It sits in your palm juuuust right. — Diana
If you’re finding it hard to string together sentences at the moment like me, well, thank you even more for reading this. My whole body is sore, my hands are sad and heavy, and my spirit is doing the splits. I simply don’t have “the words”. Everything feels weird. Do nothing? Weird. Business as usual? Weirder. But as Miranda July writes in “All Fours”, having a kid means that we — as privileged folks to begin with — can no longer be coy and cute about capitalism because time is money… and time is everything.
So I am taking this precious, shimmering, shard of time as our 4-month-old naps to write about a project that’s been over a year in the making. One that we’re proud to talk about because it’s, well, beautiful.
Introducing “Wayfinder” by Kai Gietzen.
First Edition, 250 copies. 5in x 6.5in. Risograph printed in Fluorescent Orange, Federal Blue, and Light Teal, 56 pages.
We collaborated Kai, a Milwaukee-born illustrator, on this Risograph art book that debuted at Short Run comic’s festival in Seattle at the start of November. The twenty copies we brought there sold out.
Kai is currently based in Providence, Rhode Island. He crafts narrative and figurative worlds in an accessible but nuanced way, allowing the viewer into an image to engage with it through their own experiences.
His use of printmaking textures felt right at home with Risograph printing, but turn the page and you’ll see just how limit-testing of the medium he is with his hairline strokes and vector shapes. The tension is what makes the illustrations so beautiful to behold, bound and nestled in your palm like a field notebook. Kai’s unique layering of themes (ecology, folklore, mythology) packs the book full of Jules Verne-esque magic. Page after page of colorful discovery.
We hope you can enjoy the book in person one day.
We haven’t run the numbers for a case study to share behind-the-scenes production and labor costs just yet. That will come when the soggy salad that is my brain decides to rejoin my body again.
It didn’t feel fair to wait until that happened before sharing about this project! Shout out to Michelle of The Bindery for another lovely Smyth sewn job on historical equipment. Old timey technology wins again.
December Events in Milwaukee
Hovercraft — Sunday, Dec 1
Paperjam — Sat & Sun, Dec 7–8
Riso demo at Ruth Arts — Thurs, Dec 12
Riso Basics with BearBear in 2025:
1 seat left for January.
4 seats left for February.
6 seats left for March.
Final Scene
I’m sure there’s more. But even though I’m tired, I remain vigilant. I hope through this post you can still feel my vitality. My slow crawl towards all things simple and beautiful.
Again, a quote from Miranda July: Beauty is a major theme, not a trifling indulgence.
Towards beauty and beyond,
Diana
P.S. To all those wondering if the teddybear community zine is still happening: It is! One InDesign spread at a time. It’s ridiculously delayed but on the docket. Warm and fuzzy feelings are still imminent. Thank you for your patience and bear pics. Give them an extra squeeze for me, would ya?