A Local Letterpress Resource

Your guide to almost everything you can do locally to get involved in the inkiest of print media. Inspired by the April 2010 cover story in City Arts magazine. (Did we miss anything? Add to the list in the comment form below.)


Photograph by Andrew Waits for City Arts.

LEARN
classes, workshops, studio space

The Abactors’ Hideout at Smoke Farm (Arlington, WA)
smokefarm.org

Book Arts Guild (Seattle)
More classes and events for printers and book artists
bookartsguild.org

Cornish College of the Arts (Downtown Seattle)
Summer adult programs offer studio courses in Book Arts.
cornish.edu

Pratt Fine Arts Center (Central District)
Studio courses in 2d arts, including printmaking and letterpress.
pratt.org

School of Visual Concepts (Seattle)
Introductory classes with one of the best-equipped shops in the city.
svcseattle.com

Seattle Center for Book Arts
Classes and events for printers and book artists of all levels.
seattlebookarts.org

Seattle Central Community College
Their publishing arts program incorporates letterpress
work into a professional degree program.
seattlecentral.edu

The Windowpane Press
Classes and more from printer and bookbinder Bonnie
Thompson Norman, who teaches at her home studio and at SVC
thewindowpanepress.com

 


Pulling a freshly printed letterpress piece at Wayzgoose in Tacoma, 2008. Photograph by Michael Knowles.

LOOK
exhibits and book arts displays

Beautiful Angle (Tacoma)
Letterpress poster design meets guerilla art.
beautifulangle.homestead.com

Collins Memorial Library – Univ. of Puget Sound (Tacoma)
A regular source for book arts events and information.
pugetsound.edu

Kings Books (Tacoma)
Hosting a Wayzgoose (shown above) April 25, 2010
kingsbookstore.com

UW Book Arts Collection (U District)
lib.washington.edu

Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers (Pioneer Square)
wlbooks.com

 


Letterpressed coasters from Swash Press in Wallingford, Seattle.

BUY
stationary, books, special edition posters and broadsides – even wedding invitations – you can’t find anywhere else

Anagram Press (Tacoma)
anagram-press.com

Arts & Crafts Press (Port Orchard)
artsandcraftspress.com

Beautiful Angle poster project (Tacoma)
beautifulangle.homestead.com

Bison Bookbinding & Letterpress (Bellingham)
bisonbookbinding.com

C.C. Stern Type Foundry (Portland)
ccsterntype.org

Chanterelle Modern Letterpress (Fall City)
chanterellepress.com

Evolution Press (Ballard)
evolutionpress.net

Myrtle Alley Press (West Seattle)
myrtlealleypress.com

Stumptown Printers (Portland)
stumptownprinters.com

Swash Press (Wallingford)
swashpress.com

Stern & Faye Letterpress Printers (Sedro-Woolley, WA)
sternandfaye.com

Springtide Press (Tacoma)
springtidepress.com

 

ONLINE COMMUNITIES
discussion, nationwide directories and how-to guides on getting started

Briar Press
Dedicated to the preservation of letterpress-era equipment
and the art of fine printing.
briarpress.org

Five Roses Intro to Letterpress
fiveroses.org

“I Love Letterpress” blog
iloveletterpress.com

The Rag & Bone Blog
ragandbone.com

Making Books Blog
makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com

Seattle Center for Book Arts
Classes and events for printers and book artists of all levels.
seattlebookarts.org



Jessica Spring at work in her Tacoma studio, Springtide Press. Photograph by Andrew Waits for City Arts.

MVPS from our story
people you may want to take classes with or just follow their work

Jessica Spring, Springtide Press (above)
Leader of the book arts movement in Tacoma.
springtidepress.com
springtide@isomedia.com

Chandler O’Leary, Anagram Press
Talented illustrator who has designed a previous cover of City Arts Tacoma.
anagram-press.com
chandler@anagram-press.com

Griffith Williams
willagr@verizon.net

Lisa Hasegawa
Lisa teaches letterpress at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, serves on the board for Seattle Center for Book Arts, and is sole proprietor of ilfant press.
ilfant.com
lisa@ilfant.com

Carl Montford
A 72-year-old former Boeing draftsman, and an amazing artist who teaches wood engraving and letterpress printing at his home studio and at SVC.
candbmontford@clearwire.net

Jenny Wilkson
Founder of SVC’s program.
wilkson.net
jenny@wilkson.net

Comments

April 3, 2010 at 7:59 AM | Jenny
In the Buy category: http://www.nottapixiepress.etsy.com  Currently a featured interview on printsy: http://printsy.blogspot.com/2010/03/printsy-interview-jenny-craig.html
April 3, 2010 at 7:59 AM | Jenny
Day Moon Press on Beacon Hill is a commercial letterpress printshop that has been in continuous operation for more than 30 years. They don't have a website, but you can reach them by email daymoon@quidnunc.net or read more about them here: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20061001&slug=pacificportrait01
April 6, 2010 at 5:30 PM | NaniPrints
UW Book Arts Collection is more than a book collection, it's an incredible creative resource for book artists. If you're looking for information about a specific binding technique, book artist, woodblock print illustrations, or anything else you can think of, call ahead for an appointment. The collection's curator, Sandra Kroupa (a national living treasure of all things book arts related), or one of her staffers, will meet with you, examples from the collection in hand, and tell you all about how they were made. 
April 7, 2010 at 9:12 PM | ceviche
In your article on NW Letterpress, I noticed the name of a "Will Ransom"--the so-called "Man from Snohomish."  If he happens to be the same person as the "Bill Ransom" who co-authored a book with Frank Herbert (Dune), then you missed the letter press connection to Port Townsend's Copper Canyon Press. Back in the 70's and 80's, Sam Hamill (editor/co-publisher) and Tree Swenson (do-publisher) held poetry printing workshops sponsored by the Centrum Foundation.  During the late 70's, Bill Ransom was poet-in-residence there.  He also set the type for his first Copper Canyon published book.  I met and knew them all.  At the time, Sam and Tree were probably the only advocates of the tactile art of hand-set letterpress printing. The thing is, I lost track of Ransom after the 80's.  If he happens to be the same person that Jessica Spring referred to, then you really ought to pursue this lineage.  By the way, you might also might want to talk to Sam Green, of Blue Heron Press.  Wasn't he recently anointed as Poet Laureate of Washington State or something like that?  I know that he owes the existence of his press to what he learned from Sam and Tree of Copper Canyon. If anything, you need to talk to both Hamill and Green about the history of fine arts letterpress in the region.  I really think Hamill and Swenson's Copper Canyon was the regional starting point for this craft.Oh, BTW, I think Tree Swenson is currently with Poetry Magazine.  She was the graphic arts genius of CCP, back then.  Also, Copper Canyon pre-dates Beacon Hill's Day Moon Press by close to a decade. Regards,--Dave Eriksen
April 12, 2010 at 11:02 AM | Jonathan S

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your response and interest in the letterpress story.

To answer your question(s): There are, indeed, two different Ransoms.

Bill Ransom founded the Port Townsend Writers Conference in 1973. He's published six novels, six poetry collections and numerous short stories and articles. He just finished a short residency at Centrum and splits his time between western Washington and southern Utah. He maintains his own Web site if you're at all interested (http://www.sfwa.org/members/ransom/).

Will Ransom, "The Man of Snohomish" that Jessica Spring alluded to in the story, was a printer, designer, typographer and writer who was born in 1878 and died in 1955. He is credited as being the first historian of the fine press movement. Born in Michigan, he was raised in Snohomish and founded his own private press there, printing gift books in limited editions. The Newberry Library in Chicago has his papers. You can learn more about him on their site (http://www.newberry.org/collections/FindingAids/ransom/Ransom.html).

Oh, and yes, Samuel Green is the Poet Laureate of Washington State (http://washingtonpoetlaureate.org/).

Thanks again for the note and appreciate you reading City Arts.

All the best,

Jonathan S.
Associate Editor
City Arts Magazine

April 29, 2010 at 12:01 PM | Visitor
There is a local arts show this Saturday in the Central District that will feature the work of two Letterpress artists:http://home.comcast.net/~aklunav/open-studios_may10.html
July 17, 2010 at 12:07 PM | Visitor
Regarding the last post, the open studios mentioned above is now SECOND SATURDAY, the Central District Art Walk. It happens every second Saturday of the month, Noon-5pm, at 23rd Ave & E Cherry St. More info: www.centraldistrictartwalk.com. And yes, there is letterpress galore to see, as well demonstrations.
July 17, 2010 at 12:34 PM | Visitor
Under BUY, please note Miss Cline Press, in Central District, Seattle. Miss Cline Press equipment came all the way from Conway Springs, KS, inherited from a 4-generation family newspaper business (still there!). At the shop, one finds letterpress broadsides printed from its collection of antique metal and wood type as well as from lino-cuts made by the artist.The shop opens its doors to the public once a month when it showcases the work and demonstrate the presses as part of Second Saturday (www.missclinepress.com).Website: www.missclinepress.com Online Store: www.missclinepress.etsy.com
November 17, 2010 at 1:02 AM | Letter Press Love
There is another letterpress studio in the Central District as well, they prints their own line of Greeting and note cards. Sarah (the owner) also prints business cards (she printed and designed mine!), wedding invitations, birth announcements and party invitations! Sarah was really great to work with. She is only open by appointment, but can be contacted via her website, www.tuttalou.com.