| Title | To the Water's Edge |
| Artist / Creator | Emily García |
| Press Name | Cathemeral Press |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Portland, Oregon |
| Publication Date | 2016 |
| Process / Technique | Letterpress printing, ink drawing, handwriting |
| Structure / Binding | Longstitch variation; each signature is a single-sheet "map-fold" booklet |
| Medium / Materials | Leather, linen thread, lucky stone |
| Paper Stock | Handmade mulberry paper |
| Number of Pages | 100 pages |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 3 x 4.125 x 1.125 inches closed. Extends out to 15 inches. |
| Edition Size | Edition of 15 |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
To the Water's Edge began to take shape during a 2300-mile journey to the bedside of my dying grandfather. The book's structure hearkens to my journals, with a twist: the first and last signatures unfold to reveal maps of the regions surrounding Washougal, WA, and Ithaca, NY, respectively, and the continuous line running between them is a representation of the distance I traveled. Other signatures reveal trail maps. Hiking is how I ground and center myself, and Grandpa Fox was the person who taught me to move quietly in the woods. As I collected and drew the maps for this book, water emerged as the defining element. It is present in each of the hikes depicted, and holds the landscape in a familiar shape even when all the other features are stripped away. So too has the previous year been an exercise in recognizing what remains, what is essential, in the face of loss. I dream, I write, I hike. Every time I set out, I hear Grandpa's voice, naming the tracks, spoor, flowers, and trees.
Artist Bio
Emily Antonia Fox García is visual storyteller based in Portland, Oregon and Washougal, Washington. She works across several disciplines, including book design, bookbinding, letterpress printing, photography, memoir, and poetry. Her artist books explore themes of identity, heritage, place, and the relationship of humans to natural world. She is a 2015 recent recipient of a RACC professional development grant, which enabled her to study traditional bookbinding, tool making, and papermaking with master binder Jim Croft. Emily's business, Cathemeral Press, works with individuals and families to create heirloom-quality, illustrated personal history books.