Iowa. Not Ohio. Not Idaho.

designed by Sanjay Jani for AKAR

I’m sure Iowa gets sick of how annoying the rest of the country can be.  Confusing them with Ohio and Idaho, for example.  Jokes about corn.  And so I might not have been doing myself any favors with these two posters I set up for folks to print in Des Moines and Iowa City.

But I mean, there is a LOT of corn here, and it IS delicious.  Also, the state fair just ended and there was a lot of talk about food on sticks, including much speculation about an oft-mentioned treat involving nothing but deep fried butter on a stick.

Domestica

Monday night I set up in Des Moines outside of Domestica, a beautiful and stylish shop specializing in home goods and handmade.  Owner Chrissy Jenson set out a feast of delicious treats and invited what seemed like half the town to hang out for an evening of printing and fun.  Thanks for an amazing time!  Also of note: Chrissy was kind enough to put us up in an actual hotel for the night, and I can’t tell you how grateful we were for a little air conditioning and cable TV.

corn, train - themes of the midwest

Next stop was Iowa City, a “City of Literature” and home to the University of Iowa.  We had a great time here.  We met up with Andre, an old high school friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in 15 years, and he gave us a grand tour of the high and low eating, drinking, and music establishments around town.   The University is home to the Writer’s Workshop as well as the Center for the Book, some of the best programs in the country for creative writing and book arts, respectively.  People in this town love their books.

wood type at Center for the Book

On Wednesday morning (aka The Most Humid Day Ever), I stopped into the Center for the Book and met up with the lovely Sara Langworthy, who teaches letterpress and oversees the printing facilities.  She showed me around the rambling studios – printing, bookbinding, paper making, etc – and introduced me to Tim Barrett, who teaches papermaking and who, many years ago, had driven around the country teaching paper making techniques he had learned while studying in Japan.  This was before there were smart phones and laptops and the internet.  I can’t imagine doing what I’m doing without all these tools at my disposal – this trip of mine is pretty dependent on them.  It must have been such a different experience – so much more unknown – to do this sort of thing without these means of making contact.

spacing sorted into coffee cans at Center for the Book

With Sara’s help, I was able to connect with a local fabric/yarn/craft supply store called Home Ec, and park my truck outside their shop.  Cody and Lisa, who run the shop, were kind enough to feed the meter every hour.  We had a great turn out that night – lots of printers and book binders and conservators and writers and other folks involved in the world of books.  Definitely the most bookish crowd I’ve encountered so far.

Home Ec's sunny front room

Thank you Andre and Sara for showing us a great time in your town!