Letterpress private instruction
Today a student came into the studio and printed a little set of these sweet thank you cards using our gorgeous 24-pt shadow typeface. Blind embossing on Crane’s Lettra letterpress paper.
Levigator Press
News
Introducing: Levigator Press Membership!
Hey everybody! I am so excited to finally get to share this with you. Beginning in March 2016, we will be offering a membership programme at the studio! We’ll be accepting just a small number of members to start out, with hopes of expanding as we carry out our wish list of studio upgrades. In our first (almost) year in Walkerville, we’ve had so many great supporters coming in and taking multiple classes, taking private instruction, and renting use of the studio, and becoming a member will make all that easier and more affordable. And you’ll get to be a part of something really fun!
Here’s how it works: you can sign up for a 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month membership, whichever works best for you. Membership is $25 per month, and for that you will get:
-two hours of studio rental or one hour of private instruction time free each month
-20% off the cost of all additional studio or private instruction time beyond your monthly free allotment
-20% off supplies and materials purchased from the studio
-50% off registration for group classes (no limits!)
-space to store your supplies and equipment in our studio instead of lugging it all back and forth
-the opportunity to piggyback on studio supply orders
Your studio time allows you access to and use of:
-letterpress equipment and type
-Nolan proof press
-Adana platen press
-intaglio press
-Chandler and Price paper trimmer
-woodcut tools
-bindery equipment and tools
-screen coating darkroom
-exposure table and washout facility
-screen printing table
-wood shop (table saw, mitre saw, drill press, jigsaw, sander)
To make the membership more awesome, we’re working on some major studio upgrades including: reorganizing the basement to have more functional (and separate) wood shop and screen preparation areas; constructing screen storage and cubbies for member use; building new, larger inking surfaces for relief and intaglio printing; setting up a dedicated screenprinting station; installing a better washout area for screens; purchasing a multi-colour t-shirt printing press.
And! Anyone who signs up for a 12-month membership between now and May 30th will be eligible to take part in a group show of our members, scheduled for the week of May 28-June 4 2017 at the Artspeak Gallery (Arts Council Windsor & Region). The show is already booked and Levigator Press is covering the gallery rental, so all you have to do is come to the studio and make some amazing work!
There aren’t a lot of spots available, so if you’re interested or want to learn more, give the studio a call!
Monoprint party
Tonight we had a few friends into the studio for a fun monoprinting session. They combined techniques of rolling and drawing ink onto the printing matrix with pressure printing, paper relief, and stencils. Some of the results were pretty fantastic!
If you want to try this, it’s a fun and easy introduction to printmaking if you’ve never done it before, and if you do have printmaking experience, it’s a low-investment way to try out some new ideas and techniques. There’s no carving, no prep work, and no editions! We have another session scheduled for March; check it out here: Monoprint Class link
Some of this week’s printing
This tricky lockup is the beginning of some new letterpress posters. It takes a good deal of time, and trial and error, to get these curved shapes locked in tightly, but the results are always pretty satisfying.
As so often happens after a printing session, I got hit with a case of “what else can I print this on?” fever, so used up what ink was left to make a small run of simple, fun cards:
Today in the studio
Today we had a student in for a private instruction session in letterpress. She printed a small set of cards and will be back next week to do another design!
Up the Mesh Count
We’re pleased to be working with Windsor based artist and art educator Michelle Soulliè€re on her new project Up the Mesh Count: Screenprinting For D.I.Y. Musicians, funded by Ontario Arts Council and the City of Windsor Arts, Culture, & Heritage Fund. We will be teaching local musicians how to screen print their own promotional materials and how to build their own screenprinting equipment, and producing a how-to zine on screenprinting to be distributed locally. Windsor is about to experience a D.I.Y. screenprinting revolution!
More information will be made available shortly, including where you can sign up for the workshop sessions (taking place in April, June, and September of 2016).
The project is also hiring! We need a studio technician to work with us throughout the project, and an illustrator to help with the zine. You can check out the contract postings here: Up the Mesh Count Studio Technician and Illustrator Posting
Drum leaf bookbinding class
Tonight we had a workshop in drum leaf bookbinding, an all adhesive (no sewing) method that produces a pleasingly sturdy little book with a fully integrated cover. It’s a great binding choice for artists because each two page spread is unbroken in the gutter. We love making these books. Here are the finished books:
Assembling the cover onto the finished, trimmed text block:
Rounding the corners on the finished book:
The success of this binding relies on having a high quality trimmer that can cut through an entire book in one go. Up until this week we haven’t been able to trim books like this properly in the studio because my 100-year-old Chandler and Price paper trimmer (Choppy) was in the basement of my home. But we finally mustered up the strength to move it to the studio, opening up a whole new world of bindery options. Here’s Choppy in her new home:
Letterpress workshop with SoCA students
This morning we had the students from Victor Romao’s Advanced Printmaking class from the School of Creative Arts, University of Windsor into the studio to set and print a collaborative broadside. It was a fun and energetic group of students and they made some great prints! Thanks Victor for bringing them out.
Today in the studio
Today I did the drawing on some new collaborative pottery pieces I’m making with The Pottery Cupboard. Our prototype bowls and cups have been pretty well received, and we’re expanding into serving trays next. Once these are dry I’ll put in the underglaze colour and send them back to Dayna to be fired. This is a little out of my comfort area, and so much fun!
Screenprint class
Last night’s screenprint students printing their two-colour images:
