A private press

dedicated to the hand printing of contemporary short fiction, broadsides, and stamps.

Hello Librarians
and Collectors

We now have work in the collections of the Smithsonian and the Newberry Library!

PDF Download of Press Chronology

2023 Published IslE of WaitE and SEa (sic)

2023 “Travails of A Private Press Printer” Part 2, “Caxtonian” October- November

2023  “Travails of A Private Press Printer” Part 1, “Caxtonian” August-September

2023  EvanstonMade Open Studio

2023  Sale of The Republic of Texas Stamp Album, Bainbridge  Museum of Art

2022   Interviewed by Wendy Pearlman for “Evanston RoundTable” 2022 

2022  Published 3rd edition of Totally Legal Abecedarium

2022 26 issues of “Zine Columbia”  collected by Ohio State University

2022 Fortune Cookies published

2022 Participated in “Artruckish” Exhibit

2022 Participated in Potter & Potter / Oak Knoll Auction

2021 EvanstonMade Artist Studio Tour

2021 Appointed to Caxton Club Board of Directors 

2021 Designed and printed broadsides: “Whenever…Kindness,” “Whoever,” “Lament,” “To Work, “Fake Governance,” and “When Old.”2021 Designed and printed resistance stamps: “Black Lives Matter,” “Breathe,” “POTUS,” “Impeach,” “Again Again,” and “Law Order.”

2021 EvanstonMade Artist Studio Tour

2021 Appointed to Caxton Club Board of Directors 

2020  Interviewed by Jamie Thome for the Artists Book House “Quarantine” program, Evanston, IL

2020 Craig Jobson/LSP inducted into the “Chicago Design Archive.”

2020 Redesign of Lark Sparrow Press web site and blog.

2020  Interviewed by Jamie Thome for the Artists Book House “Quarantine” program, Evanston, IL

2020 The University of Texas Austin collects the Republic of Texas Stamp Album for its Fine Arts Library Special Collection

2020 Included in Evanston Design Heritage: “Architects, Designers & Planners,” Jack Weiss, Design Evanston

2020 Designed and printed “I Can’t Breath” faux stamp

2020 Designed and printed “Black Lives Matter” faux stamp

2020 Oak Knoll, Book Fest XXI, to exhibit the printed works of Lark Sparrow Press. New Castle, Delaware

2020 Space 900 GALLERY, One-man show 2020, exhibited letterpress printed books, broadsides and stamps, the complete works of Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston IL

2020 EvanstonMade Open exhibited letterpress books, broadsides and stamps, the complete works of Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL

2020 Ice House Gallery, “The Art of Teaching Exhibit” “POTUS Stamps,” and broadsides, Evanston, IL.

2019 Sale of Billy Chronicles Part I, Part II and Part III, University of Denver

2019  “Picturing Evanston “ photo essay by Joerg Metzer, Evanston, IL

2019 Exhibited books, broadsides and stamps, Union League Club/Caxton Club, Chicago, IL

2019 Chicago Printers Guild, Evanston, IL Tour of Lark Sparrow Press.

2019  “Picturing Evanston “ photo essay by Joerg Metzer

2019 Exhibited books, broadsides and stamps, Union League Club/Caxton Club, Chicago, IL

2019 EvanstonMade Studio Tour, Evanston, IL

2019 Chicago Printers Guild, Evanston, IL Tour of Lark Sparrow Press.

2019 Galudet Gallery, exhibited POTUS Stamps “Sense of Place–The Political There,”Eau Claire, WI.

2019 Evanston Made 4th Annual Artist Studio Tour, “POTUS Stamps, Evanston, IL

2019 EvanstonMade Group Show. WELLS & SONNE at the Evanston Art Center Evanston, IL

2019 Designed and editioned “POTUS STAMPS”, The first imperial U.S. postage stamps Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2019 University of Illinois Chicago, Daley Special Collections Library, purchase of nine work of the press, Chicago, IL

