The photo above shows Chesapeake Meander, a collaborative piece with Jill Cypher and Deborah Arnold. The poetry by Deborah Arnold, design by Jill Cypher, production by Deborah Arnold and Jill Cypher.
CHESAPEAKE MEANDER was created in response to a collaboration challenge issued by the Upper Chesapeake Bay Book Artists Group of Elkton, Maryland. Archival navigational map by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was digitally printed by Aztec, Wilmington, Delaware, on Somerset Velvet, and overprinted via letterpress in handset wood type. The poem was written by Deborah Arnold of West of the Press, Elkton, Maryland. The text was handset in Melior by both artists. Images were designed and handset in metal by Jill Cypher. They were printed via letterpress on Sekishu, hand sewn with linen thread and hand bound into the meander fold book format by both artists. The hand-sewn vellum spine and hand-painted paste paper covers were made by both artists. End sheets are Canson Mi-Tientes wave green paper.
Printed slowly & patiently via letterpress by Jill Cypher & Deborah Arnold at Lead Graffiti on a Vandercook Universal III and SP15 in Newark, Delaware, in a signed and numbered edition of 25 during September 2017.
Ray was involved in 2 books shown above. Two copies of each book were displayed to show that the page content of each book was different from others in the edition. The book to the left is How Ink Writes Poetry.
Electric Fire from the Clouds (on the right) is a collaboration by Martha Carothers of Post Press and Ray Nichols of Lead Graffiti. Title wording, electric fire from the clouds, is selected from
Isaacson, Walter. 2003. ‘‘Benjamin Franklin: an American life.’’ New York: Simon & Schuster. Book text is an excerpt from Priestley, Joseph. 1769. The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments.’ London: J. Dodsley. Priestley's book is located in special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware. Book cover, title page, and text is set in Franklin Gothic Condensed 24 point, cast on a 1956 Intertype C4 linecaster. Book preface and colophon are set digitally in Founder's Caslon 14 point created by Justin Howes in the style of the printed text in Priestley. Printed from photopolymer plate. All ink pulls produced and text printed on a Vandercook Universal III cylinder press. Paper is French Speckletone Black 140#. Binding is accordion flutter style with wrap cover. Book was printed slowly & patiently via letterpress and hand bound at Lead Graffiti in Newark, Delaware, 2017, in an edition of forty.