Letterpress

I can't believe I've been at my Eastern Papermaking apprenticeship for a full month now. The time is flying by and each day brings something new. Aimee has been an incredibly helpful and patient mentor and my papermaking skills are getting better all the time. Even from one day to the next, I can see myself improving. And by this point, I've scraped so much fiber that I'm pretty much an expert.

This Thursday morning, Ivey (my apprenticeship counterpart) and I got to come in before our shifts started so that Mason (studio assistant extraordinaire) could give us an orientation on the letterpress studio. While there was obviously a lot to cover, and printmaking has a whole vocabulary of its own, Mason was a good teacher and offered to help us with our projects when we're ready to actually print something. I just hope I can come up with an idea that's worthy of all the time and effort it takes to make a good print. Certainly, I'd like to start making books again soon, and the letterpress would be a great tool to actually make a printed book instead of just the blank books I've made in the past. Last summer I took a woodcut class at the Morgan with artist Andrij Maday, so I'll have to put my woodcut skills to use in order to make something to use on the press. That's probably more of a summer project, though, as I'm already over-committed with my current classes and projects.

Anyway, I think the most fun part of the letterpress orientation was getting to go through all the drawers of old wooden letters, etched illustrations, and stamps. This could definitely be the start of a whole new obsession for me.