1 // Shop / Working in Bruton 2023
A Typographic Map . . .
‘Working in Bruton 2023’ was designed / set & printed in the letterpress workshop by the students on ‘The Early Summer School’ — a four-day workshop in July
Each year we undertake two Summer Schools —
(early & late) & a few one & two-day classes
This simple graphic idea — concentrating on Bruton High Street — conveys the various trades & professions /
Different fonts aim to express different activities
It works as a specimen of typefaces / but hopefully captures the energy of a small working town /
roads / paths / bartons & bridges are all kept as negative space / there’s even a nod to the stepping stones on the River Brue.
. . .
Designed, hand-set & Printed Letterpress
in Bruton / in a very Limited Edition of 15
Printed in an Olive & Bright Green
(especially mixed) /
on 280gsm Somerset Satin White paper /
with a blind de-bossed credit /
760 x 560mm (30 x 22 inches)
SOLD UNFRAMED £250
2 // Shop / 26 Distinctive Characters
Mr Smith’s A–Z / 26 Characters of Distinction (Gold)
Initially designed for Hole & Corner Magazine as a series of double page spreads discussing my ‘favourite’ wood letterforms kept in the workshop.
Each character had a small paragraph describing the font / its size / origin & where or from who it was acquired.
. . .
Designed / hand-set & printed
by Kelvyn Laurence Smith
Printed letterpress in a limited edition of 26
in Gold ink with a blind debossed credit
on 280gsm Somerset Satin off White
30 x 11 inches (760×280 mm)
Signed by the artist
SOLD UNFRAMED £100
Mr Smith’s A–Z / 26 Characters of Distinction (Grey)
Initially designed for Hole & Corner Magazine as a series of double page spreads discussing my ‘favourite’ wood letterforms kept in the workshop.
Each character had a small paragraph describing the font / its size / origin & where or from who it was acquired.
. . .
Designed / hand-set & printed
by Kelvyn Laurence Smith
Printed letterpress
in a dark Grey ink with a Silver credit
on 120gsm Sugar paper
30 x 11 inches (760 x 280mm)
Signed by the artist
SOLD UNFRAMED £60
3 // Shop / Glaukonome
GLAUKONOME / The Nereid of the ‘Mastering the Grey’ sea
This ornamental composition acts as a visual representation of the subject matter. A solid, strong form at the centre — surrounded by a configured ‘wall’ — holding back and gradually controlling the complexity of the vast multi layered ‘Grey’ Sea.
Commissioned by Karoline Newman as a response to ‘Simon Lewty & The Nereids’ at The Lettering arts Trust, Snape Maltings, Suffolk.
Depictions of the ‘Mythical Nereids’ created by 26 Artists represented by the Lettering Arts Trust.
. . .
Designed / hand-set & composed
by Kelvyn Laurence Smith
with a careful selection of monotype ornaments / decorative borders & typographic sorts
Printed letterpress on a Vandercook Universal 4 /
in various Greys / Greens & Silvers /
on a GF Smith 270gsm Colourplan Real Grey
in a very limited edition of 6
12 x 12inches (300x300mm)
Signed on the reverse by the artist
SOLD UNFRAMED £175
4 // Shop / Typographic Ornament prints
The ‘Typographic Ornament’ prints are constructed from a unique collection of metal type borders and ornaments. As an antidote to the decorative nature of the material — the borders are formally hand-set on a simple 12 pica grid system to reinforce the graphic beauty of the original cuts and the grace of the formal arrangement.
These are designed, hand-set & printed in very limited editions and are printed in various colours on BFK Rives, Somerset & Zerkall cotton printmaking papers. It is the same set essentially in various colour ways.
