A few more Florence photographs

The Arno on a deliciously storm-threatening afternoon.


Everyone knows that I like pigeons!



All the guidebooks say that you keep catching glimpses of the Duomo round corners or at the end of narrow streets. This is my take on the subject.


We kept seeing this one lone egret hanging round in the Arno.

On our last afternoon, when all was packed up (including my camera sadly) we went for a last look at the Arno. There on a little 'beach' at the side of the river was our friend the egret. He seemed to be pecking at a bit of discarded pizza floating at the edge. We became fascinated because every time he pulled at the delicacy from the shore, it seemed to be pulled out again into the river. Staring harder into the brown water, we suddenly realized that there was a large FISH (carp, I think) biting hard on the pizza and determined to haul it away from the bird.

That was, sadly, the photograph that 'got away'!

. . . and yet some more Florence photographs

Just a composition I was quite pleased with. Shows that, even in early March, the sun can be quite strong in Florence . . . quite hot enough for me!


This fun object was to be found in the Santo Spirito flea market. I think it was on this stall to amuse and draw customers. Even if it had been for sale, bringing it home on the plane might have caused problems.



Telling photographs of the 1966 flood. Santa Croce while the water was up and after it had receded.


Cimabue's crucifix being unceremoniously hauled out by any folk who happened to be around and in possession of two strong arms.

I had never understood why this wonderful object had been so cruelly done by in the flood . . . when its place is hanging by a chain from the roof. All is explained by the fact that, when the waters surged in, the crucifix was at ground level, ironically for 'restoration'.

Florence. A flat with a view

Everyone knows that the McDowalls (and especially the Nicolas half) almost never go away for holidays and so forth as other folk do . . . so, if they do actually get on the move, it is quite a event.

The fact is that Frances spent time in Florence as a student and one of our most happy times was a week there, decades ago and we have always wanted to go back.

To go very early or very late in the year is a must for us from the point of view of heat and tourists so, when we happened upon the description of a little flat with the above view out of its bedroom window which happened to be vacant for the first two weeks in March, we made a number of decisions very quickly.

We are now returned for a week and, having things more or less back to normal, I turn here and wonder what I can possibly put into a post.

First to say that the logistics were wonderfully straightforward and we had an entirely enjoyable time. The flat ('fourth floor - no lift', as the description warned) was very comfortable and was situated in the Santa Croce district which is not only where the furniture makers and picture-framers work but it seems to be where the models for sundry apostles, executioners, angels and so on employed in all the frescoes by the master painters of the C13 onwards still live!





We found ourselves happily situated with regard to the basics . . . with Florence's second largest (and much nicer) market, the Sant'Ambrogio just round one corner and a supermarket round another! As this photo shows, we decided to work our way through the range of goat's cheese offered on this stall. We did not have the equipment for great cookery but just to picnic in one's own place is so much more fun (for me, anyway) than so much eating out. I also got great pleasure from 'putting the rubbish out' on the way to the Uffizi!

While we did allow ourselves the indulgence of lots of rest and reading, we did attack our self-imposed list of museums &c with gusto. It was wonderful to see favourite things and to meet new ones. We were particularly laid back with regard to the Uffizi as we went there twice. [A great advantage of a trip to Florence for the amazingly old like us is that most museums and galleries are free. You only have to pay your booking fee]

I am NOT going to bore with descriptions of the things everyone knows about. I will just stick to three highlights - all the more remarkable for being unexpected by us.

1. Rodolfo Siviero was born in 1911 and died in 1983. He was an art specialist but during the Second World War he was in the Resistance concentrating particularly on preventing the Nazis from 'acquiring' or destroying works of art. After the war he concentrated too on the restoration of such works to their rightful owners. For many years he lived in the small Poggi palace, on the 'other' bank of the Arno and it is here, in the Casa Siviero, that his own collection of beautiful objects from the Tuscan region has, for a number of years now, been displayed. We simply found ourselves walking past it but were instantly captivated. As you can see from this picture (which I should not have taken, I am afraid) you can see the delicious randomness of the things placed in this joyous cupboard. They are not great, breathtaking objects and they are often incomplete or broken in some way but they each effortlessly demonstrate that they are 'good'. An entirely delightful look round, as it were, at things collected and loved over the years by an obviously lovely man.





The day we found the museum happened to be the opening of an exhibition of sculpture and painting by an artist called Lucy Jochamowitz. Fascinating stuff but especially because her work had been placed around the rooms in the gallery, rubbing shoulders with the permanent exhibits.

