A writer in New York: Printing and Pressing in the Big Apple

by Camille
 
As a writer and an aspiring book artist, I had a great opportunity to participate in the Letterpress Printing & Fine Press Publishing Seminar at The Center For Book Arts in New York in November. After submitting a portfolio of my writing, I was invited, along with seven other writers, to spend a week letterpressing and printing in the Chelsea District of New York City. For five days, I had the opportunity to meet with writers from a range of diverse backgrounds--writers teaching in art programs for youth to recent graduates from some of the top MFA writing programs in the country--who shared their insights and experiences from different cultural and social perspectives.

Press belt

The belt on my Vandercook press broke in the middle of a press run a few weeks ago. Actually, it didn't break, it got shredded! Eek. Just your normal wear and tear situation which couldn't be avoided. Luckily I was able to find a replacement pretty quickly and was printing 2 days later. Problem resolved...

Press transport

For those of you who ever wondered how I got my presses into the shop since they weigh a ton (literally!) here are some pics from the move. As you can see, all you need is a flatbed, a forklift, and a few strong men named Captain Hook and the Hicks Brothers...


Here's my C&P in it's original home, at the shop of Regis Graden, a well established printer who owned it for many many years. I was lucky enough to buy this press from him, he was well loved and mentored many aspiring printers. Regis passed away in 2005 a few months after I bought this press, so I named it after him.

Mini-Vandercook

My intern Stephanie gave me the cutest present for my 5-year shop anniversary--a mini-paper craft Vandercook press complete with a custom lockup! How printer-geeky and amazing is this?!! LOVE IT.


































You can make your own by clicking here. Thanks Stephanie for sharing! xoxo.