Bodge Cottage Visitors

  

Our first was not so much a visitor but very welcome all the same. Stephen Grogan, our new chimney sweep, who swept out our crud filled flue. This is one of the flues that we were assured by the previous owners were regularly cleaned: indeed the last time they was serviced, the company had said they barely needed cleaning! Had we known just how bad a state they really were in, they would have been the first thing to be sorted out. As it was, we used the main burner for a few weeks before Stephen cleared it of a large amount of very flammable residue, which could have caused a chimney fire.

Last month we had proper guests, our dear  stalwart friends from Cinderhill Farm drove up from the forest of Dean to be our first visitors, despite the deplorable state of our decor. These good people are storing my various letterpress treasures and helped us with the big move. They stayed for supper by the fire.

This time they brought local Severn cider, farm cured bacon and four precious winter eggs, two duck, two hen from their own flock.

In a great bit of recycling, their own two breed sows have enjoyed the leftover cider apples used to make the Severn cider - here is Lady Penelope with a big smile on her face. (Neither of them are the bacon above).

Also welcome visitors this month were Valerie and Sue, two bloggers I've known for  a while, who are now a little nearer to me. Valerie of course, is 'Acornmoon' and has written about her visit and Sue is 'Mouse Notebook'. They too brought lovely gifts...

 

Sue had brought us both one of these delightful little chapbooks from the Incline Press, who we visited recently - I met the people at the Incline Press before I knew that Sue knew them; what a very small world it can be.

As you can see, we all got on as well in real life as we have done online - Sue on the left, Val in the middle, both looking glamorous and me on the right looking rustic but happy.

Latest attempts to drag this cottage into some kind of habitable state - the bathroom was hiding this rather twee plastic floral paper behind a mirror.

Andy has begun stripping out all the ghastly trappings, including the cheap dado rail. One day we will get the walls fixed properly, but as funds won't stretch that far, he is just filling in the holes and painting the walls with a nice vintage-y turquoise. It can only be an improvement, but it will be a few years before I get a bath. Showers just don't do it for me.

I now know I am  finally growing up...I want to wake up on Christmas morning and find that Santa has fitted a new damp course, re-plastered and painted all the walls, re-floored my studio, fitted a new bathroom with bath, ditto kitchen with a range, re-landscaped the garden and levelled the drive. Oh and a proper bed would be nice. Bit of a change from a Tintin book and a magic kit.

Wayzgoose 2010 - snippets

Decorative papers from John Purcell Paper

Stamps and assorted eclectic ephemera from Alan Brignull's Adanaland and the Hedgehog Press.

The Flagstone Press.

Type for sale.

Antique desktop printing press.

Blocks for sale.

Type set up on a proof press

First Folio Cards

The Incline Press

Wayzgoose 2010 organised by Oxford Guild of Printers

That was the week that was...

I thought it had been another so-so week filled with all day needle felting sessions, housework and the odd walk, but in retrospect, it has been rather action packed. My polar bear trio proved to be more exacting than I anticipated; trying to sculpt three almost identical white blobs is quite tricky, the simple shape brings out the worst of the perfectionist in me, and I am still tweaking infinitesimally small contours here and there.





I finally got round to designing a catalogue (well, a small poster really) for my card range. I've been a bit lazy about bothering shops recently, even the ones who've stocked me before. The first one I sent out had an immediate response, and I am really pleased that the gorgeous shop Ark of Cambridge - the Norfolk Street branch - now have a selection of my designs. I had some blushingly nice feedback from the shop manageress about the flyer, and apparently a customer spotted it, and said how beautiful all the colours were. It is good to have them all laid out like this; a bit more professional than a handful of samples and a 'please stock me' letter.




A fat little packet smuggled across the border from the mysterious Adanaland arrived in the post. Full of delightful letterpress scraps, which made me ache to have the space to get my own neglected kit out. (The adorable shire horse is printed by the Incline Press: coincidentally, Sue of Mouse Notebook has just blogged about her day printing there, with scrummy closeups of type and nice papery things - lucky sausage).





Also enclosed were another batch of 'The Travelling Urchin', produced exquisitely and lovingly by Alan Brignull, the founder and benign ruler of Adanaland - I love these little A6 treasures, and am very grateful to him for my growing collection.

It was a welcome little diversion as I plodded on with the next trio for my trade order.




