Katie and I are very excited that our new project together, Manifest Joshua is finally coming into focus. We are entering the production stage of the project in the next few weeks. This project has a lot of dimensions including an original story by Katie and twelve paintings by yours truly all bound and housed in a custom box. We can’t give away all the secrets yet, because if we told you, Joshua wouldn’t be at all happy.
Work on my new book Smoke Pouring Out of Boxcar Door has also reached a new phase. The drawings were completed last week and we are binding those dirty rat bastards up. Over the next few weeks I will be showing a few images from all three versions of Smoke.
Tearing down paper is harder than you think.
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Books, Process
andy rottner, angel eyes, bob dylan, egg, embryo, idiot wind, Katie Rottner, manifest joshua, new books, new edition, paper, super classy publishing, tearing paper
I have been working on my Library Document for almost five years. All my books are in here. I take notes on what I read and they go in here. I copy quotes from the books and cross reference them. The whole thing is alphabetical. What you see below is what I have on the letter “A” (One dirty rat bastard if you want my opinion).
Over the years, I have struggled to provide adequate context for this project. It was meant as a tool, but has taken on a life of it’s own. It has become a personal narrative and stone wall for me to beat my head against. Many of the “Quotes & Notes” posts here at superclassypublishing.com are gleaned from this process.
I find it beautiful as a list, regardless of what information might be extracted. If it doesn’t function as beautiful then it has no value at all in this context. Only having the letter “A” here inhibits the use value for obvious reasons.
I do not share this project often, but with the five-year anniversary only a few weeks away, I thought it might be a nice time to put it out there. Look for a one volume super amazing edition of the Unabridged Library Document in the next few months right here on this blog. Not for sale. (Who would buys such a thing anyway?) I do it for the love after all! Click the thumbnails for a readable view. I would be delighted with any comments. Some odd moments recorded in there. Happy hunting!
posted by Andy
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We are really excited that The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep is showing at Seager Gray Gallery’s new exhibition The Art of the Book. There is a nice little feature on the gallery website about Shepherdess and our amazing collaborator Sara Press! Please go check out the show before May 31st!
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The drawings for Smoke Pouring Out of A Boxcar Door have been kicking my ass around the block for quite some time now. Finally I start to respond to (some of) them.
I stated previously on this blog that Smoke Pouring was both inspired by and dedicated to Bob Dylan. The passing of Levon Helm last week made me reconsider this situation, and though this book will always remain inspired solely by Bob, it’s dedication now goes out to Levon. I think Bob would understand.
Levon Helm was absolute dynamite and one of my all time favorite musicians. I invite you to find out more about Levon if you are not familiar with him. Check out his vocals on When I Paint My Masterpiece (written conveniently enough by Dylan) on The Band’s much maligned but still classic release Cahoots.
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Books, Process
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We are, as they say, “not all there yet”.
posted by andy and katie.
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Books, Process
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There will only be three copies of our new edition Smoke Pouring Out of Boxcar Door; each with 112 original drawings. This very special edition is dedicated to Bob Dylan and inspired by his song Idiot Wind from the album Blood on the Tracks.
I needed two copies for certain, and since making three is very much like making two, I figured on three. Four would have crushed me under it’s heel; merciless four. So again, I settled on three.
Viewing all three sets of “original” drawings for any given page is highly instructive for me as I produce additional pages. What works, and what does not, stylistically in the drawings becomes more evident when viewed together. When the books are bound, each set of triplets will be separated and some of that information will be lost. This would be a problem if no one had ever invented a scanner, but since they did I am like totally in the chips.
posted by andy
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We talk a lot about our Shepherdess, but not very much about the Chimney-Sweep. Here are some thoughts from 1794.
THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER
A little black thing among the snow:
Crying ‘weep, weep,’ in notes of woe!
‘Where are thy father & mother? say?’
‘They are both gone up to the church to pray.
‘Because I was happy upon the heath,
And smil’d among the winter’s snow
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
‘And because I am happy & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury:
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King
Who make up a heaven of our misery.’
WILLIAM BLAKE, , Songs of Experience, 1794
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Almost exactly a year ago, two friends of ours experienced a tragic loss. A young man, Alex Chappell, was killed, and another man, our friend David Brehmer, was seriously injured – each a victim to the actions of a drunk driver.
The events of that evening, and the scars that followed, are the subject of a new book of poems and images entitled This Has Happened. The book features watercolor paintings by Jeannine Chappell, Alex’s mother, created in the weeks and months after her son’s passing. The text of the book is composed of David’s poems, written late on the sleepless nights following the crash. Together, they speak beautifully of anger, grief, pain, and healing.
Early in the process of this book’s creation, our friends David and Nissa Brehmer asked Super Classy Publishing for some assistance, which we were honored to provide. Since that time, we’ve been able to watch David and Jeannine take this project start from a loose collection of poems to a polished collection of words and images. A few spreads from the book are below. We encourage you visit the This Has Happened Kickstarter page for more information and to contribute to the project. At last count, they were halfway to their goal of $6,500 – your contribution could put them one step closer to putting this project to print.
posted by katie
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