2019 Oak Knoll Fest XX, exhibited complete works off the press, New Castle, DE.

2019 College Book Arts Association named “Artist of the Month,” Rochester, NY

2019 Abecedarium Gallary exhibited WELLS & SONNE, Denver, CO, 

2019 Bright Hill exhibited Professional Development, Treadwell,  

New York

2019 Evanston Literary Festival exhibited I Am Already, Field Guide to Urban Fowl, and Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Album, Evanston, IL

2019 Chicago Book Fair, exhibited Books, broadsides and stamps,Chicago, IL

2019 Evanston Made 3rd Annual Artist Studio Tour, exhibited works of the press, Evanston, IL

2018  Craig Jobson, August, Featured Artist at College Book Arts Association, Rochester, NY. 

2018  Designed, wrote, editioned, and published the broadside, “Lament,” Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL. 

2018  Lark Sparrow Press featured on Voyage Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2018  Lark Sparrow Press exhibits at “Evanston Literary Festival,”  Evanston, IL.

2018 WELLS & SONNE – Selected Short Stories by Chelsea Laine Wells and Lex Sonne included in “The EvanstonMade Show,” Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL. 

2018 Lark Sparrow Press participates in the “EvanstonMade Walking Tour,” Evanston, IL. 

2018  Lark Sparrow Press exhibits at the “57th Chicago Book Fair”  sponsored by the Midwest Antiquarian Book Association ( MWABA ).

2018  The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Album exhibited at Galaudet  Gallery “Sense of Place: HERE,”  Eau Claire, WI.

2018  Professional Development collected by Carl Hertzog Special Collection, University of Texas, El Paso, TX.

2018  The Billy Chronicles Part III: The Colonel’s Chicanery exhibited at the Abecedarium Gallery in “Printed Page III”, Denver, CO.

2018 Forward Chicago, demonstrated “The Pamphlet Stitched Book” Chicago, IL.

2018 Lark Sparrow Press, wrote, designed, and editioned A Totally Legal Abecedarium, 2nd edition, “The Auto Refrigeration Beverage Cooler” illustrated with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office drawings, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2018 Designed Philatery, with personal and student generated stamp containing 220 original stamps, Lark SparrowPress, Evanston, IL.

2017 Professional Development and WELLS & SONNE – Selected Short Stories by Chelsea Laine Wells and Lex Sonne included in “Bright Hill Press 25th Anniversary Juried Book Arts Exhibition,”  Treadwell, NY.

2017 Bright Hill Gallery, “Press 25th Anniversary Juried Book Arts Exhibition,” exhibited I Am Already and Field Guide for the Urban Foul, Treadwell, NY.

2016  Designed, illustrated, editioned, and published Professional Development by Megan Stielstra, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2016  Lark Sparrow Press books presented to The Caxton Club, Chicago, IL.

2015  The Billy Chronicles Parts I, II, and III purchased  by the University of Denver Special Collections and Archives, Denver, CO.

2014  Retired after 17 years of teaching History of Typography and Publication Design from Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2014  Mentored over 17 years  and 600+  “History of Typography” students at Columbia College Chicago in researching, designing, authoring essays, printing, binding, and producing individual, 80-page,  11” X 17”, illustrated, and perfect bound histories of typography. 

2014 Mentored over 17 years 480+ Publication Design students at Columbia College Chicago in production of 14 issues of Zine Columbia magazine and 480 individual, 32-page stitched and bound chap books, Chicago, IL.

2013  Design directed, edited, and published Spring issue #14 of “Zine Columbia,”  “Hatching Cheese,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of 30 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2013  Designed, editioned, and published WELLS & SONNE – Selected Short Stories by Chelsea Laine Wells and Lex Sonne, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2013  I Am Already purchased by Columbia College Chicago,  Chicago, IL.

2013  Lark Sparrow Press exhibits at the Codex International Book Fair 2013, University of California, Berkley, CA. 

2012  Lark Sparrow Press exhibits at the American Printing History Association annual meeting, Chicago, IL. 

2012  Sabbatical semester from Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2012  Published WELLS & SONNE – Selected  Short Stories by Chelsea Laine  Wells and Lex Sonne, collection of six short stories, begins press pro-duction, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2012 Judge for Lion’s Club International Peace Poster Competition, Chicago, IL.

