visualchemist

I love the vibe up here in the Seattle area, and the Spring season is super inspiring, but I was starting to having letterpress withdrawals. Since I was away from my equipment, I was itching to see what the local antique shop and flea market had laying around. I had a hunch I’d find some form of letterpress something or other for sale, so I visited the “rain or shine” Fremont Flea Market.

Among loose doll arms, vintage keys, and other etceteras, I found several cases of wood type laying around, but at a price I wasn’t interested in paying. In that sea of vintage wood type, I could not completely spell out “letterpress junkie” so I decided to pass. I wasn’t really planning on buying anything, anyway.

I came. I saw. I scratched the itch. The Mister would be proud of me.

Kelly from Paper Stories organized an awesome letterpress swap. The idea is for a bunch of letterpress printers to trade their prints with each other. I thought it would be a fun idea to participate, but unfortunately, I didn’t realize that my timeline would be cut so short because of our quick move up to Washington. We literally had less than a weeks notice to pack and get ready for the move! Aaahh! Time was of the essence and I did not have time to send out for plates. Determined to participate in the swap, I repurposed an old design concept I had created for Suburban Riot tees and proceeded to hand carve my design out of a spare linoleum block.

Sadly, the carved up block didn’t hold up too well in my Pilot. Perhaps the lines got too thin from all the pressure of each pull. I really wish I had given myself more time to design out a custom piece for the swap. I was literally dropping these off at the post office on the way to the airport. While letterpress is a rush for me, I wish I didn’t have to rush through this one. I’ll have to do another swap to redeem myself. Can’t wait to see the awesome prints from the trade!