My last Letterpress project did not turn out as I had hoped. My Alphabet set in Onyx, plus numbers and symbols, was, I decided, about as exciting as an eye test. My classmates’ Alphabets are a funky arrangement of large wood type in “Condensed Gothic,” a clever poem in “Valiant,” and a sweet little play …
Letterpress
Now I know my A, B, C’s…Letterpress Week 6
My mother was once told by a school evaluator that her kindergartner had a “slight fine-motor disability;” I have never been able to color inside the lines, I am not to be trusted with dispensing superglue, and it takes me a few tries to put my house key in the lock. I suspect this generalized …
Letterpress, giving, pinecones, and fractals (keep up)
This week in Letterpress class, I finally printed a real project. It is a bookmark to commemorate a mission at my church, the Giving Tree. You might know the Shel Silverstein children’s book of the same name, about giving, pretty much until it hurts, out of love. The Giving Tree at church has collected hygiene …
Letterpress, giving, pinecones, and fractals (keep up)Read More
Give me some space: Letterpress Week 4
Mechanical Precision My left hand is numb. I am not used to gripping a composing stick for three hours. My kid-sized hand does not curl around it comfortably, so the metal edge digs into the webbing where my thumb meets my hand. But this is how it’s done – you hold the type in place …
Just my type: Letterpress Week 3
I had this strange dream where everything was both upside down and backwards, but somehow I still knew what was going on even if I couldn’t begin to explain it. Wait a minute…that wasn’t a dream, that was Letterpress class last week! Put it into words In the computer world, any good word processing program …
A word, please; New Adventures in Letterpress
How big is your font? There is something kind of Freudian about Letterpress. So says Mitch the instructor at my first Lovin’ Letterpress class at GCAE. Is it the hulking machinery, the type that comes in all shapes and sizes, or the fragrances of solvents and oil-based inks? We “unleash the beast” (a giant paper …
The Enormity Of Tiny Decisions
Make A Run For The Border Over fifteen years ago, my sister and I were rear-ended waiting to turn left into Taco Bell. The impact was pretty hard and my sister’s car was crunched, but drive-able. We pop a couple Advil for headaches and carry on our evening at the mall (she blames me for …
Catch a squirrel, change your life. Same difference.
First, show no fear. One day last week I return home from work to find “evidence” that a pest has invaded our house. A puddle on my desk and droppings here and there make that much clear. I presume a mouse, so buy an armful of mousetraps and, grumbling like a lunatic, patrol the house …
Catch a squirrel, change your life. Same difference.Read More