Jackie of Dog Daisy Chains and Karen of Moonlight and Hares asked about RSI and stabbing myself. Ladies, it is no and yes. No, I am lucky enough not to get RSI, just tired bits when I work for more than 8 hours a day. I try to do regular carpal tunnel exercises and I have a super-duper wrist support with two thumb splints, a hand splint and padded bead palm, which really helps when I'm on a marathon session.



Stabbing, however, is a regular occurrence. I frequently hold tiny bits of felt (for instance, beaks) and stab them into hard little shapes, often driving the needle straight down into the pad of my thumb. So I'm experimenting with using two thimbles for protection. It's not as sensory as using my naked fingers, but it hurts less when the needle slips.




I've probably mentioned at least a dozen times that I don't get out much. Getting out can be a bit expensive on a narrow budget, but kind Andy whisked me off to Cotswold Wildlife Park this week, which, despite it being rammed (because of the Easter holidays) was utterly brilliant. The last big day out we had was at the Barrington ploughing match, last September. I get quite giddy with the sheer pleasure of new surroundings and experiences; I came away with my head whirring, over a hundred reference photos and two tiny glass animals...




Nobly, I have restrained myself from posting an endless line of yet-another-zoo-animal here. (Collective sighs of relief!)

BIG EDIT - I had awarded this big, sharp rhino horn to a certain large company who seem to be taking unpermitted advantage of one of Little Cotton Rabbits lovely designs. At last they seem to be responding, but I'll save my half hearted cheer for when they actually do something positive. So the rhino stays.



Oh, by the end of April I will be able to stop thinking in threes!

Wayzgoose

Oh dear, look at the dust...and the cobwebs. This old place hasn't been taken care of for a while...let me grab a duster, hang on...there, that's better - get out spider! Days and days spent plodding away at this book job. I have taken the air twice in eight days, (unless you count collecting the bins). One tramp through the woods and a rare trip into civilisation to visit the Witney Wayzgoose. Yes indeed.

According to my Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, a Wayzgoose is 'an annual dinner, picnic or beanfeast especially one given to, or held by, those employed in a printing house. 'Wayz' ('wase') is an obsolete word for a bundle of hay, straw or stubble, hence a harvest goose or fat goose, which is the crowning dish of the entertainment '.



Anyhow, here we had a lovely collection of small presses and bookbinders, many of who I had seen and some of whom I had had the privilege of meeting at the Fine Press Book Fair, back in rainy, dull November last. (As opposed to rainy, dull July, now). My first mission was to find Alan Brignull, the Founding Father of Adanaland. I have it on good authority that they don't have websites in Adanaland, though traces of it can be found through the all-seeing Google. (Nearly) everything that Alan produces, including his wonderful stamps, is beautifully printed on an Adana 8x5 press.



We shook hands, I was introduced to his nice family and we exchanged gifts - I am afraid my offering was a mere jar of jam, from my plum-fest last year. I was thrilled to received a packet of goodies from the Rambling Urchin, the mini-sheet published by the Hedgehog Press. All letter pressed, with a gorgeous variety of ornaments and a miscellany of fascinating snippets.




The envelope was charmingly addressed to 'the Great Stabber' - (needle felt meets letter press!) Cotswold Gent asked if he was 'the only bloke who read my blog', and this is proof that he is not alone - although in a distinct minority. (I clumsily got a bit of red printing ink on the envelope. Bad me). And this time I just had to buy his latest stamp editions 'Women of Adanaland' - all the images are from original little Adana blocks. And purchased in a most satisfying way from the Adanaland stamp machine. Coin in, handle pulled - ker-clunk - stamps out.

And with them, a little box of Adanaland matches -

At the stall next door I spotted a booklet illustrated by my old life teacher, Annie Newnham. She grounded me in everything useful I needed to know about how to draw figures. The most important thing, which became ingrained in my own style, was how to sense the rhythm and flow of a body, how to really look and love the unconscious, graceful poses into which the most seemingly ordinary of people fall into when they are waiting for a bus or chatting over coffee. I soaked up her teaching in over two years and never forgot them. She pulled my figure drawings from being tight little pencil daubs sat in the middle of an white page, to being big, bold charcoal statements, full of expression and joy. Thank you for that, Annie. So I spent a little of my pocket money on buying the illustrated Ted Hughes poem 'Comics'.

