The Nolan Collection

Sometimes things come together. A purchase of a large collection of books, the arrival of a larger printing press, and some new wooden type led to the Nolan Collection.

My Nolan Proof Press is a vintage press from the 1950s. It would have been used in a print shop to test a print before the real work was done on the shop’s big press.

A simple, but effective table-top press.

I started printing the day I unpacked the crate, and soon had stacks of papers printed with wooden type. Many of them were printed on papers I’d taken from old Russian history books. These are thin papers, with visible flecks of pulp that had aged with a variety of colors.

I decided to work directly on cradled panels and began to abstract the text. My studio table (and floor) was soon covered with cut paper and the compositions began. The paper was so intriguing that the designs grew from the edges, colors, and shapes of the pieces I selected. I didn’t start a collage with a composition in mind, but put down the first piece and let that lead the way.

There are twelve pieces in the collection, in a variety of sizes, and they look wonderful together.

Cursive

12” by 12” mixed media collage on a 7/8” cradled wood panel with a maple floater frame

Lift

8” by 8” mixed media collage on a 7/8” cradled wood panel with a maple floater frame