photo: P. Buer

Over the last 30 years, since graduating from York University with an M.F.A., TONY CALZETTA has exhibited continually in solo and group exhibitions. He works mainly on canvas and paper with occasional forays into the areas of sculpture and printmaking. He published a livre d’artiste, Acts of Kindness and of Love in collaboration with writer John Metcalf, and a folio of 20 hand coloured intaglio prints, War Stories For Children and Art Stories for Adults. In addition to commissioned works he is represented in public and private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe and he is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (R.C.A.). He recently was the subject of a one hour documentary produced and directed by Linda Corbett of Eyeris Productions.

more information on Tony Calzetta's web site

photo: Thomas King

LEON ROOKE is the author of seven novels including The Fall of Gravity, which was chosen by The Globe and Mail as one of 2000’s top books. His 1981 novel Shakespeare's Dog won the Governor General's Award and his novel A Good Baby was made into a feature film. Other major awards include the W.O. Mitchell Prize, the Canada-Australia Literary Prize, and the CBC Fiction Prize. He has published over 300 short stories, as well as poetry and plays, and is the founder of the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. He was recently appointed a member of the Order of Canada. A native of North Carolina who has lived in Canada for many years, Leon Rooke makes his home in Toronto and Mexico.

more information on Leon Rooke's web site

photo: Deb Grund

Words contained in images have always been important to DIETER GRUND. His early drawings demonstrate an interesting and playful relationship using words and images. At York University Eugenio Tellez introduced him to S. W. Hayter’s printmaking and Dennis Rowan’s aquatint method.
           
Tweaked along the way by Keiichi Hayano, Vincent Sharp, David Bolduc and John Snow, his commitment to printmaking deepened and in 1978 he established Presswerk Editions. Through collaborations with artists, poets, photographers and performance artists his Griffin Press has been a stalwart, generous and accommodating companion; allowing for a wide range of sizes to be accommodated in the many projects emerging from its' press bed.

Personal artistic interests led Grund to embark on projects that allowed him to explore the limits of his printing process. From impressions of deer hooves for Toby MacLennan to creating the atmospheric color blends of Rita Letendre in an etching and learning photogravure, he slowly built skills to better explore the possibilities of crushing ink into paper. Copper plate and wood plank became the matrices that yielded the most personally satisfying results allowing him to explore projects which straddle the hand made book and limited edition prints equally. Collaborating with Bill Morgan of “Lunar Caustic Press” in the early 1980's on text and design related projects, piqued an interest in hand made books which remains a strong element in Dieter Grund's own work and studio collaborations to this day. The Presswerk Editions studio catalog reveals repeated collaboration with artists such as David Bolduc and Tony Calzetta whose work with writers brings a fresh view to both the writing and the images. 

 

photo: Susan Dobson

ROBERT ENRIGHT has over 30 years experience as an art critic and cultural journalist in Canada. He is the Senior Contributing Editor for the Winnipeg-based arts magazine, Border Crossings, and the University Research Professor in the School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph, where he teaches in the Graduate Program. He is the author of Peregrinations, a collection of interviews with contemporary artists, and of a monograph on Eric Fischl published by Monacelli Press in New York. He writes regularly for the Arts section of the Globe & Mail and has contributed introductions, essays and interviews to some 40 books and exhibition catalogues. In 2005 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

KEITH FELTON started his apprenticeship straight out of school at 16, working at Grays Bookbinders of London. During this time he attended the London College of Printing where he gained his ‘City and Guilds’ certificate in advanced bookbinding. With his apprenticeship completed, he stayed at Grays to further study conservation and book repair for another three years.

While on holiday in Canada in 1981, he was offered a job at a Toronto bindery, but when he emigrated in April 1982 the company was in bad shape and could not hire him. So with a little help from some friends, Keith founded FELTON BOOKBINDING in Georgetown, Ontario, in the summer of 1982.

more information on Keith Felton Bookbinding's web site