2012 Presented abstract “Book Arts as Medium for Teaching History of Typography” to the College Book Arts Association, San Francisco, CA.

2011   A Field Guide to Urban Fowl exhibited at “Alumni on 5,” Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL. 

2011  Design directed, edited, and published Fall issue #13 of “Zine  Columbia,”  “Carnie Milk / Dank Fever,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College Chicago,  Chicago, IL.

2011   Taught typography and publication design workshops for The National Education Association, Chicago, IL. 

2011  Panelist for “Claiming Creativity: Art Education in Cultural Transition,” a joint international symposium with the European   League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA).

2011  Design directed, edited, and published Spring issue #12 of “Zine Columbia,” “Reckless Cowboy / Fuzzy Pucker,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers,  Columbia College  Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2010  Design directed, edited, and published Fall issue #11 of  “Zine Columbia,”  “Pickle Stitch / Butter Bound,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College Chicago,  Chicago, IL.

2010  Panelist for “Future of Print” symposium, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, 

2010  Design directed, edited, and published Spring issue #10 of   “Zine Columbia,” “The Pompous and the Doomed  /  Mustache   Safari,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work  of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photogrphers, Columbia College, Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2009  Design directed, edited, and published Spring 82-page, triple issue #9 of “Zine Columbia,”  “Rusty Clutch / Boom. Boom.,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 75 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers,   Colum-bia College Chicago, Chicago, IL. 

2009  Full-time faculty recipient of Annual Excellence in Teaching Award, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2009  Served on the Art and Design Full-time Faculty Search for a Professor of Graphic Design and  Professor of Design History  and Visual Culture, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2009  Published and edited Spring issue #8 of  “Zine Columbia,”   

“Thumbs and Knuckles / The Dreaded Biscuits,”  a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College  Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2008  Design directed, edited, and published  Fall issue #7 of “Zine  Columbia,”  “STEEZE / Peep Show,” a collaborative student featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2008   Published and design directed Spring 2008  issue of MADE (More Art+Design Enterprises), a collaborative art journal by   Design and Journalism students, Columbia College Chicago,   Chicago, IL. 

2008  Presented lecture “Lark Sparrow Press, A Small Press Dedicated  to Poetry and Short Works of Fiction” to the Chicago Society of Typographic Artists, Chicago, IL. 

2008  The Republic of Texas Mini  Stamp Album exhibited at  “Modest in Scale,”  The Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO.

2008  A Field Guide to Urban Fowl  and  A Legal Abecedarium exhibited at  “7th Annual Book  Arts Exhibit at Bright Hill Literary Center,”  Word and Image Gallery, Treadwell, NY. 

2008  Lark Sparrow Press featured at  “Scraping the Surface,”  Anchor  Graphics, Chicago, IL. 

2008  Design directed, edited, and published Spring issue #6 

of  Zine Columbia  “Nudes & Boots / Static Spring,”  a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College  Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2008  Curated “Writers and Designers,”  student work of Columbia College Chicago Publication Design, History of Typography, and Creative Writing classes, Vespine Gallery, Chicago, IL. 

2007  Published and design directed Fall 2008 issue of MADE (More Art+Design Enterprises), a collaborative art journal by Design and Journalism students, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2007  I Am Already and The Billy Chronicles Parts I, II, and III exhibited at Oak Knoll Book Fest XIV, New Castle, DE.

2007  Designed, wrote, editioned, and published A Field Guide to Urban Fowl, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2007  Wrote “Columbia College at Santa Reparata”,  Southern Print Review. 

2007  I Am Already exhibited at  “Secrets & Lies,” 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR.

2007  “Hand Mash Only,” “Republic of Texas Commemoratives,” and “Respiratory Therapy” exhibited in “Multiplicity/Multiplicidad,“ an exhibition of Artistamps and Mail Art, Some Arts Bay Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

2007  Published and design directed Spring 2007 issue of “MADE” (More Art+Design Enterprises), a collaborative art journal by Design and Journalism students, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.  

