in progress

topographical wedding invitation in progress....

Pics from the Sunshine letterpress show

The Curiosity Shoppe has posted some pics of the Sunshine letterpress show they are exhibiting.


The opening sounded like huge fun. The Type Truck was there (how cute is the truck?), a transportable print shop that Kyle Durrie is driving all over the US, sharing the printing love.



You can see more about her travel adventures here.
You can buy any of the Sunshine letterpress prints here.


pie bird press

F-2 Designs

Gillian Welch and letterpress, what could be better?

I saw a tweet about this video (by @typetruck). I have been waiting for a new Gillian Welch album for a long time. And what couldn't be better with a letterpress cover? You bet I ordered it and it is just as beautiful in person. See more at her website.

Letterpress show at The Curiosity Shoppe

The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco is having a letterpress show all about Sunshine. And we sent a print! It's called "Sun Sign", and illustrates how to sign "Sunshine" in sign language. It is a 2 color reduction linocut with handset type, printed on a Vandercook SP15. It is such a pleasure making prints for art's sake. There are many awesome prints by lots of super cool printers. You can check them out here. The show is up until mid August. Check it out if you are in SF.

art: Margaret Kilgallen

There's a fantastic exhibit of the late Margaret Kilgallen's work in San Francisco at Ratio 3. I'd be so happy if I could see it in person. But since I can't be there, you can see all the work on Ratio3's website. Kilgallen's bold, simple use of color and shape, form and pattern is more than lovely. It's timeless and timely. pure inspiration... You can see more photos here.


Thanks Ratio3 for letting me post some pics!

Roadside Attraction #2

Growing up in North Alabama, the biggest influence in my childhood was storytelling. My Dad is a great storyteller and he has kept the family oral history alive. There are stories from bootlegging to preaching and war to love. He also told us ghost stories. And I don't know anyone I grew up with that didn't have a copy of 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. The author, Kathryn Tucker Windham, died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 93, born the same year my grandmother was born. She is the quintessential Southern ghost storyteller. She wrote many books and stories and is best known for 13 Alabama Ghosts, as well as 13 Georgia ghosts and 13 Mississippi Ghosts. There are some great interviews with her by AlabamasGhostTrail.



Each story is a perfect Roadside attraction. Anytime we were driving near one of the Alabama towns, we stopped to see the place of the story, the face in the courthouse window in Carrollton, the unfilled hole in Camden, among others.



Go grab a copy of 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey at your favorite local bookseller, read it to your kids, take it on a roadtrip. Keep the stories alive.

To Kathryn Tucker Windham, thanks for all you have given us. The stories will live on.

blackbird camp

For the last 2 weeks, my 13 yr old niece, Leesa, has been visiting. I convinced her to come to Louisiana by telling her she'd be coming to "blackbird camp". Besides packaging cards, gluing notebooks, she also carved some linoleum and made some very cool prints. (we also went to a pottery class, I'll post more later). Here are some pics of the printing in process. She wanted many colors so we decided to hand ink the blocks and print with the Vandy. Leesa is a natural printer, she blew me away at how fast she picked it up, even treadle driving the C&P.



yay printmaking!!