visualchemist

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!

Okay, that title sounds a little more dramatic than it needs to be. Well sadly, and happily, I just found out that my husband is going to temporarily be relocated to the Seattle area for a few months. That means I get to tag along, but it also means having to part with my presses for a few months. But not only do I have to part with my presses, I also have to say goodbye to my semester-long letterpress class that I have been taking with Rachelle Chuang, of the International Print Museum. Boohoo. Just when we were getting to know each other. =( I like her!

For my last session, I was joined by one of my old college instructors, Wendy Emery, who also happens to be a permanent fixture at the Print Museum. I was actually late to my last session because Wendy and I went to check out my next acquisition… a Challenge Advance 19″ guilloine table-top antique paper cutter! Woohoo! I’ll share more about that later… perhaps when I return from my trip.

I thought I’d share (part of) a class project. Disclaimer: It’s been years since I last carved into linoleum AND my prints weren’t coming out as solid as I would’ve liked. Maybe it’s an old piece of warped linoleum? Eh, better luck next time.

*And for those of you paying attention, yes, the “T” in that first shot would totally have shifted. I snapped the photo before the lock up was ready to go!