An introduction to Tomatito Press!
I’m very proud to announce Tomatito Press’s new book ‘Brockley Foxtrot!’
My new book (all about foxes as you’ll know if you follow me on twitter,) is currently at the printers and I should get the pages delivered this week! The release date is Monday the 6th of August, and I’ll be launching the book at the International Alternative Press Festival on the 4th/5th August. So if you want to snap up an early copy you can find me that weekend at Conway Hall, Holborn (25 Red Lion Square, London, Greater London WC1R 4RL.) I’m starting a list of pre-orders too, so drop me a line if you want to ensure a copy early on. I’ll be giving away a beautiful free archival print with the first 20 orders that I get via paypal, so even if you put your name on the pre-orders list, make sure you actually click the paypal button on this website as soon as possible from the 6th onwards! :o)
The book is a really personal account of the six years I spent living in Brockley, South East London, with families of foxes that I completely fell in love with sharing my garden. At the start of 2012 I moved house and won’t be seeing the foxes any more, so I decided to make this book to celebrate how much I enjoyed having them around for that period of my life. It chronicles my observations and contact with the foxes… their behaviour and characteristics, and the pros & cons of having them as my neighbours! The illustrations are based on the many photos I collected over the years. The book is illustrated mainly in pencil with some watercolour, and the interior is all black and white. It’s printed on lovely textured Tintoretto gesso paper stock. The cover and endpapers are in colour, and the books will be bound by hand by me, as all Tomatito Press books are.
To celebrate the publication of ‘Brockley Foxtrot’ I also made a short 2.5 minute video. It shows how I go about putting together a copy of the book by hand… and the making of the book is intercut with little clips of the Brockley Foxes that I filmed last year. You can see the film here: https://vimeo.com/46883368
Click here to buy Brockley Foxtrot:
Tomatito Press’s first book ‘Five!’
Click here to buy Five:
‘Five’ gets a great write-up at Forbidden Planet International!
Writing on the Forbidden Planet website, reviewer Richard Bruton has this to say about Five: “Even getting the package open shows you how seriously the two artists involved are – the handmade, handsewn book comes in a card sleeve, with matching bookmark and a custom fitted card frame to make sure it reaches the intended recipient in perfect condition. That obsessiveness and attention to detail is what makes the handmade movement so appealing – everything is precious and full of passionate attention to getting the little details right. That and the beautiful, individual books they make of course. Five is all about dreams, and about flights of fantasy. We start in the bath, with a mind just wandering away. And then we’re set free with the bather, and begin a lyrical and poetic trip across the world, free as the birds that fly from her fingers. With it’s simple ideas of a near transcendental journey and it’s sparse, lyrical style, it reminds me rather of the work of the great Michél Gagne. High praise indeed. Chapman’s black and white pencil drawings across the pages of Five are tight, intricate things, and quite lovely to look at. With so little text the pictures have to do the heavy lifting, have to charge the mind with images and fill it with ideas. And Chapman’s lovely work does just that. You meander over them, absorbing the details, letting the sparse words play across the images.”
You can read the rest of this piece here http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2010/five-a-handmade-adventure-takes-flight/
Tomatito Press is proud to announce its second book ‘The Garden!’
This book is a collaboration between artist and photographer Sergio Galaviz, and Tomatito’s illustrator Katriona Chapman. The book is a hard-back concertina book of illustrations that have been drawn in ink by Sergio and coloured by Katriona with pencils. They are a celebration of form, pattern and colour, and suggest a surreal compendium of other-worldly organisms. The cover of each copy has been made by hand, using quality Hahnemule paper from the amazing Shepherd’s bookbinders/paper merchants in Bloomsbury. The books are tied closed with ribbon, and are limited to a numbered edition of just 50.
Click here to buy The Garden:
Tomatito Press at Book Fairs
The Beautiful Birds Colouring Book
Tomatito Press is proud to introduce a new publication, the Beautiful Birds colouring book. It’s a twelve-page book, handmade again (of course!) and the artwork is inspired by my favourite feathered creatures. There are tiny ones, tall ones, birds in flight, flightless birds, wading birds and exotic birds. Each copy comes in a protective plastic sleeve, with a selection of coloured pencils so that you can start colouring straight away!
