umbrella on line

ISSN 0160-0699

Volume 30, No. 3, Sep 2007

From The Editor

And now we are 30. With this issue, we enter our 30th anniversary and although I should feel a veteran in this project, I often face each issue with trepidation, a few tremors, and yet the joy of sharing this all with you. It’s been a long run–and to celebrate our 30th anniversary, I am inviting you to send in (only if you wish) something verbal or visual to celebrate Umbrella’s birthday. It is very short notice, but I would love the small item (72 dpi for images) and whatever size you think is appropriate–and we will try to take it from there and make it fit. It would be nice to get these items by the first of December before the Christmas postal rush.

I also am asking you to send in any recommendations or suggestions as to what content you would like in the forthcoming issues in 2008. We can change, if we know you want us to change. Tell us what you read, what you don’t, what you feel is redundant–I have a lot of calluses now, and I really want to present you with something you cannot get anywhere else. I’ve tried–but there is oh, so much, now that I must cull–and I would like your suggestions.

As for this hectic season of art, globally, it is manifest here in Los Angeles as it is in New York. There were 94 openings on the opening of the “season” in September–all on the same night! It might be possible in New York, but in Los Angeles, it is wholly impossible to drive that much and that far–and who wants to do it! The traffic is now horrendous and gas is so expensive–so we map out what we want to see and keep within the confines of a reasonable area. It means catching up all the time and the impossibility of seeing everything. And so it goes!

I wish you a productive autumn and the joy of being part of this amazing community. The Artist Book World is standing on its own with great stability and growth, and as such, it produces an incredible amount of news, titles and a sense of community. It makes me feel so good that the forty years I’ve given to this field is not for nought. We have grown together–and we should be proud of this community. It is showing the world that this counts! No more margins, but long paragraphs!

Have a good November and see you sometime in December!

— jah