Sue Huggins Leopard
Rochester, New York

This Past Winter

The winter of 2016 was one for the record books here in upstate New York. I spent time exploring the large collection of nineteenth-century wood type at the Printing and Book Arts Center in Rochester - carrying sheets of Kitikata paper from home, wrapped in plastic to protect them from the weather - and printing an ongoing record of thoughts which formed this book, as the snow outside piled and drifted. The book was "written" on a day by day basis and grew rather organically - my own grumblings, articles on global warming, and some of Shakespeare's profound complaints on winter were printed and selectively hand waxed to form a white on white accordion that grew to 25 feet in length. By about April of that year, I had accumulated enough to feel that the "story" was complete as the snow began to finally melt, signaling the end of the project and the blessed beginning of spring. In the following months, the work resumed back in my studio. The collating, joining, physical folding, hand waxing, binding, and box making that was done there took much longer and extended well into 2017.

Hand printed in white ink on kitikata paper using antique wood type. Selectively hand waxed. Frosted plexi cover structure. White silk Japanese style box with bone closures. 10.5 x 4 x 1 inches. 26.6 x 10.2 x 2.5 centimeters. Created 2016-2017.

Walt Whitman, Unseen Buds

Broadside of a poem by Walt Whitman with drawing and letterpress by the artist. A powerful statement on creation from Leaves of Grass by the great American writer.

Digitally printed image on kitikata paper from an original drawing by the artist. Letterpress printed using antique wood type and polymer plates on Dover antique. 22 x 10 inches. 55.9 x 25.4 centimeters. Created 2017.

SUE HUGGINS LEOPARD, book artist, printmaker, and letterpress printer, runs her studio and press, LeopardStudio Editions, in Rochester, New York. She specializes in small editions, unique books, book objects, and varied work using her own prints. Most recent works from LeopardStudio include an ongoing series of miniature books featuring the poems of Emily Dickinson. Her work is held in public and private collections around the world.

Website: www.leopardstudioeditions.com