The Anatomy of a Book - 7 Years in the Making
As many of you will already know, my partner Beck, or her pen name R.I. Sutton (sounds so official!) for several years has been creating her collection of short stories in the old fashioned letterpress method or in a way she has coined "extreme self-publishing" . Extreme self-publishing can be characterised by the following:
Write the stories
Edit the stories
Figure out how people pre-digital publishers printed books
Research, learn, fund, perfect and perform the 50 or so steps to achieve a published book.
Enjoy the successes of a job well done. Simple!
As you can see in the images below, the effort was well worth it. Additionally, she has made a good number of sales (books still available at her website although red's are selling out!) Much more content about the book at the website below.
Beck's website https://www.theharebrainedpress.com/
A Labor of Love
Many of you will also know that this journey of creating an edition of books in this manner has been far from simple. I have been in the unique position of joining in on the adventure that began around seven years ago in 2016. At the time, the estimated completion of said project was around twelve months. After taking literally hundreds of hours to print the first set of pages, I quietly began to doubt this timeline. However, the project forged on despite many ups and downs, twists and turns. The book launched on the 11th of March 2023 and sold a solid amount of copies. It was a remarkable achievement and I feel honored to be part of it.
Web Store
As a way to make my work accessible and more affordable, I have developed a web store complete with secure checkout. This is something I had spent years pondering, but since it has become more acceptable to sell art online, I decided to give it a try. I will be adding artworks and featuring some from time to time on socials. This method of presentation at the end of the day makes the work more affordable since gallery spaces are extremely expensive. Not that I am opposed to shows, I just want options. So please feel free to check it out https://www.kainwhite.com.au/shop
Subscribers get a 10% discount on anything in the store with a code. Simply sign up by using the form below.
If there is a piece of mine you are interested in purchasing, please let me know and I will check it's availability.
New Projects
Printmaking I always seem to have several projects happening simulataneously and now my part in the book is pretty much wrapped up, I have some time to focus on other things. My interest in printmaking has been rekindled and I am in the planning stages of making a coloured version of my Black Cat painting. It will possibly be a reduction style lino print of around A4 size. The challenge will be capturing the 'mood' of the painting, but I am keen on the challenge.
Woodworking I have recently taken my small hobby of woodworking to the next level by purchasing some more workshop equipment, the most significant is the mighty table saw. After watching around 8 hours of safety videos on Youtube, I have now familiarised myself with the saw and how not to lose all of your fingers in the process. I aim to make all of my own picture frames for any artwork I produce and make my services available to others. Additionally, I have been prototyping an oil paint brush tray that is based on the design found in Rembrandt's studio. So far I have made a compact version to sit on my custom made painting easel. The purpose is to keep brushes wet between painting sessions while working on larger pieces. There are several significant features this tray must have. The most important being the angle brushes sit in the tray. It needs to be able to suspend the bristles in oil while not allowing them to touch the end of the tray, which can bend bristles of some brushes.
