Tag Archives: letterpress fun

Workspace Spotlight: Headcase Press

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Letterpress printer Nicole Monforti of Headcase Press has a dual career.  When she isn’t finessing ink through her presses, she makes jewelry from recycled lead type in her New Bedford, Massachusetts studio.  This printer and designer is all for following wherever her art and presses take her.  Recently, she completed a custom order for cufflinks for some of the cast of the Disney Broadway musical “Newsies,” and she can often be found at local artfests in the eastern Massachusetts area. Nicole is a proud member of Ladies of Letterpress and will be displaying her stationery and jewelry for the second year at the 2012 conference in Asheville, North Carolina in August. Walk through the door of her workspace and take a look around.

THE PRESSES: I have four – A 10 x 15 Heidelberg Windmill, a 8 x 12 New Style C&P, a Vandercook 14 proof press and a 3 x 5 Kelsey that I use for demos at shows.

SIZE OF PRINT SHOP: About 800 sq. ft in a shared space of 2,000 sq. ft.

TYPE OF SHOP: Commercial.

THE LOCATION: The space itself is great – it’s an old mill building so it has lots of old industrial elements and high ceilings.

FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE SHOP: I love the paint job in the shop, especially the red stripe (which was not easy to get straight!), and the history of the building itself. I love thinking about all of the things that have been made here over the past 100 years.

NUMBER OF PRINTERS IN SPACE:  The space is shared with a classical figure sculptor and one printing intern (Will is the red haired guy). He’s a recent Montserrat College of Art (my alma mater) graduate and he works for me as a part time pressman.

MOST VALUABLE SHOP TOOL: Probably my slug cutter, making the jewelry without one would be nearly impossible. After that, it’s a three way tie between tweezers, a pica ruler & locking quad guides.

FAVORITE INK: Holyoke Fine Papers (a local company) makes rubber & soy based inks that I really like. I’m partial to their “moss”.

SOLVENT OF CHOICE: Colorlok Glaze Off works miracles!

PLATE AND BASE OF CHOICE: I use the deep relief Boxcar base for the C&P and the standard for the Heidelberg. I’ve used them for the past year or so.

OIL OF CHOICE:  Mobil DTE oil extra heavy for the Heidelberg. WD40 for squeaky parts on the C & P.

WHAT TYPE OF RAG DO YOU CLEAN UP YOUR PRESSES WITH:  Old T-shirts. I think the jersey material works best.

FLOORING MATERIAL: Gorgeous wood floors!

FLOOR PLAN TIPS:  Keep your paper cutting/folding station far from the presses, because you just never know….

PIED TYPE: 300 lbs currently, waiting to be cut and turned into jewelry. (Hell box donations are always welcome!)

ORGANIZATION ADVICE: Post-it notes, I have them on everything.

PRINTING ADVICE: Make sure you have room to move around. I crammed things in at the beginning and I’ve since re-arranged about 4 times to make it more user friendly.

Boxcar Talk With Laura Bentley

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After dipping her toes into the world of letterpress at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle, all it took was a few choice experiences to get Laura Bentley of Pinwheel Press hooked on printing—a Vandercook here, a jaunt with typesetting there, plus one unforgettable brush with Gordon Franklin press that made her passion a full-frontal phenomenon. But as Boxcar Press sat down to discover, Laura is more than the sum of her letterpress loving parts.

UP CLOSE WITH LAURA BENTLEY When I was young I enjoyed doing artsy things, but in college I went a different direction and got a Computer Science and Accounting degree.  By day I’m a computer consultant mostly for a dance studio that teaches social dance—ballroom, salsa, and swing.  I run their website, set up their sales system, and do their bookkeeping. So, I’m a hobby letterpress printer, and try to squeeze in time to print when I can.  I also volunteer as a teaching assistant for the letterpress classes at SVC (School of Visual Concepts) in Seattle.

INK IN THE BLOOD I first took a class at SVC in Seattle.  I was hooked right away.  Exploring the school shop felt like a treasure hunt.  With my first printing projects I tried to include as wide a variety of type and ornaments as possible, and enjoyed the challenge of typesetting them in crazy but-still-safe-to-print ways. I love typesetting and using the vintage equipment.  I was thrilled to find an art form where I could use my attention to detail and logistics to produce results.

EXCEPTIONAL IN THE EVERGREEN STATE My print shop is in the basement of my house.  The walls are unfinished, but colorful with printed work.  I have an 1863 Gordon platen press, a tabletop No. 0 Vandercook proofing press, and a very cute sign press that I use for proofing type.  I have two cabinets of type, and I’m always trying to be creative with how to fit in more.  I also have a 16” Challenge paper cutter that I fixed up real pretty.  My favorite thing about it is the old vintage equipment— I like to think about all the work they printed over their lifetimes.

