Dear friends,

We have slipped into February on an ice floe here in Maine. I’m talking both the meteorological and predatorial, if you catch my drift. It’s damn cold but thankfully we’re fans, at least, of the snow piled high outside our doorway and the more intimate interior time the weather dictates. We can hear ourselves think. We’re working on so many things that excite us and keep our fires burning. 

First of all, we marked the New Year, as is our tradition, with a card conceived by an artist. This year’s is by Daniel Minter. Not only is it beautiful and carries a strong message but it also celebrates 15 years of Two Ponds Press. How did that happen?! An updated catalogue is forthcoming. I hope you received a card but if you didn’t and would like to, just include your snail mail address (because we love paper!) on our contact page. We’ll get one out to you in March.

Above: Daniel Minter in his studio with his studies for Revelations, this year's artwork for the Two Ponds Press New Years card!

We’re packing for CODEX! Eeeeee! In a bizarre confluence of disparate interests colliding, the Bay Area is hosting both the Super Bowl of fine press fairs and.... well...... THE Superbowl- Go Pats! While we lack team jerseys and balls being thrown around at great force, which is vigorously frowned upon, CODEX is a very thrilling event for bibliophiles, artists, writers, papermakers, printers..... I could go on. You’ll never see as many book arts practitioners, fans and collectors in one place as this biennial book fair and symposium. Please come see us at our tables 91-92 at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland February 7-10, 2026.

And boy do we have a rousing table! Joining us over the 4 day fair will be a veritable salon of Two Ponds artists and makers. It’s a party!

Anneli Skaar, Two Ponds Press creative director, designer and book artist of Nansen’s Pastport and Island Whale, under the Two Ponds imprint and Monarch under her own. In our book, she’s a legend. 

John Paul and Ardie Caponigro will be with us. We will be debuting our most recent book, CAPONIGRO CONVERSATIONS. It’s a stunner. It celebrates the work of Paul Caponigro and son John Paul Caponigro, both master photographers, writers and musicians. The book is a conversation between them using pairings of their images, words and audio recordings. Paul was the master of black and white film and John Paul of digital color, but both are known for their spiritual and mystical interest in natural forms expressed in landscape and still life.

This multimedia production includes a vinyl LP (we are a tiny record label now!) of classical piano recordings by Paul and original poetry readings by John Paul on the flip side. Introduction by Shannon Perich. Offset printing by Stephen Steinour. Archival inkjet pigment prints by Blazing Editions and John Paul Caponigro. Design and typography by Anneli Skaar. The edition is bound and boxed by Amy Borezo of Shelter Book Works. Edition of 50. 

Sarah Horowitz of Weisedruck Press who we are fortunate enough to represent and is illustrating our upcoming trilogy of Margaret Wise Brown stories (image above). Prepare to be charmed. We will have preparatory material with us and look forward to releasing this unique collection later this year.

Lesia Maruschuk is joining us from the far north of Canada. We represent her work which we discovered while she was doing a book arts residency at the book arts studio at Maine Media Workshops. Her work examines memory, displacement, and the transmission of historical trauma, with a particular focus on Ukraine and its diasporas. She works across photography, artist books, film, performance, and archival forms.

Angela Lorenz is coming all the way from Bologna, Italy to join the gang. We represent her work and are delighted that she will be with us to talk about her evocative books. Italian spoken at our table!

Amy Borezo of Shelter Bookworks, esteemed book binder who has bound so many of our edition, the latest being Conversations by Paul and John Paul Caponigro, has her own table.

Gabby Cooksey of Bound By Cooksey, who did a masterful tattooed binding for CAKE by Cig Harvey.

Have I overwhelmed you yet? One more thing! The National Museum of Women in the Arts is mounting an exhibition titled Women to Watch in 2027: A Book Arts Revolution. With thanks to Nominating Curator John Buchtel, Curator of Rare Books and Head of Special Collections at the Boston Athenaeum, the Massachusetts State Committee proudly introduces its 2027 Women to Watch nominees, which includes three Two Ponds Press collaborators on the New England shortlist! NMWA’s curator then selects a single artist from these nominees for the Women to Watch exhibition in Washington, DC in 2027.

Anneli Skaar

Amy Borezo

Abigail Rorer, Lone Oak Press, who illustrated our very first book, INTERIOR SKIES by Anthony Hecht. It’s the book that got us started.

and

Sarah Hulsey whose work we admire but have not worked with.

The four nominees will show their work and have a panel discussion led by John Buchtel at the Boston Athenaeum on March 11, 4-5:30 pm! Stay tuned for more information.