And moved on to admire the working press further along. (This is where I picked up the smudge of red ink which besmirched my lovely Adanaland envelope).

And on to say hello to nice Graham and Cathy, down from the North with the Incline Press. While admiring some of their latest editions -

I sensed a 'personality' next to me. A small, beady eyed, lady of advanced years, holding herself upright with two walking sticks. Graham was talking her through one of their newest publications, beautifully illustrated by young artist Rose Harries.

Her opinions - for she certainly did have opinions - were being carefully considered. She was definitely someone.





When she slowly left the stall and was safely out of earshot I asked Graham who she was: Beth Cooke, a well respected artist, still painting and exhibiting today. I can only hope that I am still wielding a paintbrush, if I am lucky enough to reach that kind of age.

I came away regretting that my time is so - squashed - right now. I know I haven't managed to get any of my Adanas printing as they should (my fault) and now I am all stocked up I could be doing so much. But a grand day out, and an opportunity to pick up a horde of little printed treasures; so many of the stall holders ask such reasonable prices that it would be rude not to.

These events happen more often than most people know, so if Alan would like to keep me up-to-date with when and where they are being held in the UK, I will advertise the dates here - and you too can visit Adanaland and other magical letter press kingdoms. With pocket money at the ready.

Confessions. I am not just illustrating. I am mainly - 90% - illustrating. On the edge of things I am also house-working, needle felting, gardening, cake making, meal cooking, eBay selling, Etsy-ing and occasionally sleeping. But all in small doses around the book job. I am weary, grumpy, and run down; I have to go to the dentist next week to sort out my gaping, niggling back molar cavity. So apologies for lack of returned emails, lack of blog visiting and comments. It's the juggling thing and I have picked up too many balls. But they are almost all up in the air...for the moment.

Fine Press Book Fair

Feeling a little jaded, tired and grumpy, I have nothing of note to record and my hands are cold. Let me take you back through the mists of time, to far off November, when I escaped the village by coercing Andy to bike me over to the Fine Press Book Fair in Oxford.

It was somewhat overwhelming; spending much of my time alone, and rarely going anywhere of cultural interest, I was staggered by the atmosphere of bustling bookishness. At the same time, I felt completely at home, and had a few pleasant potters round the hall with a big dopey grin on my face, for no particular reason apart from being surrounded by gorgeous books, prints, papers and letterpress stands. Several names I recognised, and I was hoping to say hello to a couple of contacts I'd made through that brash (but oh-so-invaluable-for-hermits) newcomer, the internet. I spotted Andy English at once, though not knowing him at all, I hung back from saying 'hello, I know you through Sue's blog'. Which might have sounded a bit - well, weird. When he was not chatting to customers, he was bent over his little cushion thingy, working on one of his blocks. That's him in the foreground, to the right of the lady in the maroon top. He has also done a very good blog post of his own about the fair, with much better photos.

I eventually managed to find Alan Brignull, who runs the Hedgehog Press, (no website, alas) and produces his very own Adanaland stamps. After a few weeks of emails, we finally got to shake hands and say hello - I had bought him a humble offering of some of my cards, and he had kindly brought me some spare parts for my miniature Adana, which is sadly falling to bits. After a chat, we parted company, and I beetled off to find the Incline Press, another grapevine contact. One of those times when you have to say 'hi, we've never met in person but...' and so I became acquainted with the lovely Graham and Kathy who produce the most gorgeous books and whose stall was buzzing with a little crowd of admirers.

When they were busy with punters, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of their beautiful creations-

Some great advice was had from Graham and I realised not for the first time what a tiny and tightly connected world the UK letterpress community is.

Apart from learning the hard way how not to approach a print job, I now realise that what I want to do with my printing is a hundred years away from the kind of amazing craftsmanship I witnessed at the Book Fair. I am going off into the gift stationary side of things, which will involve such heresies as polymer plates and impressioning the card stock (which, believe me, can produce extraordinary - and even vitriolic - reactions in the extreme, traditional branches of the letterpress community). But I am more interested in the end product rather than the process, so I will leave the professional stuff to the professionals. In the meantime, I have found some lovely printing blogs, which are full of stunning work and useful tips - so if you are interested in 21st century letterpress and you don't get high blood pressure from seeing polymer block work or impressed stock, then pop over to - Snap and Tumble, Satsuma Press, Moontree Letterpress, and Poppy Letterpress. Enjoy.