Letterpress printer Mike has a special attachment to Bella Figura’s Charmed NY design! If you could hear the man speak you’d know that’s his hometown. Viva New York!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:13 p.m.
Miniature Cityscape
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Tag Archives: letterpress print shop
Blind deboss
Here is an example of beautiful letterpress blind deboss! The plate is printed with no ink leaving only an impression that is pressed deeply to create an interplay of shadow and paper.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 1:59 p.m.
Flat Printing
Here is another one of our presses that does flat printing AKA offset printing. It is a printing method where the inked plate presses against a rubber blanket that then offsets the ink onto the paper.
Tony (an offset printer) has printed 2 different patterned backings in tangerine and aubergine.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 12:14 p.m.
First Friday Potluck
July 1st was our monthly Boxcar potluck where we cook for each other and talk with those we don’t see too often. We feasted, we laughed, we cried (with laughter), we were serenaded by printer Dave, a true renaissance man. Not only is he a letterpress printer, he’s also a carpenter, a motorcyclist, a glass etcher, good joke teller, and as we were lucky enough to find out, a talented crooner, guitarist, & harmonica player- all at the same time! Kudos to you, Dave!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 1:30 p.m.
Choosing an Ink
No matter what color is chosen for a job, we most likely can find it here on our ink shelf. Go ahead, ask us for any color!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 12:14 p.m.
New Family Member
Meet our beautiful, wonderful, shiny new Original Heidelberg “S” Press. She can run a sheet size of 22 1/2″ x 32 1/2″ and has a splendid array of rollers to do her might letterpress work. What a hunk of love!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:30 p.m.
A printshop follower
This fella has been following us for years from the last space to where we are now. Guarding our ink wall steadily, she has officially earned mascot status!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:29 p.m.
A slew of letterpress printers
Chris, Stan, Dave & Jim are a mighty force running their Heidelberg Windmill letterpress machines.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 12:55 p.m.
Pre-printing
Mike is trimming his photopolymer plate so it can be lined up easily on the handy dandy Boxcar Base. Once in position, the plate is inked up for letterpress love!
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 10:22 a.m.
Born in the Sky- Letterpress Poems by Pediatric Patients
Here at Boxcar Press we love hearing stories of letterpress doing good! We were honored when asked to donate our photopolymer plates to a letterpress printing project headed by the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. The School of Visual Concepts teamed up with Seattle Arts and Lectures through their Writers in the School’s program. Working with a local children’s hospital they planned to create poetry broadsides with children who are terminally ill. We were privileged to be included and gladly donated our photopolymer plates. It’s an amazingly moving project (try reading over the poetry and keeping your eyes dry), and it reminds us of how cool the letterpress community is, and what great things we can all accomplish together.
The children wrote poems as part of a legacy project. The poems were printed as letterpress broadsides and included in a portfolio. Everyone pitched in on this project, from 12 letterpress printers volunteering their time, Mohawk Papers donated the paper, and a book cloth company (Ecological Fibers) donated materials for creating the actual portfolio.
Each child’s family will receive several copies and the others will be distributed to local children’s groups and hospitals to be auctioned off as a fundraiser. There is a limited edition of 75 on each.
Many thanks to all who were involved: Seattle Arts & Lectures, Seattle Children’s Hospital, School of Visual Concepts, Mohawk Fine Papers, Puget Bindery, Ecological Fibers, Boxcar Press.