    

2006  Design directed, edited, and published  Fall issue #5 of  Zine  Columbia “Meat / Tweak,” a collaborative art journal by Design and Journalism students, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2006  Directed the 30 student, Columbia Arts/Florence summer residence program at Santa Reparata International School of Art, Florence, Italy.

2005  I Am Already  purchased by Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

2005  Founding committee member for MULTIPLY, the center for study and promotion of  multiples, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2005  Sabbatical semester from Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2005  Awarded a Faculty Development Grant, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2005   “Zine Columbia” and The Billy Chronicles  Part I, II, and III exhibited at “Chicago Print Fest – The Smithsonian Exhibits Book Illustration,”  McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

2005  The Billy Chronicles  Part I, II, and III exhibits at  “In the  Game,”  South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA.

2005  I Am Already exhibited at “Bright Hill 4th Annual North America Juried Book Arts Exhibit,“ Treadwell, NY.

2005  Curated “Word,“ celebrating the union of type, image, and  writing by Publication Design classes, Hoken Hall Gallery Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2004 Taught “The Printmaker’s Eye and the Book  Maker’s Hand” in the Columbia College Chicago’s Arts Florence Summer abroad classes at Santa Reparata International School Art, Florence, Italy in 2002 and 2004.

2004  Lark Sparrow Press exhibits at “Pyramid-Atlantic 8th Biennial  Book Arts Fair, “ Silver Spring, MD.

2004  Curated and participated in  “2004 Florence Exhibit” Columbia Arts / Florence with the release of Florence: The Sacred and the Profane, a collaborative book of 14 prints from the summer residence program hosted by Santa Reparata International School of  Art, Florence, Italy, exhibited at C-Space Gallery, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2004  Served on faculty search committees for Film, Math, and Science positions, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago IL.

2004  Designed, wrote, editioned, and published  A Totally Legal Abecedarium, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2004  Designed and editioned The Levee,by Chritopher Jobson, Lark Sparrow Press,  Evanston, IL.

2004  Demonstrated  the “Art of the Tunnel Book” in the Art Educa- tion Department, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2004  Edited “Evening with Newberry’s French Contemporary Hand Bound Books”  for the Chicago Hand Bookbinder’s Newsletter, Chicago IL.

2004  I Am Already, a concrete poem in syllabic verse, printed on  handmade paper and set in Ludlow typography, editioned to 100 copies, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston

2004  Design directed, edited, and published Fall issue #4 of “Zine Columbia,”  “Dreams Carnival / Ferschmuckled,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College  Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2004   Wrote “Variations on End Sheet Construction” for Chicago Hand Bookbinders Newsletter, Chicago, IL.

2004  Design directed, edited, and published Spring issue #3 of  “Zine Columbia”  “Avant Garden / Out of Order,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2003  Design directed, edited, and published the Fall, double issue  #2 of “Zine Columbia’’’  “World Wide Weird / Off the Wall,” a collabora-tive student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writ-ers, designers, illustrators, and photographers, Columbia College  Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2003  Wrote “Mail Art” for Chicago Hand Bookbinder’s Newsletter, Chicago, IL.

2003  The Republic of Texas Stamp Album and The Billy Chronicles  Parts I, II, and III exhibited at “Oak Knoll X Book Festival,” New Castle, DE.

2003  Jury member for Columbia College Center for Book Paper Arts and  Summer Residency Program, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago IL. 

2003  Judge for the “2003 Gold Coast Art and Crafts Show,”  Chicago, IL.

2003 Art directed, editioned, and published A Serbian Dictionary  by Irena Knezevic, a Publication Design and Creative Writing  class project, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2003   Demonstrated “Pamphlet Stitch”  in Columbia College Chicago’s  Art Education Department, Chicago, IL.

2003   Judge for the “Curt Teich Postcard Archives Competition,”  

Wauconda, IL.

