An Interview with an Artist ~ Blue Ridge Poet and Painter Nancy Maxson

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PODCASTS from the PRESS: Volume One

“Poetic Invitations to the Present:

An Interview with Blue Ridge Poet and Painter Nancy Maxson”

Having just had the pleasure of publishing her second collection of haiku, we recently sat down with painter and poet Nancy Maxson to find out more about her art and her inspiration. We had a delightful time wandering in the fields of creativity and humor, beauty and the natural world. We invite you to listen in with us via the podcast, or read the transcript below (illuminated with images of Maxson’s watercolors and excerpts of her haiku), as Maxson shares about artistry and life in the present moment.

All best,

St Brigid Press

LISTEN to the PODCAST conducted on October 23rd, 2013, at St Brigid Press (about 14 minutes, in mp3 format) ~

[audio http://stbrigidpress.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/nancy-maxson-interview.mp3]

READ the TRANSCRIPT of audio recording (edited for clarity) ~

EMILY HANCOCK:  Hello and Welcome to “Podcasts from the Press!” This is the first in our series of live interviews with authors and artists, conducted here in the studio of St Brigid Press in Afton, Virginia. I’m your host, Emily Hancock, and we are delighted to have with us today artist and poet Nancy Maxson.

A native of Maine who spent time living and working in Colorado, Nancy now makes her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In her bio, she says she’s been fortunate to travel the world a bit, to be a lifelong student of the religions of Asia, and to have learned most of what she knows from her kids and her dog. Nancy is the author of two collections of haiku ‑ Shaking the Wild Persimmon and Tasting the Wild Strawberry ‑ and shows her vibrant watercolor paintings throughout the region. Nancy, welcome to St Brigid Press, and thank you for taking time to chat with us today!

NANCY MAXSON:  Well, thank you very much for inviting me! I’m delighted to be here.

HANCOCK:  I’d like to start with the observation that, in both your first two books of poetry, the word “Wild” appears in the title. What is the significant of that?

MAXSON:  Well, that’s a fun question to think about. I have the sense that “wild,” for me, is not just the opposite of “tame,” but it has sort of an “escape” sense to it. Haiku give me a chance to escape from where my mind spends a lot of time, and that is the past and the future. And it allows me, invites me, in fact, to be the present and be in the present. So, I see that as a wildness that’s necessary to our humanity, somehow.

HANCOCK:  That’s interesting – an invitation to the wildness of the now.

MAXSON:  Well, maybe we take it for granted that we’re always right here, right now. I’m of the age that “to be here now” was a very important thought at one time, still is for me, and it’s easy to not be here. It’s easy to be too responsible in thinking of the future, and too sad -- or happy, even -- about a past that’s gone. And, to be invited to be in the present, with the joy of that, seems to me a real mini-vacation.

HANCOCK:  That really comes through in your work. Speaking of “the present,” you now live here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the beautiful Blue Ridge. I wonder, what effect did moving here with your husband from Colorado have on your creativity?

MAXSON:  Well, it gave me new eyes, in fact. So I learned to play a lap dulcimer that I had only been thinking of as a piece of art hanging on our wall, when we lived in Colorado. And, in the same way, I picked up the paint brush and was able to see new colors and new light (or at least light in a new way). And all of that just sort of lead to some literary curiosities. I have loved the idea of small things: small literary things and small artistic things. [For example, the] Persian art of the 17th century is very impressive to me, in the fact that it’s maybe 2 or 3 inches by 2 or 3 inches, the framed pieces.

HANCOCK:  With such extraordinary detail, in such tiny real estate there!

MAXSON:  Yes, such extraordinary detail – a whole world. And that’s what also lead me to the haiku, which I’ve liked since I was in fifth grade, just because they are so tiny and so powerful. They’re just like a spice that you crack open, and all of a sudden you are just more so here, just here. So I’ve loved that.

HANCOCK:  That’s a fantastic description. Would you grace us with a little spice from your books? Read two or three haiku for us, so we can get a little taste ourselves?