PRINTING LEGACIES I feel blessed to be part of a printing community that is filled with talented printers who are very generous with their knowledge and time.  Two of my favorite mentors are Jenny Wilkson and David Black.  Jenny is the manager of the SVC shop and has a talent for developing students to do their best work no matter what style of printing—dainty and detailed invitations to raw and chunky posters with wood type.  She always has suggestions for projects that take them to the next level.

David Black is a fellow teaching assistant and a print artist.  I personally consider him a mechanical genius as he can fix almost anything, and has a real gift for explaining how things work.  But what inspires me most is that he makes time to print most every day.  He once printed a little card that had a tiny ornament of a car and the text said “Tiny car”; only black ink on white paper.  It was a great reminder to me that you don’t always have to be printing big extravagant projects, but can print quick fun things, and you’ll learn something with each new thing you print.

PRINTER’S PARADISE I design what I print. But that’s probably expected for a hobby printer; I don’t do job work.

PRINTING FEATS Our printing community just finished up a project where we partnered with a non-profit group of writers that works with patients in Children’s Hospital to help them write poetry.  Sixteen printers each printed a broadside of a poem, to create an edition of poems that are bound in a portfolio.

It’s always a challenge to design something to catch the spirit of someone else’s words and imagery. Also the edition size was 100, which with five print passes was a huge printing project for me.  I had never printed an edition of that size before.

BOXCAR’S ROLE Boxcar Press has helped me with the above broadside project, and others, by producing quality photopolymer plates.  I love handset type for hobby work, but for more flexibility and efficiency, it’s hard to beat photopolymer.

PRESS HISTORY A gentleman named Carl Montford, the self-nicknamed “press matchmaker,” matched me up with an 1863 Gordon Franklin press.  It was in the basement of a local artist that wasn’t using it anymore.  It’s a great match for me, because it’s a smaller platen press (chase about 7 x 11) and we needed to get it down into my basement.  The press would be a little wonky for production work, but it suits a hobby printer like me just fine.

SHOP TIPS Listen to your press.  Listen to it when it’s printing well—learn the pattern of sounds it makes.  Then someday when it makes a noise that’s new and unfamiliar you’ll notice it and be able to tend to it before things go awry.

WHAT’S NEXT Need to fix some inking issues with my platen press, and print more!

Big thanks out to Laura for letting us take a look at the wonderful whirl at Pinwheel Press!

April Showers Free Vector Set

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It seems like spring has finally settled in and what a better way to celebrate  the sunny spring season, letterpress lovers, with a spiritedly Spring vector set! The festive set includes two Mother’s Day Greetings, a beautiful engraving of a lop-eared rabbit, an adorable pair of puddle splashing children, a clever note card header, and a delectable set of strawberries & raspberries for the gardener within us all. All are free for use and in both EPS and PDF format. Enjoy!

Rob LoMascolo Featured on Fortnight Journal

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Letterpress artist Rob LoMascolo of Upstate New York talks about the traditional craft of letterpress printing in a recent collaborative effort known as Fortnight. Fortnight is an online multi-media and documentary project that’s been put together by a group of 20-somethings to recognize different disciplines that honor the past while defining the path of the future.

LoMascolo is one of Fortnight’s fourteen contributors, and he talks about the traditional craft of printing that has exploded again in the digital age.  He is featured with his Challenge Proof Press in this instructional video as he provides a lesson in Letterpress 101.

Fortnight Journal traveled to the Finger Lakes in New York to interview and film Rob in his studio.  We are pleased that not only is Rob showcased for his printing prowess but he’s a neighbor of ours and prints right down the highway from Syracuse.

To find out more about this project, visit fortnightjournal.com/about.

A Sweet Suprise From Igloo Letterpress

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A delightful surprise awaited us in the pre-press department of Boxcar Press two mornings ago, bearing sweet tidings (and cookies!) from the baker/printer extraordinaire behind Igloo Letterpress, Allison Chapman. The last of the delicious cookies have mysteriously vanished but in its place is a big thank you going out to Allison for the wonderful present!

Central New York Couple’s Letterpress Excursion

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Letterpress love is in the air! Or at least that’s the case of this soon-to-be-hitched Central New York couple, Douglas Trojan and Erin Reynolds. The pair printed custom letterpress invitations for their upcoming Big Day, and the experience has brought them closer by means of laughs, inks, and whole lot of printing fun!

The couple caught up with us first with a nifty visit last month to get the full tour of Boxcar Press (as well as to get a few pointers on their project). Armed with good advice, Douglas and Erin purchased their custom made plates and the rest is history.