2003  Design directed, edited, and published Fall issue #1 of Zine Columbia  “Strange Brew,” a collaborative student publication featuring the work of over 40 student writers, designers, llustrators and photographers, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2003  The Billy Chronicles Part III: The Colonel’s Chicanery performed  and exhibited at the “Printer’s Row Fair,” Chicago, IL.

2002  Consulted with Chicago Public Schools Department of Assessment and Evaluation, designed and illustrated charts and graphs for CPS Chicago Academic Standards Examinations (CASE),  Chicago, IL.

2002   “Craig Jobson and the Lark Sparrow Press” written by Robert  

McCamant for the Caxtonian, Chicago, IL.

2002  Lark Sparrow Press gives featured presentation “The Art of Letterpress” to Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago, IL.

2002  Lark Sparrow Press gives featured presentation “Text and Typography” to Chicago Hand Book Binders, Chicago, IL.

2002  Awarded tenure at Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2002  The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Book  exhibited at “Miniature Book Show,“ School of the Art Institute, Joan Flasch Artists Book Collection, Chicago, IL.

2002  The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Book  exhibited at “Hand Bookbinders Miniature Book Show,”  Printers Row, Chicago, IL.

2002  Published Coda, a collaborative book of 16 prints by students  in the Columbia Arts /Florence summer residence program hosted by Santa Reparata International School of Art, Florence, Italy, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2002  Joined the Caxton Club, Chicago, IL

2002 “Graphic Impressions”, wrote “Columbia College at Santa Reparata in Florence, Italy Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL

2002   Participated in “Out of the Loop,” Interdisciplinary Arts Department MFA group show, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2001   Consulted with Chicago Public Schools Department of Assessment and Evaluation, designed and illustrated charts and graphs for Chicago Academic Standards Examinations (CASE), Chicago, IL.

2001  A Totally Legal Abecedarium purchased by University of Wisconsin,  Milwaukee, WI.

2001   Founded Lark Sparrow Press, dedicated to the publishing of contemporary short fiction and poetry, Evanston, IL.

2001   Awarded 2001 Weisman Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago, IL.

2001   The Billy Chronicles Part II: Lizard and Julio Go Nel-o exhibited at  “Chicago Hand Book Binders Show,” Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

2001  The Billy Chronicles Part II: Lizard and Julio Go Nel-o  purchased by Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2001  The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Album purchased by Tutt 

Library, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO.

2001  The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Album purchased by the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

2001  The Billy Chronicles Part III: The Colonel’s Chicanery exhibited at  “Second Annual Festival of the Book,” Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2001  The Billy Chronicles Part I: D.B. and the Double Five sold at “Columbian Exposition Art Auction,” Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2001  Designed, wrote, illustrated, editioned, and published The  Billy Chronicles Part III: The Colonel’s Chicanery, Lark Sparrow Press, Evanston, IL.

2001  Earned MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, Book and Paper Concentration, Columbia College, Chicago, IL. Studied with Melissa Jay Craig, Bill Drendel, Amanda Degener, Joan Dickerson, Peter Krudy,  Hedi Kyle, Barbara Lazurus Metz, Paul Moxen, Audrey Niffenegger, Alice Schreyer, Marilyn Sward, and Steve Tomasula

2001  Designed, wrote, illustrated, editioned, and published The Billy Chronicles Part II: Lizard and Julio Go Nel-o, for Thesis  Presentation Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2000   Box of Books exhibited in “Altering Altars,”  Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2000   Consulted with Chicago Public Schools Department of Assessment and Eval- uation, designed and illustrated charts and graphs for Chicago Academic Standards Examinations (CASE), Chicago, IL.

1999   Designed, wrote, editioned, and published The Republic of Texas Mini Stamp Album and The Republic of Texas Stamp Album, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, 

1999   Designed, wrote, and published The Reliquary of Love, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1999   Designed, wrote, editioned, and published History of the Early Church, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1998  Reader Ad Boxes exhibited in “Visual Environments,”  Columbia College Chicago, Book and Paper Center, Chicago, IL

1997  Love in the Mail Box exhibited in “Past, Present, Post,” Columbia College Chicago, Book and Paper Center, Chicago, IL.