2. Again we found this 'by mistake'. We were on our way to explore the Boboli Gardens - behind the Pitti Palace, when we found ourselves at the entrance to something called The Bardini Gardens. The Guide books (at least the older ones) said nothing about this but we slowly pieced together the face that these gardens, which rise steeply away from the Ponte Vecchio as it were, again on the 'other' side of the river, are of considerable age but for a great time have been available to no one and overgrow. Very recently they have been wonderfully restored by some particular bank and are just open to the public.





The fact that were so early in the year mattered not at all for a high proportion of these lovely spaces relied on the beauty of evergreen trees and shrubs and, where roses were going to bloom later, we still had sculpture to delight in. One Japanese party whizzed past, as if on a bullet train, but, for the rest, we had the entire garden to ourselves. I hope these photos give a taste.





3. I was taken completely by surprise by one particular object of which we had not heard before. Apparently, Michelangelo carved this crucifix in wood as a gift to a bishop or a cardinal or whatever for allowing him to study human anatomy . . . something like that. It was then lost and was rediscovered a short time ago in a storeroom at Santo Spirito. It is possible, I have to say, that this history is erroneous and the cross is now only attributed to the artist.

Anyway, we heard about this and the fact that you have to ring a bell for a sacristan in the Basilica of Santo Spirito who takes you into a side chapel and there, suspended over the altar in sublime silence and on the end of a immensely long cord from the roof is this sublime object.





There was almost no light there and flash was (rightly) forbidden so I was greatly relieved that at least some of the long exposures I make were not too shaky and indeed have more feeling than the 'official' postcards. I could talk about why I find this object so beautiful and so powerful but I would rather hope that any readers who have not seen it for themselves might just spend a moment with it here.


OK 4. One of the things we saw which I found most immediate and therefore moving, was this. It may not look very impressive beside the great frescoes, but . . .




Apparently this was found during the restorations after the flood of 1966. Plaster was removed from a wall and this head of a saint (about 5-6 feet tall as I remember) was revealed exactly as it had been drawn with charcoal direct on the wall as the first thought of whichever artist it happened to be . . . who then he pushed off for a glass of wine perhaps and, for whatever reason, the work went no further. Magic, I thought.

Talking of the floods. One can see little lines drawn on buildings to show the levels and some of the old photos are amazing. Here, though, is a good indication. This cloister is just back from the Arno and its floor is about level with the river bank.





On the left of the photo, on the wall behind the railings are two little plaques. The lower one indicates the flood level in 1888 or whenever it was but the one at the top is that for 1966.


We did think this was rather sweet - with the little one helping with Mummy's threads. Is it just this side of mediaeval kitsch? Oh, all right!




On our final evening, I was able to get this remarkable shot - by doing it at precisely the right moment. Sorry the moon is not in focus as well as the Duomo but the exposure seemed to go on for half the night as it was!



I don't know how we could top all that, frankly, so I am quite happy to revert to non-holiday mode. Frances talks, however, about going to India . . .

A Tiny Piece of Printed Ephemera

Frances had a very good (if totally exhausting) time at the Royal Academy Exhibition. I went up on the last day, met some great people and scooped her up with all the stuff and drove back home. I would love to say she could then rest but there was (and still is as I write!) the little matter of wrapping up and sending off parcels containing all the books that were ordered.

It really does, though, seem a good time to talk about something completely different!

* * * *

When faced with much typographical design today, especially of a commercial nature, I tend to get very humphey about bright young things who, finding that there are three hundred fonts in their design package, proceed to use every single one of them in a half-page ad.

I, as you may have noticed, almost always stick to one font (even eschewing Bold, which I hate) for any particular book and, although I have in my printing office many cases of carefully rescued printers flowers, rules, borders and so on, I almost never use any of them. For me, my favourite two colons and a space, used to divide something from something else, eg.

Author's name : : Book Title : : Publisher's Name

is as radical as I usually get!

The fruit salad approach so often to be found nowadays is not however restricted to the computer age . . . as this little offering demonstrates.

I had obtained a small picture (can't remember what) in a very grotty frame. Clearly this needed to be changed. Among the bits and pieces backing the picture was this small and incredibly flimsy slip of paper.

It could have been scrumpled up in less than a second and tossed away along with the other bits of grotty frame. Happily my eye focussed on it . . . just in time.

This piece of everyday Victoriana could have been some sort of poster or flyer but I feel it was more likely a paper bag or sheet of paper for wrapping purchases in. What is clear is that it constitutes a really fascinating piece of printed ephemera.

I love to imagine the compositor rushing with his composing stick from his stone to this case, and then that one and then yet another!

Give the photo a click and have a good look. At the last count, I found SIX different typefaces and SEVEN different rules and ornaments . . . all on half of a paper bag!

