The Old Mill

Where do you set up tons of presses and type? I tried my garage, but it just did not feel like the right place. I looked for an available building in town, and even toyed with the idea of building something new. Nothing had what I was looking for, until I heard there may be a possibility that the Old Agway building was available.

Not a place I would have chosen, until I toured it. The building was so full of light, especially the second floor. It also had the right atmosphere with exposed beams of maple, hemlock, and oak. Each level was wide open and full of potential.

I never dreamed I would take on a project like that. Had someone asked me a year ago if I was going to be spending my days working on an old building, I would have thought they were crazy. But here I am. I have helped my husband put on the roof, jacked up the beams from the crawl space below, ripped all damage from the leaking roof, installed new plumbing, painted and painted... it is almost done.

A Long Time...

My daughter just informed me that it has been a very long time since I posted to my blog. So much has happened in my printing world since 2009.

I have added more presses and type, each one was an adventure and a story.

I have also been busily printing and now have my stationery in a local store. The Angelica Main Street Gallery is located on West Main Street in Angelica, New York. The Gallery has an interesting assortment of antiques and artisans. One of those unique places with something for everyone, and with extra time you will want to make sure you check out the upstairs for some hidden treasures.

Boonie Bowls

While I have been printing, my husband has been turning bowls. He purchased a lathe this past fall and turned a couple of bowls. Since then he's found this a great pastime and he's become quite prolific. He's made bowls from walnut, spaulted maple, cherry, pine, and various burls. Each bowl is unique and the wood dictates what he makes. Some of his bowls have natural edges, while others have finished edges. The acorn was made from sumac. I'm always amazed at the different shapes, sizes, and colors that the turned bowls bring out. 

Stationery and Cards

Keeping up with job and family has kept me from posting as I should. I wanted to share some of the stationery I created around Christmas time.

For gifts, I made personalized sets of stationery which were handset and printed at home on Crane's Lettra paper using Van Son rubber based ink.

The Christmas Cards were created at Genesee Center for the Arts and Education on a Vandercook Press and finished on my Golding Pearl at home.

I loved the red, it was a perfect shade for Christmas.

Getting Started

Letterpress was just something I tried in junior high when my shop teacher had each student do a small printing project. I thought it was fun, but never imagined that I would pursue it any further. Jump ahead 25 years and a trip to New York set the wheels in motion.

My mother-in-law and I traveled to New York City to visit her nephew, a collage artist who was exhibiting his work at the Pavel Zoubok Gallery. I was intrigued by his work, a mixture of old fashioned items, ephemera, and fun. Entitled "Return to Angelica", I could see family and remembrances of my small town through his eyes. From the gallery we visited his circle of friends, much like family, and his neighborhood which felt like a small town in the big city. Our travels that weekend took us to the South Street Seaport Museum where he works as master printer in a working letterpress office. Operating a Golding Jobber, he and his staff produce and collect beautiful stationary, books, and paper fancies. There at the museum, I fell in love with the look and feel of letterpress print. Letterpress print allows you to feel the texture of a word.

After that weekend, my interest in letterpress continued. The problem was my remote location would make it difficult to utilize letterpress resources without considerable travel. So this past summer I decided to find a letterpress of my own. I mentioned this to a local second-hand dealer and he said that he would keep an eye out for a press. In November he informed me of an auction that would be held 15 minutes from my home. To my surprise, the auction was full of treasures. I purchased a Golding Pearl and 4 cabinets of type. Now all I needed was ink, paper, and time.