Typographic Ornament — A Landscape
Letterpress Print — Pink on Grey
Designed / hand-set & Printed letterpress
in Fluorescent Pink ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
with a blind de-bossed credit
in a Limited Edition of 3
760 x 380 mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
Typographic Ornament — A Landscape
Letterpress Print — Orange on Grey
Designed / hand-set & Printed
in Fluorescent Orange ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey /
with a blind de-bossed credit
in a Limited Edition of 3
760 x 380 mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
Typographic Ornament — A Landscape
Letterpress Print — Gold on Tan
Designed / hand-set & printed
in Gold ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Tan
with a blind de-bossed credit
in a Limited Edition of 3
760 x 380 mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
Typographic Ornament — A Landscape
Letterpress Print — Gold on Black
Designed / hand-set & Printed letterpress
in Gold ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Black
with a blind de-bossed credit
in a Limited Edition of 3
760 x 380 mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
Typographic Ornament — A Landscape
Letterpress Print — Dark Grey on White
Designed / hand-set & Printed letterpress
in Gun metal Grey ink
on 145gsm Zerkall Smooth /
with a blind de-bossed credit
in a Limited Edition of 3
760 x 380 mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
Typographic Ornament 1240
Series 1240 — Square
An extension of the typographic Ornament Series, — This monotype border ‘number 1240’ at 18pt seemed to be the ornament of choice to accompany much of the work I was doing. It’s a flexible ornament that locks together well with itself to make a visually interesting & complex negative and positive pattern. Used on its own it gives a sense of nobility — a simple but complex pattern — in a square configuration it lacks tension and sits quietly on the page. In the more extreme formats it carries weight or floats effortlessly . . .
. . .
Designed & hand-set with Metal type Ornaments
& Printed in a Signed Limited Edition of 6 /
in aYellow Mustard ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
with a blind de-bossed credit
300 x 300 mm (12 x 12 inches)
SOLD UNFRAMED £90
Series 1240.1 — Rule
Series 1240.1 — Rule
An extension of the typographic Ornament Series, — This Monotype border ‘number 1240’ at 18pt seemed to be the ornament of choice to accompany much of the work I was doing. It’s a flexible ornament that locks together well with itself to make a visually interesting & complex negative and positive pattern. Used on its own it gives a sense of nobility — a simple but complex pattern — in a square configuration it lacks tension and sits quietly on the page. In the more extreme formats it carries weight or floats effortlessly . . .
. . .
Designed & hand-set with Metal type Ornaments & Printed in a Signed Limited Edition /
in a Green ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
with a blind de-bossed credit
760×280 mm (30×11 inches)
landscape
SOLD UNFRAMED £200
280×760 mm (11×30 inches)
portrait
SOLD UNFRAMED £200
Series 1240.2 — Structure
Series 1240.2 — Structure
An extension of the typographic Ornament Series, — This Monotype border ‘number 1240’ at 18pt seemed to be the ornament of choice to accompany much of the work I was doing. It’s a flexible ornament that locks together well with itself to make a visually interesting & complex negative and positive pattern. Used on its own it gives a sense of nobility — a simple but complex pattern — in a square configuration it lacks tension and sits quietly on the page. In the more extreme formats it carries weight or floats effortlessly . . .
. . .
Designed & hand-set with Metal type Ornaments & Printed in a Signed Limited Edition /
in a Green ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
with a blind de-bossed credit
280×760 mm (30×11 inches)
portrait
SOLD UNFRAMED £200
5 // Shop / A study in Ornamental Composition
Made for:
An Orchestra of Letters — a major exhibition by the Lettering Arts Trust at Snape Maltings.
2 June – 3 September 2017
An exhibition of new works by 36 lettering artists for the 50th Anniversary of the Concert Hall at Aldeburgh Festival and the Snape Proms at Snape Maltings in 2017.
‘A study in Ornamental Composition’
Is inspired by the final track on Van Morrison’s 1972 album ‘Saint Dominic’s Preview’
Introduction / Inspiration / analysis
For me – Van Morrison’s seminal 10 minute track ‘Almost Independence Day’ seems to connect the awe-inspiring power of the sea with emotional intensity & longing.
Written in the early 70’s – the track represents the physical and abstract descriptions of a vast Pacific Ocean as seen from San Francisco bay.
With the rolling repetitive Moog synth ‘effectively used as a foghorn bass’ – the delicate snare drum triggers electrifying notions of firing synapses, daydreaming, memories – and the whole woven texture is reminiscent of home, family, things past and the excitement of those to come . . . 12-string and 6-string guitars dues and converse with the stuttering, yearning voice – a hypnotic transmission.
Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden captures perfectly:
“. . . the body of the song is an incantatory montage of simple portentous phrases repeated over and over with varying emotional emphasis . . . the structure of the song is metamorphic, taking the form of a rising and subsiding wave.”
With reference to . . .
Growing up on the Kent coast with the vast flat Greeny-Grey north sea horizons, choppy waves & rolling ‘white horses’, this particular sea has always had an important influence on me. Home, happy, safe; but with the awesome frightening power that the sea brings; exciting ideas of ambition and optimism, the scale of adventure, journeys, future endeavours. Seasonal colour palette – tidal pulses and the angry crashing of stormy swellings.
Idea / concept / intention
The simple conceit of this work was to explore/express a visually elegant way to capture the sensory emotion of the track. The idea ‘nods’ to the musical heritage of the east coast of Britain and encapsulates – in at least a representational and abstract form – the themes of the music, the landscape & the exhibition.
Technical & structural approach
Using a simple typographic structure, the grid acts as a kind of stave and – although not wholly accurate – endeavours to capture the rhythm of the original composition. The horizontal axis forms a time line and plots the progression and interaction of each instrument. Each of these are represented by a different expressive typographic shape or ornament and describe the repetitive nature of the sound. Set individually by hand, these ornaments become a typographic translation and form a swell; a mood, a longing and a simple rhythmic composition that – despite being conceived on the west coast of America – is indicative of my English east coast.
KLS
. . .
Designed & hand-set
with Metal type Ornaments & Metal Type
& Printed in a Limited Edition of 12
in Various Green & Grey inks
with a blind de-bossed lyrics /
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey /
& a blind de-bossed credit
760 x 380mm (30 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
6 / Shop / 6 & 9 Characters in search of a Case
These letterforms are orphans . . .
They don’t belong /
they are oddities /
they arrived without a family /
part of a job lot /
acquired / swapped / donated . . .
But they are all well loved
& certainly well used /
together they don’t say anything /
but they look great
& work well as a team
& at least
they now have a place to rest . . .
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress /
with Wood letter /
in a limited edition of 12 /
Signed by the Artist
Printed in a special Green/Grey ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey /
with a vertical blind de-bossed credit /
3 deckles & 1 torn edge /
Imperial size sheet — 22 x 30 inches
(560 x 760 mm)
Sold as pair UNFRAMED £300
7 // Shop / A Typographic Typology
A Typographic Typology — Grey
A Title
Ampersands
Apostrophes
Exclamation marks
Full stops
Hyphens & Dashes
Pound signs
Q’s
Question marks
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress /
with Wood letter & Metal Type /
in a very limited edition of 6 /
Signed by the Artist
Printed in Grey ink /
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey /
with a blind de-bossed credit /
3 deckles & 1 torn edge /
Print size: 760 x 280mm (30 x 11 inches)
Framed size: 820 x 335 mm (32 x 15 inches)
SOLD UNFRAMED £150
A Typographic Typology — Tan
A Title
Apostrophes
Exclamation marks
Full stops
Hyphens & Dashes
Pound signs
Q’s
Question marks
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
with Wood letter & Metal Type
in a very limited edition of 6 /
Printed in Grey ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey /
with a blind de-bossed credit /
3 deckles & 1 torn edge /
Print size: 760 x 280mm (30 x 11 inches)
Framed size: 820 x 335 mm (32 x 15 inches)
SOLD UNFRAMED £150
A Typographic Typology — Black
A Title
Ampersands
Apostrophes
Exclamation marks
Full stops
Hyphens & Dashes
Pound signs
Question marks
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
with Wood letter & Metal Type
in a very limited edition of 6 /
Printed in Silver ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Black /
with a blind de-bossed credit /
3 deckles & 1 torn edge /
Print size: 760 x 280mm (30 x 11 inches)
Framed size: 820 x 335 mm (32 x 15 inches)
SOLD UNFRAMED £150
A Typology / A Family of Exclamations
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
with Wood letter & Metal Type
in a very limited edition of 6
Printed in Silver & Pink ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
with a blind de-bossed credit
3 deckles & 1 torn edge
Print size: 760 x 280mm (30 x 11 inches)
Framed size: 820 x 335 mm (32 x 15 inches)
Signed by the Artist
only 2 left
SOLD UNFRAMED £150
8 // Shop / Collaborative prints
8// Shop / A Brace of Compositions
A set of rules, each one a different style, each one the same in length. The rules form a 102 pica square and are separated by 4 picas. The weight of the rules increase as they progress.
