Archives for “studio”

in the studio: trace monotype

Yesterday morning Lisa and I got together in the chilly Levigator Press basement studio and made some trace monotypes in preparation for the class we’re running this Saturday.

Trace monotype is an easy introduction to making beautiful prints even if you have never tried printmaking or can’t draw. Your Japanese paper is laid face down over a slab of specially prepared ink, and lines are traced on a reference image taped to the back to pick up ink. It’s a direct transfer method that yields a single, precious print, loaded with rich linework and moody, atmospheric shadows.

Here you can see my print in progress, next to the slab from which the ink was picked up.

And here are our completed prints! Lisa juxtaposed a dreamy photo of one of her children with an image of a beloved artwork in her collection, while I made a portrait of a handsome sheep named Limerick who was raised by a friend, and whose wool I used for my warm winter gloves.

There are still some spaces available in the class, happening this Saturday, 26 January, in the asil studio here in Walkerville. If you’d like more information or to sign up, visit this link: asil trace monotype class.

2020 classes update

Friends, I want to thank you all so much for all of your messages of love and support after our big announcement. Giving up our wonderful public access studio is bittersweet, but I’m excited for the next phase for Levigator Press and it’s been so great to hear that you all have my back. There’s going to be much more raw hustle involved in bringing our workshops and products to you, but we’re looking forward to our new collaborations with the many amazing arts organizations here in Walkerville and beyond!

Whew! Now, back to business! We have some upcoming classes in the new year to tell you about:

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January 11, 1-3:30pm at Meta Makers Cooperative: Buttonhole bookbinding

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January 13, 20, and 27, 7-9pm at Fusion Fiber Arts: Sock knitting (sign up through Fusion Fiber Arts: https://facebook.com/events/591665678038334/?ti=cl)

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January 15 & 22, 7-9pm at Meta Makers Cooperative: Lino block printing

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February 4, 6:30-9pm at Artspeak Gallery: Retchoso bookbinding

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February 5, 6:30-9pm at Artspeak Gallery: Longstitch bookbinding with leather wrap cover

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February 12, 7-9pm at Meta Makers Cooperative: Trace monotype

You can register through our classes page as usual for our printmaking and bookbinding classes regardless of the venue, and visit Fusion Fiber Arts to register for the knitting. We have a few more classes in the works so keep an eye out! And as always, if you have something in particular you want to learn, drop us a line and we’ll do our best to set something up for you!

We’re in the home stretch for shop hours, open this week until Friday at 5pm, and this Saturday 11-4:30. Everything in the shop is still 20% off so come by and see us!

Studio news

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Hey there friends of Levigator Press: we have some Very Big News to share with you all. We’re super excited about it and hope you will be too!

At the end of this month, the Levigator Press studio and shop will be closing and we will be moving the majority of the printing equipment into our new home studio (part of the big building project we’ve posted about a few times this fall). We’ll no longer have a full time physical store, and the new studio won’t be open to the public. But! We will be able to do a lot more shows, pop-ups, and special events, and plans are in the works to bring our classes to other venues around Walkerville (Metamakers Cooperative, Artspeak Gallery, and Fusion Fiber Arts, for starters).

I have absolutely loved sharing my studio with you all over the past nearly five years. When I opened the studio in 2015 I hoped to create a welcoming space of learning and art-making, and the amazing students and artists who have come through my door since then have blown me away with their enthusiasm and their love of printmaking and bookbinding. I’m eternally grateful to all of you for helping me make this place the fun little community studio I had hoped for.

This new direction will make space for more collaboration with some of the other great arts organizations in our neighbourhood and allow me to do more shows, visit more classrooms, and teach a wider variety of skills. I can’t wait to see where it leads me and I hope that some of you will come along. You can keep tabs on the studio here and on social media for our new calendar of events in the new year.

For now, our 20% off sale will continue until our last day of business, so that you can stock up on Levigator Press gear and help me avoid having to pack and move it!

This post is in: news, studio

back to print school

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September’s here and the Levigator Press studio is back to regular hours. If you’re not sure how to get your fun now that summer is behind us, why not go BACK TO PRINT SCHOOL?

We’ve got loads of fun new classes coming up for fall and we have a special deal for those of you who are ready to immerse yourself in printing and bookbinding, or just want to get a head start on your handmade holiday gifts.

Sign up for any four classes and get 20% off the class fee; sign up for six or more and get 30% off! Just enter the coupon code PRINT SCHOOL 20 at checkout when you register online for 4 classes, or PRINT SCHOOL 30 when you register for six (or drop into the studio if you prefer to sign up in person). You can split the classes with a friend as long as you sign up together!

Check out the “classes” page on to see what’s coming up. We’re running some of our most popular classes and a few new ones. Now is your chance to try screenprinting posters or fabric, letterpress printing, block printing on fabric, bookbinding, monotype printing, drypoint, papermaking, and more!

The discount is valid for all classes currently on our schedule as long as you sign up before midnight on September 30. Discounted fees are non refundable and cannot be combined with other offers.

we’re back!

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Our summer show season is over for 2019 and we are working on putting the studio shop back together and gearing up for fall classes. Look at how pretty our new t-shirt shelving looks in the shop!

We’ve added new classes for August in case you need to get your print fix before the school year starts: letterpress posters, lino block printing, silkscreen monotypes, paper marbling, and a few different bookbinding techniques. We’ll be scheduling September over the next few weeks so get your requests in now if there’s something you want to take!

This post is in: news, studio

Type collecting

We have added some great finds to our type collection in the past few weeks! We recently visited the home studio of one of the proprietors of Morgan Press, a small press in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and purchased some of their type and ornaments:
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And our friend Nicole of Frontière Farm House picked us up a fun mixed basket of old wood type:

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Productive day in the studio

A full rack of prints, including loads of new screenprinted spring flower note cards, and colourful journal covers.

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This post is in: studio

Type sorting

We’re still sorting out the cabinet full of type that came from The Voice of Canadian Serbs, a community newspaper that was once produced on Drouillard Road here in Windsor. This is a fun one, and we have quite a lot of it:

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