This weekend was a little bit like Christmas morning in the shop. I finally received my order of wood type and gave them a first inking! Lots of different designs will be coming soon (I’ve been thinking about this for months!), but in the mean time, here’s a sneak peak:
Since my plate maker increased prices at the beginning of the year, I’ve been trying to get creative with the plates I have and use more moveable type (something I’ve been wanting to do anyway!). I have lots of beautiful quotes on my to-do list, but I don’t have enough characters in my larger typefaces to print an entire quote. Thus, I’ve been on the hunt for complete sets of wood type for a few weeks.
I can’t tell you how frustrating the search is—90% of what I find is ridiculously expensive “curated” collections of a few characters pulled from full sets to spell “LOVE” or “FAMILY” so someone can set them on a shelf. Why anyone would ruin a priceless set of vintage wood type to make a knock-off of something found at Hobby Lobby is beyond me.
Imagine my relief when I found Virgin Wood Type, a company making brand new wood type for letterpress printing in western New York. The undertaking must be a labor (lots and lots of labor) of love for proprietor Bill and I can’t even explain how ecstatic I was to find his work! Watch how it’s done here. I just ordered a small set to try it out and I’ve already picked the first full font I’m planning to buy if all goes well. Stay tuned and if you can, support Virgin Wood Type!
Several years ago, Barbara Brownie contact me to ask if she could include my White Noise Prints in a book she was working on called The Typed Image. As she was a professor, I figured it would be a small print run by an on-campus publishing house, but I was thrilled to be included nonetheless.
Three years, a title change and 224 pages later, Type Image is now available internationally. I’ve pre-ordered a copy and will hopefully be able to show off my page shortly, but in the mean time, here’s the cover!
Lately I’ve been thinking about changing out some of the art I have framed in my house—quite the project…I have a lot. The husband’s only requirement? “Don’t put so many holes in the wall that it compromises the structural integrity of our house, ok?” I’ve been feeling sorry for my poor neglected wood type, so the first order of business was the beautiful numeral print above. I also recently rekindled my love with intricate, over-the-top swashy scripts, so I designed a new plate from my queue of quotes for this “Life” print. I love the contrast of the sleek silver script on fibrous brown paper.
My chartreuse and grey-brown prairie letterpress card made it into one of my favorite treasuries yet. Thanks to fontlove for the collection!
622 press | LETTERPRESS GOODS MADE BY HAND 