Around this time forty years ago, I
graduated from art college. I had studied textile design at The Manchester
School of Art and Design- now Manchester Metropolitan University. I met up with
my fellow graduate friend Pam and had a lovely day reminiscing about our
student days, our hopes and dreams all those years ago. We enjoyed exploring old haunts and discovering the more recent additions to the city.
When we were students The John Rylands Library was something of a mystery to us, in fact I don’t really remember it
ever being accessible to the public until fairly recently. It is now one of
Manchester’s tourist attractions and welcomes visitors with open arms. It also
has a more modern extension with exhibition areas, cloakrooms, a café and a shop.
Like many of Manchester’s buildings the library was designed in the Neo-Gothic style so loved by the Victorians. It has many splendid features, beautiful stained glass, hidden balconies, amazing ceilings and books of course! It also hosts exhibitions and houses several printing presses and we both wished we had the space and funds to own at least one of those presses.
Although an Albion style press is far too
large and difficult to accommodate, the Adana is much more suited to home use.
So, when my blog friend Gretel told me she had one in need of a good home, how
could I refuse?
 |
| Adana 8 by 5 without rollers |
Those of you who are familiar with Gretel
will be pleased to know that she is doing well, busy as ever and enjoying life
in rural “Middle of Nowhere”. She made us some scrumptious scones and a lovely
day was had by all. I returned with this- An Adana 8 by 5.
I hope to someday use the press to print my
wood engravings, small lino prints and maybe even some type. In order to learn
more about the press and how to restore and use it, I decided to take myself
off to this amazing place- The St Bride Foundation, which offers classes in
printmaking and typography. It is situated just off Fleet Street in London and
is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
Learning about typography is fascinating.
If you have ever used a word processor or computer application you will be
familiar with font sizes and types. It all fits into place when you realise
that a point is an actual measurement- an inch divide into 72.
Next time you select a 12-point font think
of it as a measurement, 12 over 72 is one sixth of an inch also known as a
pica. My head is in a spin.
The other thing you have to be very careful
of is minding your P’s and Q’s. When you select a letter it appears back to
front. As you can see I made a mistake, can you spot it? Spelling was never my
strong point; as for back to front spelling- no chance!
