Heart of All Greatness
by Judson Mitcham

Through words and imagery, Heart of All Greatness explores the subject of fathers as complex figures in our lives. Judson Mitcham’s poetry examines true tenderness between a father and son, particularly in a family where secrets are kept to prevent embarrassment, and expressing full emotion may be awkward. With beautiful and heartbreaking language, Mitcham captures the loss that a son feels for his father after he passes away, thinking about him often when “alone in a strange place” (“A Postcard to My Father”), and realizing only after his death that he understands his father in a way no one else in his family does (“Writing”).

As for the imagery in this accordion binding, I was able to create one large image out of five smaller panels. When opened to a two-page spread, the poetry on the verso side of the page interacts with an abstract 4-color image that makes sense only when combined with the other panels in the book. Memories are often just fragments of images combined in our minds to create an entire picture. In many ways, my own memories about my father are just flashes of moments that I’ve blended together over time. I printed this book to better understand my own father and the relationship I have with him.

Letterpress printed from metal types and beautiful multi-colored reduction linoleum blocks on rich Hahnemuhle Biblio paper, and bound as a hardcover accordion. The Hahnemuhle Bugra cover papers are letterpress printed from metal type and photopolymer plates, the outlines of the imagery inside. Poems by Judson Mitcham, reprinted with his permission from This April Day  (Anhinga Press, 2003).

Edition of 65
$100
All books signed by the author and artist

(below) broadsides that accompany Gravity's Light Grip, please click for an enlarged image and description