Building up a letterpress studio with minimal funds is a slow process that often depends upon luck and opportunity. It’s a lot easier when people are aware that you exist; I get offered type and machines regularly now, but when I first started it was a very different scenario.
Category Archives: studio & equipment
Un-common Press
A few months ago I watched a remarkable television show: Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press. Maybe you watched it too; because I’m a letterpress printer, I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I saw it. I did: it was part investigation into the way Gutenberg had earned his reputation as the Father of Letterpress, and part documentary about the recreation by a group of British press enthusiasts of a wooden hand press similar to Gutenberg’s.
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Studio Duck, the ANCA years
Ampersand Duck is situated in the fair city of Canberra, Australia. This post was written in 2010, before I got my <a href=”index.php?p=770″>home studio</a>.
I rent a 48-square-metre space in a purpose-built artist-run studio complex in Dickson called Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA). It’s an amazing and beautiful facility, built with full consultation with local artists. After your application is approved, and an interview, and sometimes a bit of a wait, you can get a 3-year lease that can then be followed by a renewal, so can have space for 6 years, but no more. It’s supposed to help you establish yourself so that you can move on to something else easily. Continue reading
Vandercook SP20
After numerous requests, I have scanned my Vandercook SP-20 manual. If you would like a PDF copy of the manual (download size 929KB), here it is: VSP20_manual. Happy printing! Continue reading