MAXSON:  Well, sure! Haiku is an interesting, three-line, one breath poem. I’m sure that most of you know this, but I was always amazed. [G]iven that it’s of Japanese origin (in the 17th century, a fellow named Basho started writing these little quips), and I’m not Japanese and I’m not in the 17th century, I’ve sort of adapted the notion of the haiku as something that has a moment in it where you know the general season, you know the general topic, and then you are invited to just look at your response to something right in front of you. So, here’s one, about a little creature that lives in my back porch:

Powder-post beetle,

        woodchip pyramid builder,

making me homeless

HANCOCK:  Yes, that’s a Blue Ridge poem, isn’t it! We share space with lots of critters, who sometimes want to eat our house down ‘round us.

MAXSON:  It is a Blue Ridge poem, yes. That’s what it feels like! How about this one:

One   Two   Three   rainshowers

        climb over the hills

easier than I wait for you

You get the sense of passing time, and yet of being some place very specific, very immediate.

HANCOCK:  And the distillation of that – a handful of words. As you say... what was that part about the breath and haiku?

MAXSON:  Yes, it’s a “one breath poem.” Because we sort of live one breath at a time, don’t we? How about [this one] – “Crabtree Falls” is a local place that’s a beautiful falls, one of the largest falls east of the Mississippi. So, here’s one for that:

Falling for Crabtree Falls

        my love, all mist and shadow,

sparkle and spray

HANCOCK:  That’s lovely. In your newest book of haiku, Tasting the Wild Strawberry, from which you just read, you write, “Haiku stand ready to reveal the visible.” When I first read that, that took me by surprise – “Haiku stand ready to reveal the visible.” Could you say a little about what you mean by that?

MAXSON:  Well, I’m delighted that it took you by surprise, because the rest of the book was sort of more automatically written than that first line. I spent a lot of time writing and rewriting that first line, simply as an introduction to a book about haiku that, perhaps, would entrance people and entice them. And it is supposed to surprise us. I think that we spend a lot of our time not in the present, so if the haiku can “stand ready,” like a little regiment of creatures waiting to awaken you, then that’s fabulous. Haikus aren’t a literary form that use simile or metaphors. They’re not talking about something that’s talking about something else. It’s actually talking about what it’s mentioning, and it’s right in front of you. So, they “stand ready,” actually, to remind you that whoa! here you are! Right here, right now, this moment. And to give you a sense of a-ha! or at least a sense of pleasure, or some emotion that opens you up to your humanity.

HANCOCK:  Yes, feeling your life. As it happens. And I’ve wondered – is there, for you, in the past however-many-years since you have taken up music and painting and literary writing, poetry, is their a connectivity between your poetry and your painting?

MAXSON:  Good question. I guess I’d like to think that there is, that words have a certain rhythm and color to them. And we live in such a beautiful place that evokes all kinds of responses. I live in the middle of the woods, and, as the powder-post beetle reminds me, I do not live alone. So, John and I see the mountains and the woods changing all the time, and that allows me the freedom to connect with each new day. In some sweet way, usually.

HANCOCK:  And that really comes across in your visual work, as well. Your watercolor paintings are such wonderful, alive creations. They’re full of bright or quiet energies; sometimes I find an impish joy in there; and sometimes, like in your poetry, just distilled beauty. Can you talk a little bit about your approach to painting? I’ve had the pleasure of being in your studio – there’s wonderful inspiration all ‘round, including windows looking out on the woods that you are surrounded with. If you would, say a little bit about how you approach your watercolors.

MAXSON:  Well, I’ll tell you I have a round window that looks out on some wonderful green moss that reminds me of visiting some gardens in Japan. It’s interesting how your imagination can take you everywhere. And yet to sit and look at this moss out of this window at this particular time, is a mental place that I go in order to find the colors to play with. If haiku is a one-breath poem, a lot of my art is a one or two, three, four-minute colorful poem. Poems with colors, that I suspect reflect a lot of the exuberance that I feel in life, as I am able to experience it.

HANCOCK:  Indeed. Lastly, if you could talk about who have been some of your artistic and poetic inspirations. Some of your comrades-in-creativity, so to speak.

