It is hard to believe that it has been two years since I updated this news feed and for that I apologize (again). My Wunderkammer project, the Lyric Cranium, has not yet found a permanent display situation but plans are afoot to build a room for in on the main floor. Hopefully that will happen this Fall. In the meantime, these past two years have resulted in a compleley rebuilt and set-up intaglio printshop, letterpress shop and darkroom so we are good to go. Some new mini-print gravures have appeared, and new work is underway destined for an exhibition in Douro, Portugal this fall and 2020. More on that later.

It has been a long time since I posted an update and for that I apologize. My Wunderkammer project, the Lyric Cranium, has moved with us to Prince Edward County in Ontario when we retired from teaching in August, 2016. The display was dismanteled, packed and shipped and is slowing coming back into the light as we set up our new house. My collection continues to function as an important catalyst for my work. There is currently an installation of some items from the collection at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, ON (Jan. 5 - Feb. 11, 2017) entitled "The Agglomeration Imperative (#1)".

It has been a long time since I uploaded a news item here (due to my XHTML/css ignorance, mainly) and for that I apologize. My on-going Wunderkammer project, the Lyric Cranium, continues to evolve and grow, albeit slowly. The display has matured and is filling with great objects and new arrangements. A new section of minimalist vitrines has been added, with acknowledgment to the inspirational Mouse Museum, Claes Oldenburg's installation at the MoMA a few years ago. My Wunderkammer continues to function as an important catalyst for works on paper and I have produced some new prints and photographs. There is currently an installation by another artist, Pierre LeBlanc, on one wall of the hallway. The Lyric Cranium will be open by appointment or chance (as our premiere letterpress broadside suggests). A newer video tour was made in July of 2013 and can be seen at THIS link. I will be making another in the spring.

Well, contrary to the lack of news appearing here on this page, I've been busy. I have finally begun the physical construction of my wunderkammer, the Lyric Cranium. New walls were constructed, custom wallpaper was hung, oak display shelves and cabinets were built, and some initial artifacts were arranged. It is still early, but the room and its wonders are taking shape. This project will be an important catalyst for future works on paper including prints, bookworks and photographs. In the meantime, I hope to continually add skulls, photographs, and odd constructions to the walls and vitrines. I will also exhibit work by other artists from my collection from time to time as well. The Lyric Cranium will be open by appointment or chance (as our premiere letterpress broadside suggests) but only after it is more complete. I will announce the grand opening here when I’m ready. A quick video tour made on April 25, 2013 can be seen at THIS link. Also, see an initial photo-detail in the New Work section.

After an end-of-term delay, I have started serious research in how to make the perfect photo-polymergravure plate/print. Last term, we worked with Mitch, a gravure colleague, in getting the basics and understanding the need for serious testing. I then bought the eBook "Precision Digital Negatives" by Mark Nelson and discovered the wonders of a fantastic colored digital positive/negative and precise calibration for all contact processes, including polymergravure. I've now posted my first test image (after numerous test step-scales), and it is so close, I can taste it. I am also using one of Mark's fine polymergravure screens, so the detail is amazing.

Our SILLIS project (funded by the SSHRC) is now completed. We published a 4-volume print-on-demand set of books entitled: "Mapping the Bay of Islands"; each volume authored by Marlene MacCallum, David Morrish, Pierre LeBlanc, and Clifton Meador. We now all look forward to new independent projects and future collaborations utilizing the skills and equipment we obtained during the past three years of research. Stay tuned for more.

Our SILLIS project resulted in our doing a four-plate CMYK color photogravure registration printing demonstration at Open Studio in Toronto during Printopolis, a city-wide printmaking symposium and multi-venue exhibition. We brought two students with us, both to experience the city and the syposium and to help with the demonstration. It went very well and was well recieved. The demo included this image, which printed perfectly! Thankfully.

In August our SILLIS project sponsored an altered book workshop with Rochester, NY based book artist, Scott McCarney. Scott came to Corner Brook, NL to guide seven of us through an exploration of reworked and "autopsied" books, reconfigured contents, then documenting them and reforming them into new experimental pieces. Examples of my own attempts can be found in Recent Work. Another book artist, Clifton Meador from Chicago, will be here later in September for a collaboration which focuses on our location and how we can derive content from research of this place. Stay tuned....

