Books, Publishing and Birmingham - headsubhead.com » letterpress

Local Letterpress and Southern Prints

trav — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:19:08 +0000

I have been on a paper and ink kick lately. I can’t get enough of some of the letterpress and screen printing stuff out there. I think the local Kempis Press, with a storefront studio down in Five Points, is great. Lots of high-end papers, inks and designs. When I stopped they had lots of interesting pieces to show. Since this is a working shop much of what they do fall into the marketing and invitation categories. But the posters I saw showed a very different and creative side. It’s worth checking out.

On the other side of the artistic spectrum Old Try is a Boston-based outfit comprised of two Southern expats. Their work leans more to the iconic and bold. Some of their current pieces are wonderful and take tattered Southern symbols an treat them as stand alone pieces of art. Almost elevating some to the arena of pop art. I do hope they keep it up.

Here in Birmingham we have a pretty cool Birmingham Printmaker’s group on Facebook (of course you’ll have to be on Facebook) that is worth keeping up with, even if you’re just a fan, like I am.

Printing at 2011 Bluff Park Art Show

trav — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:06:08 +0000

The weather was GORGEOUS here in Birmingham this past weekend. I’m not sure there was a better way to spend it than cruising the stalls at this year’s Bluff Park Art Show. They had some new folks there, so that was neat, but I really enjoyed the handful of print-artists that were there.

Katherine Linn was there and had some great prints. Many are local landmarks with a subset sporting vibrant colors.

Justin Banger was also there. This was my first time seeing Justin’s prints. They were very well-done and the subject matter will keep you staring for quite a while. Lots to think about, besides technique.

Debra Riffe was also there this weekend. She had a new print of Amos Kennedy, that was fantastic! When I asked about it she said it will never be for sale. The Amos Kennedy Print is pulled from a small 50 print run she did as a birthday gift for Kennedy. She says she got to keep one and Kennedy got the rest. I would have loved to have this one to hang by my Kennedy posters. Oh well.

I also found out, at the show, that Georgia-based artist Sarah Rishel is retiring. She’s been churning out intaglio prints for 30+ years and says she’s ready to explore something else. Tip: I’ve emailed her to see if I can get the etching that a print I bought was pulled from. I hear she is in the habit of selling plates. So if you’re lucky enough to have one of hers on your wall, it may be worth seeing if you can buy the etching. How neat would that be to display them side-by-side?

There were a couple of other paper-artists and printers that I didn’t get to visit. I hope they all come back next year.

Friday Find: Typographic Wallpaper

trav — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:57:31 +0000

Fantastic does not begin to describe how cool these wallpapers are. These would make great screen savers, t-shirts, tattoos. Well, maybe tattoo is a bit much…. We’re looking to gussy up some walls around the house and I ran across these awesome wallpapers. Some are screen-printed, some letterpress-looking, but all are 100% cool. And Italian. I haven’t found anything local that even comes close. Take a look:

Here’s the site where you can check out all the wall coverings. Just click on the ‘Life’ drop down. There is also a drop down to select the language. Setting it to English is helpful. It’s doubtful that we’ll get any of these exact typographic wallpaper designs, but I certainly have some cool ideas now.

Printmakers’ Periodic Table

trav — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:57:29 +0000

I think I ran across this on fadetheory some time ago and have been meaning to share it. It’s the Periodic Table Printmaking Project. A very cool project brought together 97 printers from 7 countries, each lending a unique printed piece with special techniques. The result is a mesmerizing quilt of art, science and awesomeness. There is also a Flickr group for print artists to submit and swap out their pieces.

Hatch Show Print in Birmingham

trav — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:34:59 +0000

Sadly, I have not been able to make it to Hatch Show Print. This pains me more than I can express here on my little site. But thanks to the Birmingham AIGA chapter, I get to enjoy Hatch Show Print coming to me!

Thursday, June 25th at Bottletree Cafe, Jim Sherraden will be there to show off and talk about letterpress, art and the Nashville shop that’s been in business since 1879.

The event is slated to run from 6p-8p. See you there!