1997  “Harmony and Entropy” intaglio prints and postage stamps retrospective at Raymond Park Gallery, Evanston, IL.

1995  Chaired the “1995 Chicago Book Clinic Show” at the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL.

1995 Joined Faculty at Columbia College Chicgo as Associate Professor, Chicago, IL 

1994  American Bar Association, Director of Design and Production, Evanston, IL

1993 Associate Chair for the “1993 Chicago Book Clinic Show” at Loyola University Press, Chicago, IL. 

1990  McDougal Littell Houghton Mifflin, Director of Design, Chicago, Illinois

1988  Holt Rinehart & Winston, Sr. Art Director, Austin, Texas 

1984  Steck-Vaughn Publishing, Art Director , Austin, Texas

1983 Art Director, Tracey/BBDO Advertising, Art Director, Dallas, Texas

1977 The American Heart Association, Art director, Dallas, Texas

1975 University of Texas Health Science Center Dallas Texas, Graphic Designer

1.    History of the 19th Century Church and the Missing “μu” 1999 

2.   The Levee 1999 

3.   Reliquary of Love 2000 

4.   Box of Books 2000 

5.   The Billy ChronicIes Part I D.B. and the Double-Five 2001 

6.   The Billy Chonicles Part II Lizard and Julio go Nel-o 2001 

7.   The Billy Chronicles Part III The Colonel’s Chicanery 2001 

8.   Florence, the Sacred and the Profane 2002 

9.   Republic of Texas (small standard edition) 2002 

10. Republic of Texas (large deluxe edition) 2002 

11.  A Serbian Dictionary 2003 

12. Totally Legal Abecedarium 2004 

13. I am Already (standard edition) 2004 

14. I am Already (deluxe edition) 2004 

15. Coda 2006 

16. A Field Guide to Urban Fowl 2007 

17. WELLS & SONNE (standard edition) 2013 

18. WELLS & SONNE (deluxe edition) 2013 

20. Professional Development 2016 

21. Lament (Broadside) 2017

22. Oak Knoll (Broadside) 2018

23. Fake Governance (Broadside) 2018

24. Fake Governance Stamps 2018

25. POTUS MMXVI Stamps 2018

26. To work is to pray, to sing is to pray twice (Broadside) 2019 

27. Bigliest ( Stamp ) 2020 

28.  Whoever saves one life ( Broadside ) 2020

29   Wherever there is a person ( Broadside ) 2020

30.  Black Lives Matter ( Stamp ) 2020

31.  I Can’t Breathe ( Stamp ) 2020

32. Swanson (Stamp) 2020

33. Make America Great Again. Again (Stamp) 2020

34. Whatever Happened to the Rule of Law? (Stamp) 2020

35. Fortune Cookies 2022

36. Isle of Waite and Sea 2023

 

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The Art Institute of Chicago

     Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection Chicago

     Chicago, IL

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

     Bainbridge Island, WA

Bradley Univserity

     Peoria, IL

Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts

     Chicago, IL

Colorado College Special Collections 

     Colorado Springs, CO

Columbia College Chicago

     Chicago, IL

Chicago Design Archive (Inducted)

     Chicago, IL

Michigan State University Library 

     East Lansing, MI

Newberry Library

     Chicago, IL

Oak Knoll Books & Press

     New Castle, DE

Ohio State University

     Columbus, OH

Smithsonian U.S. National Postal History Museum

     Washington, DC

University of Denver

     Denver, CO

University of Illinois Chicago

     Chicago, IL

University of Iowa

     Iowa City, IA

The University of Texas Austin

     Austin, TX

University of Texas at El Paso 

     El Paso, TX

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 My design career and, specifically, my Book Arts career in design did not start with my University of Texas BA in English Literature or my BFA in Art. It started with my job as a part-time county hospital technician in Austin, Texas during the years it took me to complete my studies. My departmental manager knew my habit of making sketches while at work and had me draw up schematics as part of in-service instruction sessions for nurses and staff. When I reached my first significant job interview at the American Heart Association in Dallas, Texas, they valued my six years of CPR experiences and my in-service sketches more than my graphic design portfolio. As their Art Director, I participated in national public health programs and won regional Addy awards for an advertising campaign and anti-smoking program. However, after four years of socially-conscious design work that I really enjoyed, I decided my future did not lie in producing every single design project in PMS 485 Red and process Black. 

