Tuesday, January 27, 2009

printing history...

"The first print shop was the garage behind the house at 829 North Virginia.  John Cavilia [my grampa] furnished it with a 1250 multilith, a large work table and a hand operated guillotine cutter.  In addition to the equipment, John taught the first sisters the art of printing..."

Sadly, I don't know the roots of my grampa's printing- where he learned to print, what he printed nor where he got a press.  In the basement at my gramma's house my grampa built a wine cellar and a "shop"- it's now filled with dusty tools, old spray paint and finger prints from all us grandkids  searching for treasures.  My gramma told me that he used to keep the press down in the shop, but when I asked for a photo she said she never went down there to take one of him printing.

My grampa was a Catholic and did a lot to help the church and fellow Renoites, the quote above is from the Carmelites of Reno website, a  monastery in Reno which started in 1958.   I knew he had set up the monastery with their first press and was happy to find mention of him on the website!


"From the time people knew that the sisters had a press, (late 1954 on) we were asked to do small "job work": letterheads for businesses (like Vaughn Millwork [my grampa's business]), business cards, invoices, etc."

I like to think that printing is in my blood and that I'm doing the same printing that my grampa did himself- and that makes me feel pretty good inside.












Sunday, January 18, 2009

brooklyn bound: 3,800 miles

the long way to new york.
directions:
-start in reno nevada
-head south
-drive 3,800
-visit your family
-visit your friends
-enjoy the sunsets
-enjoy the stars
-look for ghosts
-drive 3,800 miles
-park in bed-stuy
downtown reno                                                                                   somewhere between reno and vegas

kingman, arizona: getting on route 66


two guns, new mexico: abandoned "kamp"


santa fe, new mexico: crow's house                   marfa, texas: chamberlin's cars. 



texas: railroad x-ing                                                                       
sweetwater, texas: ranch house motel


gurdon, arkansas: fill the ford fully folly                             
gurdon, arkansas: awesome breakfast with emmy and buZ



nashville, tennesse: country music hall of fame

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......

hatch show print in nashville. 
for 130 years the folks at hatch have been designing and printing posters for everyone from elvis to hank williams to tool. erik and i got a great tour from neives who is  designer and printer at hatch... walls and walls of wood type. it's so rad.




holiday cards.

when i mailed out my holiday cards i included a pencil- the idea being that everyone could draw in the faces on their photo booth strip people...no one got it! ha ha. i was thanked for the pencil more than once, that's when i realized people didn't think of the pencil as a tool for their "interactive" card. c'est la vie!! and happy new year!!

more blank books!!




practicing french groove


this book "Berna" includes 3-d glasses and an old strip of 3-d Gumby comic- my goal is to figure out how to print something in 3-d. my research has not been informative- i should probably just start experimenting to see what i can figure out, layering the blue and red and then putting on the glasses...