TOR by Ely, Timothy C., Robert Rowe, and Oscar Gillespie - 2014

Colfax, WA, 2014. Unique. Hardcover. Fine. Timothy C. Ely. Printed, engraved, and manuscript artists' book: a collaboration among artist/bookbinder Timothy C. Ely, engraver Oscar Gillespie, and designer/printer Robert Rowe.Artist's statement:Following a fine weekend workshop in October 2013 in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University, TOR began to take shape.On my first day there, I was introduced all around and, in the process, met Oscar Gillespie. For a few minutes, I observed him working on an extremely impressive engraving. I am usually cautious about quickly forming alliances, but Oscar's manner and this superb and deeply evocative work blew my hesitation away. The encouragement to meet Oscar came from Robert Rowe, my host for the weekend, who also supported my blurt. I quickly suggested that we undertake some sort of collaborative effort.As I don't print text, nor could I envision a page opposite text, I made some loose suggestions to Robert that he print this. He is an excellent printer and designer, as well as a fellow sensitive. And so it began, this project, to fold inward and seem to vibrate as a collision of ideas. I had no idea what would happen.During the course of the workshop, Oscar showed up with a portfolio of proofs and other bits. These would form the impulse for the leaves.On an early flight home I began to think of what could happen. How could this book reflect Oscar's engravings, my drawings, hold to the sense of mystery, yet also support elegant letterpress printing, and the inward and perceptive myth structure I felt was projected from the engravings?So it rolled. I suggested the title of the book as TOR, an acronym for our three names. It is also short and both graphically and symbolically potent. Robert printed a series of beautiful grids, enciphered, and Oscar provided me with lambskin on which he had printed one of his astonishing engravings. I now had some components from which to riff. The venerable traditions of engraving and printing would be supported or canceled by the odd frequencies of my drawings.In the late fall, I had a space between projects and began to assemble and draw. I constructed size/scale cutting templates based on Robert's pages, and went through Oscar's engravings with a template and view- finder so I could look for fragments with sufficient 'wholeness' to read relevant to him but could also be scaled to fit with my drawings. Also, I was given free rein to work onto or into his work, which was risky.I cut things up. It is something I love to do: to piece together formal fragments into a larger whole for a page. My technique referred to as a drum leaf binding allows for small pieces to be assembled into larger pieces. My etching press is small so this method affords me a way of printing large books from smaller, more manageable bits. Over the course of several weeks, I drew and fused engravings and text to drawings until i had sufficient expressive bulk- enough to evoke bookness.That task completed, I fabricated a simple endpaper and surfaced the paper with washes of color using acrylic resin, paste and egg white (dried and reconstituted). The book was carefully drummed together after making sure everything was secure, for there is no going back. Boards were attached and the book trimmed. It sat idle and under pressure until, once again, I returned to the parts of Oscar's prints and my drawings and prints and again began to assemble and collage. Robert's fine prints on Japanese paper formed a ''non-objective'' title block and two pieces of the printed lamb skin were used to cover the spine in my typical breakaway structure. Location templates were made to give me measurements for the paper strips for the cover and a similar technique was used to cover the box.Timothy C. Ely | October 2014 | Colfax,WAPlanetary Collage Standard Drum Leaf binding. Bifurcated calf skin spine printed with a Gillespie engraving, the opening revealing printing by Robert Rowe. Boards covered in the same materials as the book, with additional pigmented foil application. Five double-page spreads; 6 leaves total. Signed on the title page by Timothy Ely. Housed in a matching drop back box by Timothy Ely. 23cm x 30cm.