MAXSON:  Well, that’s always tricky because I haven’t had formal lessons in either music or art, and not much literary background other than I love to read Billy Collins and Kay Ryan and a few other good poets. Picasso and Georgia O’Keeffe and Mark Rothko were all stellar people in my toolbox of heroes, that I have read as much of what they’ve said about their art as I have seen their artwork. I think it’s very telling to read, especially Georgia O’Keeffe’s work about her color and her simplicity and her getting-to-the-nub of things. That’s very very warm to me; it’s so inviting. It says, “You can do this, you can walk out into the mountain, into a star,” as she says, “and just be there and see it.” And Picasso and Rothko were totally crazy, in some respects awful people, and yet they had an ability to see color and organize it in a way that was very life-giving to a lot of people. But especially Georgia O’Keeffe, in both her writing and her art, is particularly inspiring. I have a Buddhist tanka and a picture of Georgia in my studio, and between the two of them I hope there’s some good vibes in there!

HANCOCK:  There certainly must be, Nancy, because your work is wonderful. And this has been such a delight. Thank you so much for coming over to St Brigid Press and sharing with us about your art and your artistry, the poetics of the present moment.

MAXSON:  Thank you! It’s a pleasure.

HANCOCK:  And thank you for being the first in St Brigid Press’s podcasted series of interviews with regional authors and artists. For more information about that, to subscribe to “Podcasts from the Press,” and to learn more about Nancy Maxson’s book of haiku, please visit us online at www.stbrigidpress.net. To see her paintings, cards, calendars, and more, visit Stone Soup Books in Waynesboro, Virginia, or Over the Moon Bookstore in Crozet.

Thank you, and all best from the Press.

© St Brigid Press, 2013. All rights reserved.

No portion of the audio or transcripted interviews, images, or excerpts may be used in any form without written permission from St Brigid Press.

For more information, please contact us at stbrigidpress@gmail.com

"Podcasts from the Press" ~ Interviews With Authors and Artists

Warm greetings from St Brigid Press!

We are happy to announce today the launch of a new production from our studio:

“Podcasts from the Press.”

As the print shop and bindery have gotten under way here, we have had the pleasure to connect with many artists and authors in our region. To further honor, engage, and share with this growing community, St Brigid Press has begun recording live interviews with some of these creative voices. Hosted by the Press’s resident printer and poet, Emily Hancock, these lively conversations will be offered here on the website as podcasts and as transcripts.

Our next post will be the first interview, with Blue Ridge poet and painter Nancy Maxson. You'll be able to listen in to our fun talk about her art and poetry, and read along with the transcript, illuminated with images of her watercolors and excerpts from her haiku.

Thanks so much for joining us as we chat with some of the authors and artists who gift our days with beauty, challenge, and vision.

All the best,

St Brigid Press

Minding Our "P"s and "Q"s

Not to mention our "b"s and "d"s!

There are a host of everyday words and phrases that have their origin in the printing tradition. Here are a couple of fun facts from the Press today:

"Minding one's 'p's and 'q's" began as an admonition to the typesetter, to look carefully at which letters he or she was choosing when setting a text. Since moveable type (for more on this, see Here) is set upside-down and backwards, the cast-metal "p" looks like a "q" and vice versa, sometimes causing confusion at best and misspelled words at worse. Lowercase "b" and "d" offer the same challenge, though I'm not aware of a phrase commemorating these letters ;-)

And here's another set of words from printing history ~ "uppercase" and "lowercase."

In traditional printing, the individual metal letters with which words and sentences are composed are stored in carefully organized drawers called cases. Originally, one case held all of the small letters and was positioned on a rack near the printer; another case held all of the larger letters, for the beginnings of sentences, titles, and such, and this case was placed in a rack immediately above the small-letter case. Thus was born "uppercase" and "lowercase."

So there's our little dose of printing history for today. Now it's back to the Shop to set some type!

All best to all,

St Brigid Press

Handmade Bulfinch Journals

Greetings All!

We have the First Fire of the season burning brightly in the wood stove today. Autumn's damp chill at bay, we're excited to unveil the newest member of the St Brigid Press family of blank books: the Bulfinch Journal.