It has now been well over a month since I started my BLOG about my current areas of research: death and mortality, decay and preservation, archiving and memorializing. I've been trying to come up with fresh interpretations of items from my collections and of related discoveries I've found on the web. Go to Dark Dissolution to read the entries from the beginning: the first of January. Comments are always welcome.

Research goes on. I am now making a two-plate photogravure using spot color instead of CMYK. I will post the results as soon as I have them.

I am now back to full-time teaching. Needless to say, this will likely have an impact on my studio work. One new thing, though, was the start of a BLOG about my current areas of research: death and mortality, decay and preservation, archiving and memorializing. I include images from my collections of related books and photographs, and links to great websites. Go to Dark Dissolution to read the entries which began on the first of January. Comments are always welcome.

We spent six days in Bristol, UK, at the IMPACT 6 print conference. I presented a paper/lecture and Marlene presented at a poster session. We thoroughly enjoyed it and saw a lot of wonderful work. Then we went to Paris for a week and decided not to go the art gallery route. Instead, we saw (and photographed) three cemeteries, a natural history museum, two medical museums, a museum of historical science and technology, the flea markets, great food, and the streets .... What could be better?

In spite of a dark future, I successfully etched and printed another CMYK four-plate photogravure. See Recent Work. I love it. I will not give up on this crazy process.

Well, it finally happened. Autotype has just announced the end of production of their G35 gravure tissue that the small world-community of photogravure artists depends on. The alternatives: photo-polymer gravure, or making our own carbon tissue. Neither look too appetizing. Just as we started to perfect our 4-plate CMYK procedure, we get hit with this shortage, nay, disappearance of our key material. Please contact us if this effects you and your work as well. We may need to form a support group ... It is ironinc that exactly 170 years after the French Government announced the invention of photography was a gift "Free to the World" on August 19, 1839, we lose one of the key early processes, the Talbot-Klič photogravure process.

The sillis Lab Four-color CMYK Photogravure Workshop was a success!! Five participants made gravures over the week of August 3-7. They were: David Scott Armstrong, Mark Bovey, Steven Dixon, Nancy Fox, and Asa Muir-Harmony. We learned from each other and are now going to make more.... Thanks to all that helped and participated. We plan on posting the data, procedures, photos, video, and examples on the SilliS site soon.

Marlene, Pierre and I will be hosting a workshop in CMYK photogravure here in Corner Brook. We have five committed attendees from as far afield as San Francisco, Edmonton, Toronto and Halifax. We spent the last two weeks getting ready, testing theories and proofing test plates. We are ready!!

Marlene, Pierre and I will be going to Philadelphia to present a paper at The Hybrid Book Symposium at the University of the Arts in June. We have some new work to bring, plus our experiences and thoughts about our research in CMYK photogravure and hybridity in general.

Well, I am on my feet again and am slowly renovating my space in our new "Art Clinic". It's a good sized building for Pierre and I; over 4000 square feet in all! I still have to organize my stuff and paint and clean the spaces I will be using for studio and storage space. We will eventually have a grand opening and naming ceremony, I suppose. We still haven't settled on an official name for the place, but I think the "Clinic" part will stick. This is based on the reuse of the brass letters on the front of the building: T-H-E-M-U-R-R-A-Y-C-L-I-N-I-C.

Since my leg-cast was removed last month, physiotherapy has been helping me regain strength and a full range of motion in my ankle. This is just in time for this coming Saturday's flight to San Diego, CA, to attend a seminar on large format digital output, color profiles and colour work-spaces. We hope that this will solve some of the printing issues we have been struggling with in our SilliS projects.

On Friday the 13th I will finally have my leg cast removed and can once again begin to work in the studio. I have spent far too much time waiting around to heal. I will be setting up my new studio space at the Clinic in Curling and will post images and info on new work as it begins. Thanks for your patience.

Last fall with my research with the Sequential Imaging Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Imagerie Séquentielle I managed to make a four-color hand-pulled photogravure. Be sure to check it out in Recent Work. Everything has come to a stand-still, however, due to a broken leg on 11 December 2008. Further work will resume as soon as I am ambulatory again.

Welcome to the new website for David Morrish and DeadCat Press!

Have a look around - hope you enjoy it!