Jody Makes Things

I managed a short visit to Thin Ice Press in the city of York, England. They have a lovely space, lots of beautiful Vandercooks and wood type, and a little shop.

I made an appointment at the National Art Library at the V&A Museum in London to view a few of their artist's books. You can order a book ahead of time on their website and sign up for a library card the day you arrive. They allow you to handle two at a time for as long as you like. Each book is stamped with the National Art Library's seal.

Things We Carried Into Space was selected for PRESS ON: A Juried Exhibition of Letterpress Art at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, 2025.

A page from Things We Carried Into Space on display at HEAT AND PRESSURE, the Honolulu Printmater's 97th Annual Exhibition, 2025.

April 4 - 26th, 2025 Downtown Art Center, second floor exhibition hall 1041 Nu’uanu Ave, Honolulu, HI Gallery hours 11am - 5pm, Tuesday - Sunday, closed Mondays

Postcard box

I recently took a trip to Tokyo to take a Mokuhanga workshop with master printer Mara Cozzolino. We fit so much into a short five days! Mara guided us through all the stages of printing an edition of mokuhanga prints, and guided us through Tokyo to all the best places to buy supplies (and mochi!). We worked hard in our little studio above Moriki Paper Company and I learned so much about the process.

I printed an abstracted design based on (sakura-pink!) oyster mushrooms during the Tokyo Mokuhanga workshop. Three woodblocks, and even more layers of ink than that!

I had the chance to visit the Ichigaya Letterpress Fatory in Tokyo during a recent trip. They have a lovely little museum, a full letterpress studio, a space for workshops and a gift shop.

The boxes contain three collections: a) postcards that I found/bought and have never been sent b) postcards picked up at art shows or were promotional cards from artists, and c) cards that people sent me in the mail. The fact that the third collection outgrew its initial box brings me so much joy!

An accordion book housed in a box, At the Water’s Edge was a collaborative project with the printmaker Julie Peterson for the Print to Book Exhibition. She made the prints used in the collage and created the accordion book. I wrote the text and made the box.

Opening reception is Fri March 11 5-8 at Bas Bookshop and Honolulu Printmakers. Tamara will have a Poetry in Motion at both locations. Jared Wickware will dj  music at the Printmakers.

Boxes made this year—one for myself, three as gifts for friends.

The text of the second stanza in Things We Carried Into Space is taken from the spoken greetings recorded on the Voyager Golden Record, carried aboard the Voyager spacecraft in 1977.

Don't Use Your Hands, artist's book, 2019 One response I often hear when I tell people I'm a book artist is "why do you make books by hand? Don't they have machines for that?" They do! It can be a struggle to articulate the appeal of making things by hand in a world where books are bound by machines, we all write emails instead of letters, and so many things that were once made by craftsmen are now mechanized and computerized. Why spend all that effort and time? Can you make money from it? (Not really). "Don't Use Your Hands" is made in the style of a children's board book. Board books are mass-produced, disposable books made for babies to chew on. "Don't Use Your Hands" mimics the didactic style and simple design of a children's book, while being a limited edition artist's book, made by hand. "Don't use Your Hands" was printed at the In Cahoots Residency, using the residency's wood type collection, with pochoir illustrations on Rives BFK in an edition of 10.