ExpeditionPress

Poetry & Type

Embracing Grief

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metal type bracketsWhat I’m most grateful for about the losses I’ve experienced in my life is their effect of making me suddenly, unexpectedly, excruciatingly present.

The summer my older brother died I was painting a friend’s 2-story 4-bedroom house a soft pale yellow. I was about three quarters of the way through when the news came. All the prep work was done: power washing, scraping, sanding, caulking, priming. The first coat of the siding was done, second coat halfway. Scaffolding was up, ladder placements standardized, awkward corners all attended, trim decisions made, wasp nests sprayed out. Zero rain in the forecast. I was on a roll and set to finish inside of two weeks. [Read more…]

On Edge

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layout for art installation on graph paper
ABC, 123: planning out the On Edge art installation to scale.

Recently I was interviewed by a 13 yr old who asked me what the hardest part of my job is. “Time!” I said immediately. “Good lord, time management. Knowing what to prioritize when.” A week prior a journalist asked me about my relationship to time as if I knew some secret about detaching from the fast-paced pressures of the digital [Read more…]

Building an Art Show

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print shop crowded with artwork
New artwork is taking over my shop! Show opens May 31 in Seattle.

A year ago, at a windy roadside stop in South Dakota with a couple flickering bars of reception, I checked my email. There was a message from the manager of a gallery in downtown Seattle, whom I’d met at a couple openings. She was wondering whether I wanted to join next year? I gasped and rubbed the sand out of my eyes, read it again. [Read more…]

Artist Residency at Wells

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broken-specimen-myrna-keliher
A Specimen of Broken – limited edition artists book. Of 10 copies, 7 are available for sale.

I spent the last two and half weeks printing up a storm in the Wells Book Arts Center, at Wells College in Aurora NY. I camped out in the new press room with five Vandercooks, reams of Mohawk Superfine, a 3lb can of black ink, and tunes, snacks, and a water bottle. On my cross country drive to New York, I thought a lot about partial/broken letterforms, watching paint peel away on many a weathered building across the western mountains and midwestern plains. Plenty of thinking time. No books, I decided. Too much work. I knew wanted to make things bigger, like the signs I’ve recently done, but vaguely thought no, no, I’ll be printing of course. And I thought, I’d like to work with those forms in print. But can’t break the type. Cut the paper? I just really wanted to build, not break. [Read more…]

Thousandth Time: Broadside Construction

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poem printed on japanese paper screens
“For the Thousandth Time, I Want to Know” is a poem by Mark Nepo. It is available for sale.

“For the Thousandth Time, I want to Know” is a poem by Mark Nepo from his out-of-print book Inhabiting Wonder. I first imagined this piece nearly four years ago, and contacted Mark who generously gave me permission to reprint the poem. It was an ambitious project at the time, and I got about three-quarters of the way through before I abandoned ship. Over the course of a year I designed it, printed it, built all the frames, and scored each sheet by hand eight times and each hinge three times. Then I assembled the first full prototype and my morale plummeted. It just wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. A classic example of what Ira Glass is talking about in this genius little video on beginners, and making things. I let my perfectionist get the better of me and put the whole darn project up high on a shelf, leaving it there to lurk in the corner through three studio moves and countless other projects. [Read more…]

September art show is up!

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art hanging in a bakery

‘Space Available’ is now filling the Blackbird Bakery on Bainbridge Island. Opening reception is tonight from 6-8pm. We’ll be celebrating with plenty of prints and good eats. If you can’t make it out today, no worries: the show will be up through the month of September. And if you’re far away, you can have a look online! Most pieces in the show are available in Expedition’s online store. To purchase a framed piece in the show, please email myrna@expedition.press.

Many thanks to Heidi at the Blackbird for the invitation to show, and for such warm attention to detail with the hanging. It’s an honor to have my work in such a well-curated space where so many delicious things are made every day!