Dynamic Demos

Ink made from crushed beetles. Shepard Fairey's secret weapon. Screenprints that look like paintings. Cold wax and oil paint "develop" a screenprint like a photograph. These techniques were revealed at Pyramid Atlantic's 2012 Book Arts Fair. Denise Bookwalter of Small Craft Advisory Press whipped up a cochineal concoction on a hotplate, and showed a variety of other naturally made screenprinted inks in her sampler book (top). Rubylith—an obsolete material in graphic arts—is front and center in Rebecca Katz's work. She showed her unique method and shared her sources for finding the stuff. (center, photo by Lisa Helfert.) Resident artist Allison Bianco's prints are a mix of traditional flat screenprinting and her "painterly flats"— a mono print method of applying ink. (above, left). And finally, Dennis O'Neil treated viewers to a collection of prints from his Handprint Workshop International, demonstrating that the screenprint medium is flexible, sculptural and truly dynamic.

SHOWTIME!

Resident screenprinter and Book Arts Fair demonstrator Allison Bianco on Fox5.

Helen Baribeau and Micah Beard print "Bite Me" pages.

Our Book Arts Fair is almost upon us. The studio has been buzzing with projects that will be sold, including a screen printed recipe book called "Bite Me" which features Bite Me First savory appetizers and Bite Me Later main courses. Each recipe was submitted and illustrated by a volunteer. Then, each page was screenprinted on various colors of Canson or Rives papers. The covers were foil embossed  and the section pages were blind embossed. Finally, the books were handbound and numbered on the handset letterpress colophon.

Bite Me books are $35.

The biggest excitement came on Wednesday with Fox5's Holly Morris and her TV crew which aired 3 segments advertising the fair, including a peak at Allison Bianco's screenprint demonstration, "Painterly Screenprinted Flats".

Hope to see you at the Book Arts Fair!

Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair

Nov. 16-18, 2012