Midway in size between the larger Commonplace Books and the smaller PocketNotes, these 5" X 3.5" journals fit comfortably in the hand and in the handbag. About 90 interior pages are Mohawk Superfine text-weight paper, in warm cream and acid-free. The sturdy covers are Fabriano's wonderful Murillo paper (also acid-free), with a tactile wove surface and rich color (available in mustard and in deep green). The journals are hand sewn with linen thread of various earth-tones, in a lovely stitch pattern that decorates the spine.

Each cover is blind-stamped with a beautiful "open-book" ornament called Bulfinch. This ornament was originally part of a typeface of the same name designed in 1903 by William Johnson for the Ladies Home Journal. The back cover features our Press signature, letterpress printed in forest-green ink.

To order, please see our online Store, here. For more information, contact us at stbrigidpress@gmail.com. Those of you in the Waynesboro, Virginia, area can purchase these from Stone Soup Books. The journals are $12.95 each.

Thanks so much, and all best to all,

St Brigid Press

So, what IS "letterpress printing" anyway??

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Before eBooks and all-things-digital, before laser printers, before photocopiers or typewriters, how in the world did the written word get into print? Well, slowly and carefully, letter by hand-selected letter.

In the Western world, we usually associate Johannes Gutenberg with the development of the printing press in about 1450. Other cultures, notably in Korea and China, had also developed printing techniques by this time. The brilliant idea that Gutenberg also employed was moveable type. By casting, in relatively hard metal, multiples of each letter of the alphabet, the printer could set the text for a given project, print it, redistribute the metal letters  and spaces in their cases, and set another text. This was, like the invention of paper itself, REVOLUTIONARY.

In the centuries since Gutenberg, letterpress printing has continued to evolve and innovate, but its hallmark has remained the same -- the tactile, lush kiss of type upon paper, the physical sculpture of language that becomes manifest before our eyes. At St Brigid Press, we are committed to practicing and to passing on this craft tradition, working with hand-set type and elegant old presses to bring words into being.

If you'd like to know more about the history of printing and about the letterpress process, there are a host of great websites to learn from. Here are a few to get you started:

• Briar Press, a Letterpress Community
• Five Roses Press, introduction to letterpress printing
• Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum (Two Rivers, Wis.)
• The Museum of Printing (Andover, Mass.)

Thanks, and all the best,

St Brigid Press

15th Century Meets 21st Century -- from Gutenberg to the Digital Age

Hello Friends! Though we spend most of our days in the Shop hand-setting type, letter-by-letter and space-by-space, and sewing books with needle and linen thread, there ARE times when we emerge -- blinking -- into the light of the Year 2013 ;-)

St Brigid Press is now on Facebook. Yes, that's right. Check us out at www.facebook.com/StBrigidPress. Here we will be posting short updates, pictures, and videos several times a week, to give you a taste of what's happening at the Press in almost-real time. If you're already on Facebook yourself, "Like" us and invite your friends to "Like" us. We are grateful to make new connections!

Enjoy the Beauty of these Autumn days, and keep in touch,

St Brigid Press

Shop News: Online Updates and Expansions

Happy almost-Autumn from St Brigid Press!

Sometimes a day at work is NOT a day spent in the Shop here at the Press. To help you and new visitors better navigate our website, we've spent some time this week updating and expanding the online offerings.

Here are a few of the additions to check out:

• A brand new Home Page, with photos and introductory text, sharing a bit about what St Brigid Press is all about.
• A revised About St Brigid Press page, telling a little more of our story.
• A completely updated online Store, which will allow you to navigate more easily among the various items we have on offer.

We hope you enjoy some of the updates, and we welcome your feedback. You can leave a reply below, or send us an email at  stbrigidpress@gmail.com

Thank you all, and enjoy the Beauty of the days,

St Brigid Press

Raptors and Wood Type Fun

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Warm Greetings from St Brigid Press!

Well, it's that time of year again -- the cooling days of late summer and early fall that provide the impetus for some of the most spectacular mass-movements of species on the planet:  the annual migration of hawks and other raptors from North America to Central and South America. Those of us in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains are fortunate to live along a major flyway -- the updrafts along the spine of the mountains support a bird highway from Canada and New England south toward the Gulf of Mexico. And Rockfish Gap, near our home in Afton, Virginia, is one of the best locations in the East to watch this magnificent flow of raptors.