My advertising work at the Heart Association won the attention of and a job offer from the Dallas office of BBDO advertising. There I was one of six team members who worked on its $40 million Frito-Lay tortilla chip account. I art directed TV spots, designed a Clio winning pro bono poster for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and won national Addys touting my haberdasher ads. My art direction landed a $1 million Office Products account with Xerox. But after four years I no longer saw my future in making the world safe for starched linen collars and snack chips.

At that time in my career, I wanted to resume work on quality of life issues rather than focusing on mass consumption, and I found it in my next position as Senior Art Director in publishing for a division of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in Austin, Texas. My advertising background played a significant role as I directed a staff of 14 designers working on text pages and cover designs for literature and history books. It was exhilarating. It was a position I thought I would hold for the rest of my career – until the publishing buy-out wars began and I left the targeted publishing house where I worked before becoming a casualty. 

I moved next to the Chicago area for a position as Director of Design at McDougal Littell Houghton Mifflin. They had big budgets for large, complex design projects in writing and literature. The design department won publishing awards during that period, but what I remember most was chairing the 1993 44th Annual Chicago Book Clinic Awards Show. Held at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, it was produced by me and 26 of my colleagues. With 425 submissions for the show, it was the largest book show ever mounted by that organization. There were 675+ attendees, despite anti-Beluga Whale protests at the Shedd Aquarium. That year the Clinic initiated a new book category – limited editions, letterpress books, and artist books. Those five submissions set me on a book arts track that I’ve enjoyed, right up to this day. 

Publishing and education has defined most of my professional career. When a full-time design faculty position opened at Columbia College Chicago I knew I had to apply. I was chosen and assigned to teach Publication Design and the History of Typography. While teaching full time, I realized I wanted to make books of my own. I completed an MFA in the school’s Book and Paper program. As I became more accomplished in my graduate program so did the students in my Publishing and History of Typography classes. In my 17 years of teaching, I mentored my publishing class through 15 years of double-issue experimental magazines as well as 230 small bound-up abecedariums. The History class students designed and published over 800 individual, 80-page, 11” x 17” perfect bound and cased in typography history books. Several students won regional and national book awards for their efforts. In 2013, I presented a paper at the College Book Arts Association’s annual meeting at Mills College titled ”The Book Arts and Teaching the History of Typography,” based on those typography classes. 

In 2001, after receiving my MFA, I purchased a Vandercook No. IV and founded Lark Sparrow Press. In 2014, I retired from 17 years of teaching to pursue designing and printing handmade books. Since 2001, I have published 26 different titles (please see below). All the books have significant literary text. All but four required handset typography, with one 72-page book containing over 200,000 pieces of movable type. All but three are hand bound, signed and editioned. Four books are abecedariums. Two books contain 26 original postage stamps. Five are artist books. Six have my illustrations and were written by me. Three were collaborations with other writers. Two have illustrations by former students. Two have hand made paper by a former Book and Paper grad. four are 2-color resistace stamps, letterpress printed. One is illustrated with patents from the United States Patents and Trademarks Office. And one, a 72-page book, was printed in three colors and editioned to 100 copies. It required over 13,000 hand pulled impressions. Today I continue work on broadsides, stamps, and yet another 72-page book. It will have seven short stories, seven embossed images, seven illustrations, and an engraved bamboo cover. Ironically, the book, titled Fortune Cookies, is being printed in PMS 485 Red and process Black.

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Saturday, October 7th, 2023
12:00 - 5:00 pm

FREE broadside for first 25 visitors