I've always loved book plates. I love finding old ones in second hand books. I bought a ton of them in middle and high school for my most treasured books, including an Arthur Rackham drawing. When I got my first press I thought I'd do some, and I went looking for that lick on the back paper and couldn't find any, and then I just got distracted. But recently I was looking at my small blocks I've done for cards, and I've been sorting my type, and it just seemed like a great thing to circle back around to. I've laid out three different ones so far and printed a smattering of each. I think I'll keep playing. Maybe even make myself an owl. Owls more and more feel like a sacred presence in my life. There was one just now calling from a tree in my front yard as Henry and I walked home from an evening stroll and a porch visit with neighbors.

It's also been nice to have some small scale projects I can do in the print shop – ease my way back into more standing work. So my first batch of bookplates is already in some of my books. I'm using thin Stonehenge printing paper and acrylic medium to paste them down with a paint brush. It's super satisfying. And I like that someday someone will buy my art books second hand and find a small bit of history and a little extra art in them.