Letterpress Kickstarter Project Advances

What a fun day today!

Noted videographer John Tygart and I began filming at the Crossroads studio of printmaker/artist Nick Naughton for the Kickstarter project we are going to do that will turn The Saltness of Time into a print book using the letterpress in Nick's studio. I did the intro and then we filmed Nick explaining the steps involved and watched his foot-driven letterpress do its thing.

We need to make a decision about what kind of paper we're going to use, and then we'll have the final financial piece of information we need to form the budget.

I am so excited that Nick, who also teaches at the Kansas City Art Institute,  is going to create from four to six etchings to illustrate parts of the story. He has embraced realism and that approach is perfect for this story. You can see some of his work here and he has promised to soon update his website so more work can be viewed. 

After that, we went to Engle Bindery on Southwest Boulevard to meet with David Haynie and filmed some of the antique machines David will use to stitch the pages together and create the cover. Nick and David discussed various stitching options and settled upon what is known as Smyth stitching or binding. We watched his massive Seybold cutter chopping through the heavy cardboard used for a book's cover. Engle has been in business since 1885. While we were waiting to talk to David, he was on the phone and I heard him say: "If it wasn't done in 1885, we don't do it."

In this digital age, it was wonderful to see all this old technology and sturdily made machines that have lasted decades and will last many more. I'll share images as they are available.

After that, it was lunch at Manny's, one of the best known Mexican restaurants in KC.