New From Qualibre

Here are some new projects that I am particularly proud of.

TURQUOISE, WATER, SKY from The Museum of New Mexico Press:

REFLECTIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, from the University of South Carolina Press:

WINELANDS OF THE CAPE, from South Africa:

VICTORIA SAMBUNARIS, from Radius Books:

Update: Dogs and Duotones

A good photo makes all the difference!

Author and photographer Michael Crouser wrote me a very kind email in response to my blog post, Dogs and Duotones (see blogpost of February 24), which featured his book Dog Run. He also had compliments for our new pup, Luke -- thanks Michael!

And here is a new and improved book shot of Dog Run, which does the cover image more justice.

The Lazy Goat

A full day of driving through South Carolina. Highlight of the day was meeting with a group of super enthusiastic, creative restauranteurs in Greenville. They want to launch a collection of cookbooks, highlighting the specialties of each of these fabulous eateries.


After our meeting I asked about having lunch at one of the restaurants, and chef Victoria Moore directed me to her establishment, The Lazy Goat. I had the most delicious pommes frites known to man, and a muffuletta fried in some sort of herb infused olive oil ... Incredibly good. There goes my diet.

Traveling Again

On my way to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia.

Is there supposed to be snow?????

Dogs and Duotones

I love this book of photos, beautifully reproduced as duotones, by Michael Crouser, Dog Run. Published by Viking Penguin, the book was printed in Barcelona through Imago.




I grew up with dogs, and shared the last 8 years of my life with an unforgettable dog named Forest, who died an untimely death of cancer this past Spring. Once you have shared your life with a dog, you know all about dogs playing: the best kind of fun is when the fur is flying, bodies are racing around, teeth are bared, and everyone gets covered with mud.


I love Crouser's photos for this raucous, down and dirty, real life view of what it is like to play like dog.


Crouser himself notes that these are "the first pictures of my life that actually make me laugh."






Just before Christmas, we made the decision to bring another dog into our lives.




Its a hard decision, because you love them so much - a dog enters your life and changes it - and the time you have with them is so brief.



And ...



it is an easy decision ...



because ...


... it is not a good life if there is not a dog in it.

Photos of me and Luke by James McEntee (www.JamesMcEntee.com)

An Artist, A Collector, A Museum

I spent this past week trying to close some deals, drum up new business, and put some trips together to Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Santa Fe.

In the middle of this, I took a break and went up to The Boca Museum of Art which has a new exhibit of the works of M.C. Escher. I love the fantastic buildings and mazes and landscapes where you think you are getting somewhere but in fact you are getting nowhere. Or - looked at another way - maybe you ARE getting somewhere, but it is somewhere strange and mysterious, somewhere you could only get to in a dream.

I happen to meet up with collector Rock J. Walker, whose collection of Escher's works forms the basis for the Boca exhibition. Walker was prowling the hallways of the gallery - perhaps checking to make sure all the works were hung to his satisfaction. "You know Escher don't you?" he barked. I answered that indeed I did - but I was fascinated to see all the other kinds of works, all the other subject matter, which I hadn't previously associated with Escher. Walker travels the globe, from Amsterdam, to London, to New York, to California buying and selling contemporary artworks. "It's not as glamorous as it sounds" he rumbled. Hmmmm. I wonder.


The exhibition is titled The Magical World of M.C. Escher and runs through April 11, 2010.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 3) - Creative Gifts

Here are some magnets to take away from your visit to The National Gallery in London. I love how all the pieces are odd-sized, and work on their own, or create a bigger picture:




And from The Royal Shakespeare Theatre:




Produced by Imago.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 2) - Products for the Ecologically Minded

And now for something more PC.



Worried about that big ole' carbon footprint you're leaving all over the place?

This "CO2" eraser, produced by Imago, can take care of some of the dirty work.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 1) - Great Packaging

Oh No! Promoting cigarette smoking?????

Yes. And let me tell you, if you had a cool rubberized case like this to carry your butts in, you'd do it.


Produced by Imago.

Winner of the Caldecott Medal

It's a pleasure to report that the winner of this year's prestigious Caldecott Medal, The Lion and The Mouse, was produced by Imago Singapore.

This retelling of Aesop's classic fable, in which the tiny mouse finds a way to help his majestic friend the lion, was written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It was published by Little, Brown a division of Hachette.

Production Director Shari Lichtner of Hachette had this to say:

“You guys did an awesome job on this book. I hope you let EVERYONE know how grateful we are. The pre-press, printing, entire package is incredible. I know how difficult his artwork can be ... and whoever handled the on press quality is to be commended.