Thomas Hardy: Green Blades from Her Mound

We now have in our hands the first copy to be bound of our latest book so that we could photograph it and give its details before it goes into our website. The Fine Bookbindery have pulled out all the stops to get copies ready for our visit to London to show at the COVERED exhibition (Royal Academy, 6 Burlington Gardens, part of the Modern Works on Paper exhibition. For dates and details see below.)
More than half of the copies in the Special Edition are already spoken for and there are healthy sales of copies of the main edition - this from our early mentions of the book as it was in progress through the press. Publicity, in the form of a pdf, is on its way to those for whom we have email addresses but to order you only need to contact us by phone or email to be sure of a copy. Do visit us at the Royal Academy if you would like to see a copy before ordering.

Latest Publication from
The Old Stile Press
February, 2008

Green Blades

poems by Thomas Hardy

images by Mark Cazalet

Thomas Hardy’s wife Emma died in November 1912, in the attic room of their house where she had lived estranged from him. Their marriage had hardened into an empty shell and Hardy had long been in love with Florence Dugdale, whom he married the following year. However, on reading Emma’s secret memoirs detailing his cruelty and the breakdown of their marriage, Hardy was hit by an avalanche of grief. He returned to the north Cornish coast of their courtship and spent the rest of 1912 and 1913 producing his most lyrical and abiding collection of poetry.

Mark Cazalet has created images to act as visual equivalents for the extraordinary insights Hardy found in the depths of his experience, rather than attempting his topography or historical period. He arranged the sequence to suggest his gradual reconciliation to guilt and grief, resolving into a dawning sense of acceptance.
He was just completing the prints when Claire Tomalin’s recent book Thomas Hardy, The Time-Torn Man was published. Green Blades - as we have titled this selection - reflects what Claire Tomalin calls the ‘rediscovery of repressed sorrow and forgotten love’.

It was a long and painstaking task to cut wood and lino for the twenty-two large images and Mark was simultaneously working on huge murals, stained and engraved glass commissions and painting trips to Israel and Palestine for a magnificent series bringing stories from the Bible into the modern world. Each page opening involves text and image using three colours on characterful Italian white paper. The inks are specially mixed by Cranfield Colours from natural pigments. The binding has an image printed on the cover and then is surrounded by a cloth folding slipcase.

330 x 350mm. 48pp. Fabriano Tiziano paper. Centaur type. Each of the images is formed from one woodcut and one linocut and printed directly from the original blocks. Five colours are involved for which the inks were specially mixed by Cranfield Colours. Case-bound with printed paper cover and cloth-covered slipcase by The Fine Book Bindery, Wellingborough.

The Main Edition consists of 200 copies, numbered & signed by the artist. £275 (+ £5 p&p in UK. Overseas at cost)

The Special Edition has a copy of the book contained in a velvety-lined drop-back box together with a portfolio with five of the images from the book but printed and signed by the artist together with one other two-colour image that does not appear in the book. Only 10 copies for sale, numbered I-X. £650

Frances & Nicolas McDowall,
The Old Stile Press,
Catchmays Court,
Llandogo,
Monmouthshire NP25 4TN, UK.

Editing the Ice.

Yesterday the forecasters had offered us exactly half a day of sun after days of rain and before more days of the same. We, of course, rushed out to make best use of it, feeling a bit like the prisoners in Fidelio as they blunder and grope out into the light.

It was indeed a beautiful morning but I was not prepared to find much of the field between us and the river covered in what seemed like rather exquisite calligraphy. In fact of course the ground was waterlogged and the excess water had not yet seeped into the ground. These shallow puddles had frozen overnight and were now melting at such a speed that, had I turned up with my camera half an hour later, there would have been nothing to photograph.

How I love the patterns of Nature!

COVERED!

For the first time last year, a small number of Private Presses including The Old Stile Press, participated in the exhibition, Covered!, alongside art galleries showing paintings, drawings and prints at the Modern Works on Paper part of the Watercolours and Drawings Fair at The Royal Academy, in London.

The venture was a great success and is to be repeated from 31st January - 3 February 2008. Full details are given on this sheet (we hope a click will render it legible) and we are proud that Mark Cazalet's titlepage for Green Blades (which will be shown first at this Fair) was chosen to represent this part of the event. If any of our friends are able to attend the show, we can send them an 'Invitation'.

With all good wishes . . .

May all the happinesses and the beauties of the Season come to you and all our friends!


Frances & Nicolas

Bad Husbandry at Catchmays Court

Temporary fence-strengthening against invasion by especially athletic sheep from next door.



I'd like to say that this is our latest purchase by way of riverside sculpture, but . . .

When 'bindertwine' is so effective for fixing a gate to its post, who would bother with new hinges?

When I first told myself that I should remove this post and wire support, the tree was just big enough to survive without them. A bit late now . . . so, if anyone questions, I go all serious and talk about long-term experiments!

