The last week and a half I have been fortunate enough to participate in Penland’s Winter print residency. Margot Ecke, the master printer in letterpress, has been a breath of fresh air. She introduced me to trace monotypes and has managed to get me excited about a book project!
Recently my dear friend and ceramicist Veva Edelson asked me to assist her with a couple of projects. I helped her with the graphic design for the cream carton above. I also helped her update her website with new images, check it out: VevaEdelson.com. Watching her current work come together has been truly insightful. I love seeing the care and time that goes into each piece.
I went for two long walks today. Quiet and beautiful.
Here it is the new home of Two Step Press, Quill and Arrow and Flatbed Splendor. We are so happy to have found a nice home in West Asheville. The moving in starts on January 1st and hopefully by mid January will be wrapping up. We just have to get a Vandercook #4, Universal III, C&P, guillotine, and 4 Cabinets of type in. No sweat right?
I am so excited to be sharing space with such lovely and talented ladies! I couldn’t imagine a better way to start a new shop.
I recently decided to make a die cutting jacket for my Vandercook Universal III. The thought of being able to cut whatever shape I want out of paper sounds amazing. I could make boxes, hang tags, perforated pages! This is MAYBE a little nerdy but it got me really excited about new possibilities on the letterpress. So here is what it took — 1 piece of stainless steel sheet metal, 1 slip roller, 1 metal brake, 1 tig welder, 1 metal lathe, 1 vise, 1 file, 3 turn buckles, 1 guy who knows what he is doing, and me to run around getting screw drivers and files. Well that is most of what it took… We finished up the project today and as you can see from the last photo she make a nice clean cut. If you are also in need of a die jacket or if you have questions about how this thing work let me know. I am not an expert, but I know the guy who is.
I just got back from an adventure to New England. It was great to see new places and old friends (Jessica Heikes is rad!). I especially enjoyed my time in the middle of the snowy Maine woods sitting next to a very very old wood stove. Also, I finally got to visit John Barret’s Letterpress Things shop in Massachusetts. Above are photos of the bounty I left with! If you ever get the chance I highly recommend visiting his shop. It is stocked well, organized well, and John was a delight to speak with.
I finally came up with a press name. Two Step Press it is! You can check out the new cards I made this fall on my etsy site. More soon!
Last week our class went to visit Loy McWhirter at Hellbender Press. It was truly a treat. Loy has a vast collection of presses, type, books, and such. Some of my favorite things were the ATF Specimen book and Loy’s collection of oil cans.
Mercedes Jelinek came up from Louisiana to be the studio assistant in Thomas Neff’s photo class this past summer. On top of being a great photographer she has the rare talent of being able to make people feel comfortable and welcome in front of the camera. Each day at Penland she set up a portable photo booth and took passerby’s photos. After she processes the film she sends each person a quick contact sheet of the photos. It was fun to see people engaging in this project and even more fun to receive my photo strip in the mail last week. Check out her website here to see some of her recent projects.
I am an artist , designer and printmaker living and working in North Carolina. Go Away Winter is a collection of my days.
