Have you ever captured a butterfly? Almost a year ago, I managed to capture a really big bright orange one. Read my post regarding the day I captured a butterfly. “Madame Butterfly” was a Craftsmen Monarch 9″x12″ Tabletop Letterpress. Unused. Unloved. Growing old. Sitting in a dark garage in San Diego.

Those that have been following the events in my life know that my family and I made a temporary move up to the Seattle, WA area back in March and to keep my fingers inky, I brought along Madame Butterfly. My dad and uncle helped me build a black crate, suitable for a Monarch’s journey up to the Pacific Northwest.

We’ve been up here for seven months now and I’m loving every minute of it, but I just found out yesterday that my stay up in the Seattle area is coming to a close as of next month and then I head back home to SoCal. Boohoo. I really love it up here, too. The leaves are starting to turn red and fall is in the air.

I was thinking of selling my beloved “Madame Butterfly” while I was up here. I have a couple other presses that I’ll be focusing my time and energy on and would love to see her go to a good home. Here’s the spiel:

Craftsmen Monarch 9″x12″ Letterpress for Sale
Original orange paint
Comes with 2 chases
Feed/delivery boards intact
New rollers/new trucks (rollers recast July ’09)
Local to Seattle area or w/i reasonable driving distance (pickup/meetup only)
Accepting serious offers through Sunday, September 27
Looking to release her by end of month
Email visualchemist@gmail.com
Accepting offers – Serious inquiries only

If there are no takers, she’ll travel back down with me to San Diego, and if so, maybe she was meant to be mine in the first place.

UPDATED 09/20/09: Madame Butterfly is now spoken for and has found a suitable new home in Seattle, WA.

I was recently asked to design for the public good – a logo for Books of Hope, of New Hope Seattle (a registered non-profit Christian organization). Building around the organization’s established illustration of open prayer hands, I developed a logo inspired by their mission: Building Libraries and HOPE for Kids of the Future.

About BOH: Books of Hope was inspired by New Hope Seattle members, who recently returned from a trip from the Philippines. They visited various schools in squatter villages, where they witnessed Third World poverty firsthand. As the team worked with local educators, parents and students, they developed a huge heart to continue to serve overseas and perpetuate hope and new possibilities for future generations. Through literacy, education and reading materials, they believe these children will gain access to knowledge and build confidence to continue on to higher education. To make a 100% tax deductable donation, contact BOOKS OF HOPE – SEATTLE, 6549 Sunnyside Ave. N, Seattle, WA 9810 or call 206/579-9145 www.newhopeseattle.org

A half ton piece of history fell onto my lap the other day. Here he is, “Professor Cook,” a Vandercook Model 4OS. Rusty and missing a part, but totally restorable.

I say it fell onto my lap, and it practically did, during a business lunch with friend and former coworker, Jennifer Hohner of D’Lischka. Jen mentioned that her cousin, Greg, was trying to give away his “Vandersomething.” When she asked “I don’t want it, do you?” images of letterpress poster printing started dancing through my head. Without hesitation, I was on the phone with Greg and 4 days later, I was hauling Professor Cook down 405, via Santa Monica to San Diego.

This was a Pasadena Art Center College of Design press that found it’s way into Greg’s Santa Monica garage studio, where it sat unused for 10 years. It had gotten rusty over time, but a little love and elbow grease can easily fix that.

At 1,050lbs, I thought we’d need to hire a mover and rent a forklift to pick him up, but instead, I got a little lesson from my dad about leverage using a few scraps of wood and a car jack. Getting Professor Cook home was a task full of hurdles requiring getting him out of the studio, tackling the rough terrain of Greg’s backyard, meandering him through a narrow gate, getting past the turtle sand box, through the furnished patio, down the long driveway, up the ramp onto the U-Haul trailer, and then making the two hour drive to his temporary home.

A little poking around on the Vanderblog census revealed that there are currently 1,401 presses listed as having survived to this point in time worldwide, and of them, 25 are 4OS models. Worldwide! That just blows my mind. Thanks for the press, Greg and Jen! And thanks Dad and Uncle for helping me haul this thing.

*Dad’s dolly wheel died from the sheer weight of the press. Rest in pieces, old dolly wheel. You did a good job today.