This is just so much displacement activity to make up for the fact that so much time has passed since my last post! I do apologise.

Phew! It has been a busy old time. We went to the London Artists' Bookfair (LAB 07) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. This is the fair where are thought of as being staid and fuddy-duddy, as opposed to the Fine Press Fair in Oxford where we are regarded as dangerous radicals! Both shows were fun and successful.


I have finally completed the text and binding printings for Green Blades, with its poems by Thomas Hardy and wonderful lino and woodcut images by Mark Cazalet. We do not yet know how long The Fine Book Bindery will take over their job but I hope the book will be available soon after the New Year. Mark asked us to make a little leaflet for him to add to his Christmas Card mailing and already a goodly list has formed, including takers for more than half of the Specials. Watch this space for photos of the bound book as soon as it arrives.

We also went to the remarkable Spike Island complex in Bristol where (as mentioned last time) we could view Peter Reddick's wonderful retrospective exhibition A Backward Glance. It will remain open quite far into the New Year and I can eagerly recommend anyone who is able to visit. Frances and I were 'in conversation' with Peter as you may have noticed on the Invitation I included last time. This was a great success as the substantial audience was very interested in what we do and very interesting too . . . happy, often, to discuss what they themselves did in relation to books and print-making.

Now we are able to stay at home for a bit, which is lovely. It is also extremely cold at the moment so I will concentrate on other (indoor) things for the moment rather than rush to start work on The Christmas Sequence which certainly beckons but my printing office has only rudimentary heating and my trusty Press does not operate happily when its metal is too cold. What a superb excuse!

A good Fair at Oxford and a 'Barbarian' at our gate!

The Fine Press Fair at Oxford happens only every two years. When it finally comes around, after this long interval, WHOOSH and suddenly it is all over! We had a very successful time, though, talking both with many long-standing customers and with some folk who have only recently discovered the joys of collecting books printed by hand. There were so many people there, however, that we had little opportunity to see what other presses have been printing, which is usually one of the joys of being in a room all together. No time even to take photographs! So, two very hard-working days and then home again. Leading the Cranes Home was much admired - even by the judges for the prize of best book of 2006-7. The Abstract Garden and Black Marigolds also disappeared off the table at speed which is encouraging after all the hard work that went into their creation.



Peter Reddick, who did the magnificent engravings for The Abstract Garden, is about to open a retrospective of his work at Spike Island - the printmaking studio in Bristol which he founded with others. . . . It will be open, at 133 Cumberland Road, from 8th December until 21st December and then from 7th January until 29th February, 12-5 o'clock including weekends before Christmas but excluding weekends in the new year.


On our return home, we had the great pleasure of the company of Crispin Elsted who had come to the Oxford Fair from his Barbarian Press in Mission, British Columbia. After bewailing the fact that we had so little time for exchanges with other presses at the Fair, we were able to put our feet up and talk with Crispin who is poet, writer, ex-actor, designer and typesetter and has a wealth of knowledge and experience of life and literature.



During the few days he spent with us we had to visit Tintern Abbey - especially since his wife Jan, who is the printer of all their exquisite books, has a particular love of the poetry of Wordsworth. Sadly she had been unable to come on this visit - so we paid her respects to our neighbouring monument. Here is Crispin with Frances instead!


Many photos were taken so that she could share our ecstatic autumn day there, followed by a climb past Llanthony Abbey to Capel-y-fin to see the spectacular views which were part of Eric Gill and David Jones life for a number of years.

While the inevitable Welsh rain came down on the following day, we listened to music, became excited over books for which we shared a love, drank wine, looked at pictures and cemented the friendship which until now had largely been conducted by e-mail across to the other side of the world. Here is a taste of Barbarian printing.






Now, we have to move on to the next Fair - The London Artists Book Fair at the ICA, The Mall, London SW1.
Friday 23 November 12 - 6.30pm
Saturday 24 November 11 - 7 pm
Sunday 25 November 11 - 5pm

This fair has a very different collection of people who create books from those who show their work in Oxford but it is always stimulating and a wonderfully central place to exhibit. For those who did not manage to come to Oxford, we hope we may see you in London!

Next year we hope to be at the Royal Academy again - more details later but that show is at the beginning of February. Then, for the first time, there is to be an Artists Book Fair in Glasgow at the Royal Concert Hall in April, which we shall be at.

. . . and, finally, three of my own sort of photos, the first taken in Tintern Abbey and the last two taken in the tiny church outside Llantony Abbey. As the latter was so dark I could barely make out the shape of these monuments in the gloom. I aimed as best I could and the flash (which I hardly ever use) did the rest. What thrilling discoveries!