never mind the press ~ California
(Alisa Golden)

Start with Pencil
By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California: 2005. Edition of 45.

8 x 6"; 8 pages. A slim, softcover, accordion book, letterpress printed from handset type. Linocuts are printed in single colors of blues or a pencil-yellow. With graphite and painted paper covers and painted strips that join the pages. Numbers corresponding to pencil hardness (1B to 8B) stenciled in pencil.

Alisa Golden: "Eight linocuts and eight poems about writing, drawing, teaching, and learning. Images are figurative drawings made from single lines, drawn at the ice skating rink."

I used to hear these lines / now I say them.

$80

chalk voices
By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California: 2003. Edition of 30.

4 x 6.25"; 8 pages. One pop-up page with a multi-colored reduction print. Interior contains a miniature booklet (2"; 8 pages) Typo Roman type printed in blue with rule printed in sun yellow. Three-section hardcover closed with a small brass hook.

Alisa Golden: "One short poem and another very short poem set by hand from metal type and printed via letterpress. The poems are a symphony of sounds on a neighborhood street."

Text: "I know my neighbor's cough, laugh, and vacuum."
$80

CHART: these bright lights
By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California:1997. Edition of 32.

5.5 x 5"; 16 pages. Circular, linen-taped accordion with painted pages. Letterpress printed Caslon 471 Shining on Lenox. Layered with acrylic inks and white colored pencil.

Alisa Golden: "A quiet walk through a Japanese tea garden. Clearing leaves and cleaning out closets. Staring alone at a night sky that others have seen in other times. Each of these activities is a point in its own circle. I have named them: ‘Walking on the Sentence Stones;’ and ‘On My Street: Fall;’ and ‘Chart: These Bright Lights.’ Together these books make up the Circle Series: accordion-folded paper with acrylic inks in colors reflecting the mood of each poem. I cut the papers into strips. Then I letterpress printed handset, metal type on top of the ink-washed pages and folded and joined the paper.

"I always imagined I would have to choose between writing and art. Since 1983, making books has been a way for me to connect the two things I have to do, the things I thought were very separate. Making multiple copies allows me to let go of the work over and over and still keep it. My intention with the Circle Series was to create rhythm and mood, cohesive places in which to walk with my mind and with my hands. Places to be calm."
$40

Fair Entry
also known as: the cow book
By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California:1990. Edition of 75.

4.75 x 8.5"; 14 pages. Letterpress printed on Rives heavyweight paper. With rubber stamping and collage.

Colophon (cow-o-phon): "never mind that she isn't really collecting cow things but only recently noticed she does have a cow potholder, fingerpuppet, mask, wallhanging, and of course cowpunch and cow stamps for no waking reason. never mind that the word cattle is not as nice as cows, never mind the handset caslon type stampeding via letterpress on Rives heavyweight buff or the covers handmade from Maine paper cows by Beth Herrick and Heather MacDuffie of Port and Starboard Press, never mind that she doesn't eat cow anymore. cow's favorite music? mood music."
$60

Hat. Hat. Hat.
By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California: 1989. Edition of 42.

10 x 7"; 20 pages. Letterpress printed on Rives bfk. Cover of ogura grey. Illustrated using handcarved rubber stamps.

“When I got to Moscow….I was the only one who didn’t have a hat.” From this begins one of those small but epic sagas that color our lives.
$40

Suspension
By Alisa Golden
1988. Edition of 74.

6 x 9"; 16 pages. Flutterbook style. Letterpress in black, yellows & greens, six engravings from altered photos. Venus sewn suspended on cover.

In this Kafkaesque story, a woman makes a choice, waits in line to give herself up to the "authorities," but runs into bureaucratic tangles, leaving her suspended.
$40