Contest poems were to engage the theme of music. Honorable mentions go to poets Mary Pinard (Roslindale, MA) for “Wanting an Accordion,” Mike Schneider (Pittsburgh, PA) for “Crazy Blues,” and Kathleen Winter (Glen Ellen, CA) for “Mia Vita Violenta.”

The Virginia Arts of the Book Center, a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a community of artists exploring books, paper, and printmaking. Selections for its annual contest on a rotating theme are judged for high literary quality and suitability for visual interpretation.

TAPS

I’m going to buy a bugle
and hold it to my mouth.

Lips is all it takes. And tongue.
It’s in the breath that has no lapse,

and all through warming brass
it gives the simplest tune.

Hidden, I will blow the bugle
into life, as if the sound comes

from another county, low to high,
then lowering itself.

I need a song,
something slightly out of keeping

and behind a lone and reaching
cypress, treble clef of evergreen.

*********************
Anne Harding Woodworth’s fourth book of poetry is The Artemis Sonnets, Etc. (2011). She is also the author of two chapbooks. She is a member of the Poetry Board at the Folger Shakespeare Library and divides her time between Washington, DC, and Cedar Mountain, NC.

Josef Beery poster

April 28 through June 2
Design with Type Certification Course

Virginia Arts of the Book Center
2125 Ivy Road (Ivy Road Shopping Center)
6 Saturdays, 10:00 AM-12:00 Noon

Instructor: Josef Beery

Tuition: $500 (Member and Nonmember price, UVa Education Benefit Eligible)
VABC Members not using Education Benefit receive $50 discount ($450)

Contact kmcfadden@virginia.edu for inquiries and registration.

In this Design Certification Course students will receive a strong introduction to typography and design for print. The course will be held in the Virginia Arts of the Book Center, home to a letterpress printing laboratory with hundreds of cases of wood and metal type. The course will outline the history of printing, type design, and book production. Students will learn the basics of design for the printed page through hands on work. Students will use conventional page layout software on their own desktop computers to complete assignments in the design of posters, brochures, magazine articles, and books. At the completion of the course students will receive a certificate of mastery in “Design with Type.”

Schedule:

April 28 Hands-on exploration of typographic and printing history.

May 5 Introduction to the letter form and traditional type families. Assignment: Poster

May 12 Introduction to basic principles of type composition. Assignment: Brochure

May 19 Use of color and images in layout. Assignment: Magazine Article

May 26 Design of the book. Assignment: Booklet

June 2 Printing and binding techniques in the digital age.

During this workshop we will discuss and practice measuring off the object, materials selection, gauging material thickness, adhesive options, cutting techniques, and best practices for construction.

Students will create two four-flap enclosures with variations and two clamshell boxes, one with set dimensions and one for an object of their choosing. Familiarity with bookbinding terms, tools, and techniques will be quite helpful, but not required

Contact Kevin McFadden kjm7a@virginia.edu to register or for more information.

This workshop will concentrate on presswork using the Vandercook Universal One.

Focus will be on prepress planning, lock-up, multi-color registration, impression pressure and overall print quality.

At the end of the day each participant will receive six prints (cards) suitable for Valentines Day.

While press experience is helpful it’s not necessary for this class.

Contact Garrett gsqueen@comcast.net to register or for more information.

We will be having a new brainstorming session in person at Block Nite, Wednesday January 11th, 5:30 pm.

Ideas that were brought to the table in no particular order:

How? a bound book. Possibly a series of books. Small in size in order to use the recently purchased binders board.

Common Theme: Even if there is a series of books, we would like to have a common theme to tie the project together.

Common Size: We would have a common size for the series.

Theme Ideas: Collection of Fables / Encyclopedia of the World / Atlas of Secret Diseases / Marginalia / Six word stories /

Method Ideas: Shuffle book (where each separate book could be “read” in a random order with the others and be cohesive / Small Team Model (break into small teams to produce a book from each team) / Collaborative (do we want to print and respond?) / Should we all work on one book? / 2 people teams could work on a press sheet together, which would fold into 8 pages and then we can bind them all together /

So those are the current ideas and thoughts we discussed. Please contribute your ideas, feedback, questions, or inspiration below!

Raucous Auction

Virginia Arts of the Book Center
2125 Ivy Square Shopping Center
(enter through the Art Box)

It’s that time of year again–join us for the Raucous Auction as the members of the VABC celebrate the auspicious postmark date 11-11-11 with a debut of the  “POSTMARK” project–a collaborative print set of postcard-influenced art. Every piece is a 4″-6.5″ expression of the temporal, spatial, and emotional displacement we experience beneath the glossy veneer of a postcard.

What else might you see for sale, silent auction, or raucous auction that night? Have a peek at our preview (constantly being updated) below:

Contact kmcfadden@virginia.edu by September 22 to reserve a space in the class. Class size limited to 8.

Nonmember cost: $500, UVa Employees of more than one year may use Education Benefit
Member cost: $450 (discount for membership not available with Education Benefit)
Instructors: Kevin McFadden, Garrett Queen, Frank Riccio
Materials: All materials provided

Sept 25 -1-5PM-Typesetting Basics
Oct 2 – 2-6PM*- Proofing and Printing *note time change for this date
Oct 9 – 1-5PM- Troubleshooting / Cleaning
Oct 16 - 1-5PM- Printing Two Color Projects
Oct 23 – 1-5PM- Wood Type and Block Printing
Oct 30 - 1-5PM- Final Projects / Testing

A class member will learn and be certified for all skills necessary to:
-independently compose, typeset, and print a text project with lead type on a Vandercook printing press
-utilize basic letterpress terminology
-navigate a job case’s arrangement and distribute type
-understand the strategies and concepts behind two-color printing
-use wood type, polymer, and block print on a Vandercook press
-troubleshoot common printing problems
-clean the parts of a Vandercook press
-clean and store accessories including furniture, tools, and type

Drop by during Creative Framing/The Art Box’s business hours for a peek at this work.

10:00 – 6:00 Monday – Friday
10:00 – 4:00 Saturday