To commemorate the birds and the hundreds of people who gather to witness them, I spent the last week joyfully rummaging through the 20+ cases of wood type here at the Press. Most of the type was made in the US between 1875 and 1910, and still in very good condition. The idea for the design this year came from the list of raptors that the official Hawk Watch Counters tally -- there are fourteen species for which they scan the skies, from Broad-winged Hawks (the most numerous) to the rare Mississippi Kite. Other species include Ospreys, Falcons, Eagles, and many different kinds of Hawks. I set the names of all fourteen raptor species in various typefaces of wood type, creating a fun collage of avians.

Each poster is hand-inked and printed on the Potter Proofing Press (circa 1915, Chicago). Paper is Stonehenge Rising Fawn, with oil-based ink in either deep blue or deep green, in 12"x18" size. The posters were printed in a limited edition of 35, all signed and numbered. Each is backed by stiff board and sleeved in protective archival plastic. Price: $30 each, with 20% of the proceeds being donated by St Brigid Press to The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. To purchase, go to the St Brigid Press Online Store.

With thanks, and enjoy the beautiful days!

St Brigid Press

[ For more information about hawk migration, go to www.hawkcount.org ]

"Hope is the thing with feathers..." Poetry Broadside

Warm Summer Greetings from St Brigid Press!

We are inaugurating our SBP Poetry Broadside Series with a limited-edition print of this beloved poem by Emily Dickinson, decorated with an original block carving by SBP printer Emily Hancock. When Dickinson first penned this verse around 1861, America was in the initial throes of civil war, and through the century-and-a-half since, its themes of courage and ever-available hope have remained relevant, revelatory, and inspiring. (Read the full text of the poem at the end of this post.)

The text-body of "Hope is the thing with feathers..." has been hand-set in Victor Hammer's wonderful American Uncial typeface, with hand-set Lombardic Capitals illuminating the opening word "Hope," in forest-green oil-based ink. The broadside is letterpress-printed with the 1914 Chandler and Price treadled press, on lush Rives 100% cotton mouldmade paper. Decorative Thai kozo-and-banana-bark paper frames the title and the carving. The decorative feather was hand-carved here at the Press, and printed on the Rives paper with warm brown ink. Ready for framing, the broadside is matted with forest-green acid-free board, and backed with sturdy acid-free foamboard (mat is lightly affixed to the backing board with archival artists' tape).

Produced in a limited edition of 40, with 30 available for purchase. $35 each. Finished size: 12"x16". To order, please go to the SBP Online Store. For more information, Contact Us.

With thanks, and good Summer wishes to all!

St Brigid Press

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FULL TEXT of the poem by Emily Dickinson:

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

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"Tasting the Wild Strawberry: Blue Ridge Haiku"

Warm Greetings from St Brigid Press!

We are delighted to announce the publication of artist and author Nancy Maxson's second collection of poetry ~ Tasting the Wild Strawberry: Blue Ridge Haiku.

Nearly sixty new haiku evoke the beauty and surprises of a life lived in these Virginia mountains. With humor and deep insight, Maxson gives us a poem's-eye-view of her journey through the seasons of a year; in the Introduction, she elaborates upon the artful and spirited aesthetic which inspired this work.

The book's design and hand-crafted execution seek to reflect the nature of the poetic form, as well as Maxson's mindful sensibility. Each edition is 6-inches square, with black covers of Nepalese Lokta paper, decorative interior papers of red Thai Unryu, and a warm-white text block of bamboo paper. Binding is in the traditional Japanese style of 4-hole stab binding, with red linen thread. Cover and interior art is from Maxson's original watercolor, "The Strawberry Seeker." Produced in a limited edition of 100 numbered books.

Available now in the St Brigid Press Store, and, for those of you near Waynesboro, Va, at Stone Soup Books and Cafe. For more information, contact us at stbrigidpress[AT]gmail.com.

Best wishes to all for a lovely summer!

St Brigid Press