Check out their printing adventure from start to finish here and get a sneak peak at the finished invitation!

Boxcar Talk With Lenor Mirochna of Paprika Letterpress + Design

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Take a large helping of letterpress love, add a smidgen of luck when finding the perfect press, pour in slowly more than a few cups of excellent design experience, add an enchanting creative streak, and you’ve got the divine recipe behind Paprika letterpress + design. Lenor Mirochna lets us in on the flavorful story behind the letterpress and design studio powerhouse. Read on to get the full scoop.

SPICING UP LETTERPRESS Paprika letterpress + design has been an adventure since day one with a serendipitous beginning. Short story about my background: I studied design at a number of different colleges and universities from Detroit to NYC. I began my design career in the mid 70’s; the beginning of computer typesetting where artwork was prepared using rapidograph pens, Xactos, photostats and hand done mechanicals.  There is a LOT to be said for the fabulous resources and possibilities of today’s graphic design. My experience has included ad agency design and art direction, owner of several graphic design firms, freelance design, commercial printing sales and print services buyer.

INK IN THE BLOOD I was interested in the process of letterpress and looking for a creative venture where I could use my design skills and love of color. I began to think about a local printer I met about 10 years ago who had a print shop in my town. On a whim, I stopped in one day and asked Dan Dewechter, the owner of Constitution Press, a 120 year old, continuously operating print shop, whether he had any letterpress equipment he was interested in selling. As luck would have it, he did. In fact he was consolidating and liquidating much of his shop having decided to explore other career options.

That is where I first met my circa 1916 Chandler and Price 8 x 12 press, all 1250 lbs of iron.  Along the way I also contacted Alan Runfeldt of Excelsior Press in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Interested in more hands-on-printing experience, I signed up for a day-long class with Alan and had a blast printing on a variety of presses.

FLOURISHING IN THE GARDEN STATE I am currently set up in a small garage studio. I hired some renovation help and we painted, insulated, refreshed and reorganized the space 6 months ago and now it is much more aesthetically pleasing as well as energy efficient. I am looking to expand my capabilities by purchasing another press by the end of the year.

PRINTING LEGACIES As a printer for over 30 years, Dan Dewechter has a wealth of knowledge and experience that you can’t find in a textbook. He not only worked with me, but also gave me pointers and patiently explained the idiosyncrasies of the process. He was generous with his time, talent and skills and is the person to credit or blame for what I ‘m doing now — right, Dan?

DESIGNED FOR PRINT I design and print. Currently, I am continuing to add to a line of greeting cards, notecards, and soon-to-come calendars. It’s been an adventure exploring the techniques and mechanics of letterpress printing. I have just scratched the surface of custom work and have collaborated with clients on custom pieces which has been extremely rewarding and a ton of fun.

PRINTING FEATS Letterpress printing is a beautifully complex yet simple process.  I love the colors, the feeling and the fun exploration of papers and technique. I’m not really sure I’d call it “my life’s work”.  I really like it and I’ll see where it takes me.

BOXCAR’S ROLE It was Alan who suggested I check out Boxcar Press to purchase plates as well as acquire more knowledge of the letterpress industry. Frequently posted videos and industry information on the Boxcar website has deepened my letterpress education. All of my plates are ordered through Boxcar Press and they have been an excellent, reliable resource for me.

GETTING STARTED When it was time to get my press, I contacted Dan, rented a trailer, asked my engineer husband to check out the situation and set the moving date.

When I arrived to pick up the press (haha- that’s a good story there) the fun began. (see the pictures) Dan was invaluable and incredibly generous in helping me get my shop set up.  Along with the press he gave me just about every possible piece of equipment needed to get started and in fact things I didn’t even know I needed.

Seriously. He included  quoins, 3 C &P chases, furniture, sets of guides, large roll of tympen paper, packing sheets, extra set of BRAND NEW rollers still in their box, cans of pre-mixed pantone ink colors, press wash, large “stone” on which to lock up the base, roller puller tool, sticky finger goo and stacks of  different types of paper to get me started. And more. And he helped move the press. Dan was amazingly helpful and I like to think he was happy to see the press go to someone who would work it and not sold as scrap.

WHAT’S NEXT My plans for 2012 include adding a new press to my shop, working with more custom clients and continuing to create new pieces for the Paprika letterpress + design line. My retail outlets include stores in Charleston, South Carolina, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and other areas of Pennsylvania. My cards have been featured in Culture Cheese Magazine and soon to be in USEF’s Equestrian magazine. In the future I’d like to grow the Paprika Letterpress brand specifically within the specialty retail and hand-made-art market nationwide.

Many thanks to Lenor for letting us take a look into the wonderful world of Paprika Letterpress + Design!