This title first printed in Spring 2009 and is now on its fifth reprint, so IMSing has been working quite hard to keep it in print!”

John Baldessari - Catalogue Raisonne

Copies of this new title are just arriving in the U.S.: John Baldessari: A Catalogue Raisonne of Prints and Multiples 1971-2007.



It is the definitive study of print work of Baldessari's prolific career, spanning nearly 40 years.



I am really proud to have been a part of this project, which printed in Barcelona through Imago this past fall. Published by Hudson Hills Press, it will likely be one of the most important books on a contemporary artist published this year. The project was designed by Skolkin+Chickey.


This hefty volume, which is 540 pages and features a cool acetate jacket, will accompany the exhibition: John Baldessari: Pure Beauty.















The exhibition will run at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona through March 16, then travel to the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, and end up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from October 17 through January 9, 2011.

A Visitor

Temperatures below freezing???? But - this is Florida!

During this past week's cold snap, I picked this little lizard up off the sidewalk, where he lay - apparently frozen - having fallen out of a tree.

I brought him inside into my office, and a few days later, he was good as new. He showed a surprising amount of interested in books and publishing, as his alert expression clearly demonstrates.




By Thursday, temperatures were getting back to tropical normal. After a brief chase around my office during which he morphed in and out of various shades of brown and green, this little guy was delivered back outside and darted into a palm tree. Shortly thereafter, he settled down into a nice shade of chartreuse.

I Never Noticed All These Books!

A visit to Washington before Christmas had me staying at my favorite hotel.

My meetings were with book publishers and in fact a good portion of my life revolves around books - what's in them, how to make them, and how to make them more interesting - so how is it that, after all the times I've stayed at the Tabard, I never really took a closer look at all the: BOOKS?

Every room I have ever stayed in, as well as the hallways and sitting rooms, have one if not several bookshelves overflowing with books.

Perhaps I was never really curious about what I would find on the shelves because I always travel with at least TWO of my own books (in case I am not in the mood for one or the other). But this time I was traveling light, and before getting into bed decided to explore what was on the bookshelf in my room.

Were these books simply bought as a lot and placed here to look picturesque? Were some of them left here by previous guests, traded for another book on the shelf that the guest decided to pinch ... ?

Here's what I found:

The Plays of John Galsworthy
The Art of Rapid Reading, a 1929 instructional.
A Legislative Reference

Triumph and Tragedy
A volume on Roses

A three-volume text on Lincoln, from 1889, by "his friend and law partner William Herndon." I liked Herndon's dedication:

"To the men and women of America
who have grown up since his
tragic death, and who have yet
to learn the story of his life,
this record of
Abraham Lincoln's career
is faithfully inscribed."

But in the end I curled up with Memories, Dreams, Reflections:

"Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation, and the personality, too, desires to evolve out of its unconscious conditions and to experience itself as a whole."

C.G. Jung (at 81 years old)



I did not, however, wake up the next morning to report any especially interesting dreams or manifestations from the unconscious. Which was slightly disappointing.

Art Basel Miami

It's great to be attending the show.

















But I'd really rather arrive in one of these











Some of the interesting guests:





Some of the art we liked:


Bejewelled stag.





Giant sized, glowing, weird flat head. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken next to it. Did I mention that "cameras are not allowed." How absurd.



My jewelry box, times a thousand, dumped out on a canvas.




Maid of the sea.




Annie Lebowitz Alica-in-Wonderland Fantasy. (Alice's adventures in Wonderland: May 4. Also my birthday).




Looks kinda vegetably - but comfortable.




Michael Jackson art was everywhere. We liked this one. "After Prince Philip".






Lunch on South Beach with my niece Amanda, photographer and magazine publisher-to-be ....

Where I stayed, What I ate

I think I could probably be happy forever if I could just live here:








And eat like this:

Breakfast





Lunch

Those French

Yes we may think the French are difficult - but isn't it really because they eat, drink, and smoke cigarettes and still stay thin and live to be 100???? How do they do that???

Difficult or not, the consensus at Imago seemed to be that the French come up with some of the most stylish and innovative designs, even for something like a CD collection. Here is one I really liked:

Cool Stuff

So, one problem is this: as this was my first time visiting my colleagues in the UK, and further more as I did not want to come off as an obnoxious American, I was too timid to stick my camera in people's faces and take their pictures for my blog!


Instead, I snapped shots of some of the many cool products and some projects in development. Here are a few of interest.

Cool Cover Treatments:




A detail of that black cover:



I love these two notebooks, and how they are held shut:







Want to keep your book's identity a secret ... try one of these:



What about a nice felt slipcase:



Or a fancy cloth book satchel: