We are twenty-first century printmakers.
At Simian Press, we are artists, writers and educators and we produce limited editions of hand bound books for artists and writers. We also produce prints and broadsides and publish the literary journal of micro fiction and poetry, LINEA. We are a small and versatile shop, employing both digital and analog technologies to create beautiful prints, books and broadsides.
Group Project Woodcut Workshops & The Teeny Tiny Press Workshops
Please check back in June for our 2024 summer workshop schedule.
A few years ago I purchased a “teeny tiny” etching press from a company in England called OpenPress. At 7.5 x 23 cm or 3×9 inches, this little bundle of joy is 3-D printed (cool!), using 21st technology and includes a stainless steel roller, a wool blankie and a tiny 3-D printed drypoint needle. In August 2022, in conjunction with the Stonington Public Library in Stonington, Maine, I hosted a workshop using this little press. Attendees varied in age from 5 to 85 and everyone made their own tiny print(s)! The first print was a section view of Andy Gove’s House carved onto a tiny piece of linoleum, printed on Gampi paper.
In April 2023 I hosted a group woodcut workshop at the Deer Isle Artists Association. Participants each carved a 6×6 inch potion of a 36 x 36 inch woodblock which we printed by hand on Kitakata rice paper using Japanese bamboo barrens, western glass barrens and a variety of other low-tech tools – including wooden spoons!
For more information and to purchase your own tiny press: www.openpressproject.com
The Circus Woodcuts with Big Ink
In 2018, I carved a large scale woodblock titled, My Pyrrhic Victory!. Based on a mash-up of thirteen drawings of persons, places and things both real and imagined, this print was proofed on The Big Tuna press at the Deedee Shattuck Gallery in Westport, MA in conjunction with Lyell Castonguay and Big Ink. In 2018 and 2019, the remaining thirty prints for the edition were pulled at MassArt in Boston.
In 2022, I carved the second block in this series, Carpe Omnia! I returned to the Deedee Shattuck gallery to work with Lyell again on the Big Tuna press. This press it is quite a wonder – it can print close to 8 feet in length and 44 inches in height!
IN PRAISE OF LINEA
“LINEA is a small, hand bound edition, beautifully constructed, expertly designed and edited. It is valuable not only as a work of art, but also for the dedication to experimentation and joy.
As the dynamics of publishing have been radically altered through technology and economic forces, it is important to note that this project is like a well-tended garden, cultivating vision and elegance, and helping to nourish our community.”
-Lisa F. Enzer, M.Ed
“… LINEA is a magazine of short fiction, an experiment with form relevant to 21st Century readers, to the urgency of their lives: Compressed, as you read, the form explodes into meaning.
(LINEA) is the brainchild and labor of love of three local women: Adell Donaghue, Carol Edelstein and Elizabeth George. Adell, a visual artist, writer and educator who lives and works (respectively) in Southampton and Easthampton, MA, founded Simian Press which publishes LINEA. Adell is not only LINEA’s publisher, but its designer. She also drew the illustrations in the book, marking a confluence between visual art and writing, an intersection that deepens LINEA’s relevance: among the current generation of writers and artists across the country, boundaries between form are blurring.”
-Candice Reffe
Past Repair by Carol Edelstein
Simian Press is pleased to announce the publication of Carol Edelstein’s third book, Past Repair. A collection of poetry, Past Repair includes drawings and paintings by Adell Donaghue with cover art by Rosamond Purcell.
“Reading Past Repair feels natural, essential, and sometimes as complicated as breathing. If the world seems good even as its goodness is wearing down and wearing out, it is because Edelstein finds ‘prayers to spare in the bodies of birds.’ Hers is an examined life, and she shares her observations with unblinking courage and practiced gratitude.”
– Lisa Allen Ortiz
Listen to Carol’s interview on New England Public Media:
There’s Joy In Using Words To Know The World
The paperback book is available for sale here.
A limited edition hardcover version of the book (50 copies), signed by the author and artists is available here.
Carol Edelstein reading Djinn
