Simplemente Maria Press: Prayer Flags & A Tale of Longing

Mary Heebner

Letterpress Printing by John Balkwill

I wanted to address climate change, and I learned that the different colors of the flags represent the five essential elements and so I wrote a poem to each of the elements, Invocations to the environment based upon the format of traditional Tibetan, prayer flags, handmade Pope painted paper alternate with text written cursive, addressing each of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, ether. The folded flag comes in a cotton pouch, a separate book, a tale of longing bound like a journal with hand painted and foil stamped covers, rests in the enclosure also written in cursive, printed the other press from photo polymer plates recalls a visit to a monk printing prayer flats at Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, India.