The Turquoise print has a detailed title running to the same measure, set in 10pt Univers 55. For the Grey print, the ‘printing forme’ is rotated by 90 degrees, keeping the square composition. The Monotype codes are again set in 10pt Univers 55.
Both are printed letterpress in a Gun-metal Grey (a mix of Silver and Black). They are printed on GF Smith 135gsm Colourplan: Turquoise & Pale Grey, in a limited edition of 50 and signed by the Artists.
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
in a Silver & Black mix
on GF Smith 135gsm Colourplan: Turquoise & Pale Grey
An Imperial sheet / 22 x 30 inches (560 x 760 mm)
4 trimmed edges
SOLD UNFRAMED as a pair £150
8 // Shop / Sutherl&Smith
A modest set of limited edition letterpress prints from the children’s book
EeorMoo?
A menagerie of wishful thinking —
(A series of rhymes about animals who dream of being other animals)
by Jim Sutherland & Kelvyn Laurence Smith.
10 individual wishful prints . . .
(The Menagerie)
Hattie the Owl
Horace the Sheep
Radish the Rabbit
Boris the Pig
Nellie the Elephant
Edith the Bird
Leo the Lion
Cecil the Snake
Clio the Cat
Doris the Cow
20 of each
prints 550 x 360mm
SOLD UNFRAMED £60
9 // Shop / Grisaille series — Giacometti
“If I see everything in grey, and in grey all the colours which I experience and which I would like to reproduce, then why should I use any other colour?”
“I’ve tried doing so, for it was never my intention to paint only with grey. But in the course of my work I have eliminated one colour after another, and what has remained is grey, grey, grey!”
Alberto Giacometti
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
Printed with a mixed Grey ink
on 280gsm Arches 88 (4 deckle edges)
Imperial size sheet — 22 x 30 inches
(560 x 760 mm)
SOLD UNFRAMED £150
10 // Shop / The composition of type metal
A specimen of ‘Grotesque’ metal types held in the case at Smith’s Rules.
Based on the design of the Periodic Table of Elements — contained in a 12 x 8 12 pica grid — the work sets out to display the range of sizes & styles of each of the categories of types held in the workshop. The smaller type sizes being in the first columns — 6 / 8 / 10pt etc — progressing to the largest in column twelve at 72 pt. There are eight rows that contain the eight different styles of san serif.
Contained within the structure are the three elements that make-up the material composition of lead type.
In printing, metal type is cast from a combination of three metallic elements. The percentage of each metal depends on the usage of the type but the general rule for type held in the case is:
74 percent Lead: heavy, poisonous, malleable & ducktile but soft & weak.
18 percent Antimony: brittle, but when alloyed strengthens the metal.
10 percent Tin: soft & ductile but wear resistant & fluid when molten to give a finer face to the type.
. . .
Designed, hand-set & printed Letterpress
with Light & Dark Grey & 072 Blue ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey
3 deckle & 1 torn edge
Imperial size — 30 x 22 inches
(760 x 560 mm)
Only two left / SOLD UNFRAMED £250
11 // Shop / Breathe in
Normal Phenomena of Life
Lessons From The Living World edition
Breathe In
A set of 3 sequential prints
“Each time we inhale, roughly 50% of the oxygen drawn into our lungs was produced by algae. Bruton-based artist Kelvyn Smith pays homage to the producers of this vital life source through a triptych of letterpress prints representing, on paper, the role algae plays in converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Printed with toxin-free, carbon-negative ink made from algae.”
“This limited edition artwork series has been printed on high-quality 100% cotton archival stock with toxin-free, carbon-negative ink made of algae. The unique letterpress exploration celebrates the craft of printmaking and honours the fundamental role played by algae in the ecosystem.”
FOR SALE HERE
Designed, hand-set & printed letterpress
with Black Algae offset ink by Living Ink
on 280gsm BFK Rives Grey printmaking paper
at 560x760mm
