Geek at heart

Serious Geek alert, you have been warned.....

I have been waiting and searching for a workshop to take, one that I could afford and be inspired by...
clearly those two concepts do not always go hand in hand.

I was told about a letterpress studio that was a short drive away and so I contacted them and I got signed up for a day of Letterpress 101

I was super excited as I have been dreaming and researching letterpress for a while....I have become a serious letterpress fan.

Much like the love for the sound of a shutter on a medium format camera...oh that is such a lovely wonderfully intoxicating sound, soo too is the sound of a letterpress to me.

I wasn't allowed to take Industrial Arts in junior high, my father was afraid I would cut off my fingers or hurt myself in some way....so I never got to take shop or anything. Instead I got a half a semester in home economics class with a teacher who thought I was going to blow up the kitchen or break the sewing machines.

so all this is BRAND NEW to me and super exciting.



I took the day off work and traveled to the local letterpress studio for an introduction day.

The studio was the artists converted garage, it was filled with three presses, flat files, an antique paper cutter (that looked like railroad equipment) and blocks of font and packing supplies.

I was given a quick overview of what each machine was called and how they use almost exclusively photopolymer for the letterpress now. (the same stuff I make my etchings with) except you needed to mail away for it...and so I was given a selection to pick from for the demo.
I picked a little bunch of poppies that she had drawn.

She showed me how to cut the paper and then how to ink the platen and turn on the Chandler and Price 10x15 press...

and then the sounds...ooooooooooooh the lovely sounds of the machine working.
I felt like a combination of a train engineer and Dick Van Dyke in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I was running this amazing machine that made things!
(super geek I know, I warned you)

I was shown how to load the art into the machine and we made notecards.

then it was all done.

I asked about Vandercook SP15 which is what I imagine when I think of letterpress, and was shown hers, it is used mostly for bookmaking which her business does as well. I had mentioned a desire to make a handmade book and she let me know that she could help me with that if I wanted.

All in all it was an informative day, I was given a general overview and printed some cards.

I can add it to my list of information and resources

and

now know that I need a bigger studio if I was to include letterpress into my life!

I came home with visions of a bigger studio in my head and dreams of printing all day and night long

here is my fantasty studio