Menu
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
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
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.
Read the latest press news on the LSP Blog!
Become a collector of this timeless art
by purchasing a book, broadside or stamp.
BLOG NEWSLETTER:
BLOG NEWSLETTER: