kentucky poets and he's been doing it for years.

Beautiful letterpress books printed by Larkspur Press

We have been visiting libraries across the country, but near Berea we found a very different kind of library:

McHargue's Mill in London, KY

The library of mill stones

North Carolina:

"I Sing Behind the Plow." That is the motto of the John C Campbell Folk School. We enjoy our work! And this week we have toiled away, learning the craft of cordwaining (that is the archaic description of a shoe maker). The instructors this week were Peggy and Chuck Patrick, of Old Time Way, and we recommend taking a class from them if you can!