APA President’s February Honor Roll

Now that it is the time to honor St. Patrick, thought it would be a good time to give some presidential honor to the February bundle submissions. One of my goals as president is to recognize the letterpress efforts of our members and hopefully encourage a pursuit of excellence, or at least improvement, in our design, typography and printing. And that feeds into my other goal, which is to dialog with each other. These are my choices for the February Honor Roll and I admit they are subjective to my humble opinions, but don’t hesitate to reach out to a fellow APA-er that inspires you, with an email or a postcard or a call.

1. Carol Clifford, Orange House Press #948: For her striking 2-color Tomato Print. I really love the bold, rich red and the woodcut style of the overlapping black and red that gives the feel of a third red-tint color. Great job Carol getting a large solid red that makes this tomato so appetizing; it’s on my fridge now! And your ornamental Hope is a Good Thing was a runner-up… I’m a sucker for ornaments and filigree!
2. Chris Bayley #923: Every submission by Chris features his amazing wood engraving skills and deserves recognition. The smallest details in the stonework and the plants really pop with Chris’s excellent printing. Well composed design with my eye starting at the top of the columns heading left and down through the type to Chris’s name in the lower right then back up with the neck of the stork to the right; all of this adds subtle visual movement and meaning to the text.
3. Michael Grossman #958: Cease to Be A Drudge is a fun use of a rule form and used simply and creatively to graphicly illustrate the text. Nothing exciting about a rule form but printing it in four colors to create an interesting, vibrating but subtle background makes a great use of an otherwise useless cut! Michael, in the spirit of Mary McLeod Bethune, you are indeed an artist.
4. And for the Jim Daggs Refrigerator Award this month, I couldn’t stop laughing at Michael Addison’s #819 "Prayer in School" card. As I walked toward the fridge, I shared it with my wife Lori who also laughed with a smile. That’s a winner! I left it up for one night so that my 22-yr old daughter would enjoy it when she walked in around 2 am. Thank you, Michael!