by ENID MARK

Sample pages...

An artist's book created by Enid Mark
in response to her journey to Jackson Pollock's
house and studio and grounds,
currently the Pollock-Krasner House and
Study Center, at Springs, New York.

The pages open to a generous 11 1/2 by 36 inches. They reveal handpulled lithographs that merge the broad sweeping landscape of Eastern Long Island with the artist's interpretation of Pollock's calligraphic gestures. The lithographs were printed from a subtle combination of hand-drawn and photographic plates in two colors, blue/black and gray/green.

Many of the images bleed to all four edges of the gray Rives BFK mould-made paper used throughout the work. The final page features an image printed chine collé on hand torn dark gray Moriki paper. Lithography is by Timothy P. Sheesley of Corridor Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The illustrations are enriched by the addition of words, printed letterpress, in black and dark red. These typographic elements increase in point size, number and complexity as the book progresses; they serve to focus and illuminate the pictorial imagery. Optima, the type style introduced by Hermann Zapf in 1958, was selected for the elegance of its sans serif letter forms, as well as for the fact that it reflects the style of the period of Pollock's lifetime. Presswork is by Daniel Keleher of Wild Carrot Letterpress, Hadley, Massachusetts.

Barbara Blumenthal, Northampton, Massachusetts, executed the handbinding in a finely textured dark green Japanese cloth over boards lined with gray Moriki paper. A decorative paper label wraps around the front and back covers in one long horizontal band.