Volta 2: Il finito.

The rollers — inked white.

The type, too.

I just pulled 120 (give or take) colophons for Volta, and it’s something I haven’t done in a long, long time.

Print, that is.

I haven’t really talked a lot about what I do to make my money, but trust me, it isn’t making little magazines to send out gratis to friends of the synaesthesia press, and it’s not making and selling letterpress books; it’s not selling collectible books, either. And while I’m not going into specifics here, I will say this: I’m self-employed, and have a few clients, and every single day I wake up and worry my clients are going to fire me, and I’ll wind up in the soup line.

I guess the only consolation there is I won’t be the only one.

So, for the past 6 years — give or take — I’ve been busting ass to make those clients pleased as punch. It’s kept me fed, and I’m lucky enough to have a few bucks in the bank, but the synaesthesia press suffered.

All work and no play makes Jim a dull boy. An unhappy one, too. And what’s more fun than setting type, prepping the make-ready, pulling proofs, and making a book?

Well…to me, nothing.

It was kinda comforting to realize printing is a lot like riding a bike. I mean I was rusty, but overall things went without a hitch.

For the most part.

I have some black Somerset scraps left from another project I’m working on, and those turned into the colophon broadside / page for this installment of Volta. You already know I printed them in white ink, and, well…they turned out kinda squishy.

My proofs were sweet…but it was a hard paper, red ink, and that ain’t the same.

Things shoulda turned out the way the proofs did…but that wasn’t the case. They’re still nice…but far from perfect.

Like I said — kinda squishy. And a hint uneven. At least under my loop they are.

Oh well. I needed to get the job done, and done they are. Tomorrow I start addressing them for the US Mails.

Which is part of what I’m gonna call “The Volta Experience”. You probably know I’m a Wallace Berman nut, and part of Semina was that it simply arrived in your mailbox. You couldn’t buy one (well, that’s not entirely true; I’ve read Berman would drop some off at City Lights from time to time).

Same goes for Volta.

That, and who knows just how it’s going to actually show up in your box? Will the US Postmaster and its shiny machinery smoosh your copy to bits? Will your postman fold it in half and stuff it into your box?

Or will it arrive at your home just the same way it left my studio?

Oh, the anticipation…