I recently enjoyed a Sunday at the National Print Museum in Dublin at an Experimental Letterpress workshop taught by Mary Plunkett.
Mary introduced us to the museum’s glorious collection of wood type and the basics of inking and printing by hand to start. It was immediately satisfying to see the texture of old wood type come alive with the impressions we were making.
I was drawn to the variety of ampersands available to us in the morning, so I spent my time overlaying and printing up a fun layered piece.
In the afternoon, Mary introduced us to laying out our chosen short phrase in a frame (backwards, even!) and using the correct spacers and furniture to achieve our design. Then with her expert help, we ran a limited edition using a Vandercook proofing press.
It was so fun to see everyone’s designs come to life off of the press… but we weren’t done yet! Part of the “experiment” of this class was then to take what we learned in the morning and alter our prints by hand-printing to enhance their tone and meaning.
So back into the wood type cases I went, pulling out some cool question marks, adding a few Whys? here and there, and playing with color and layout.
My classmates and I decided we could spend hours in the studio with the Vandercook proofing press quietly whirring in the background. And we did just that—not realizing how quickly the time passed until it was time to start cleaning up and putting the type away. That’s the mark of a fantastic class! If you get a chance, you should take it, too.
Why? Why Not?
My favorite edition ended up being the one that fit unplanned yet perfectly into a square frame. That print is currently near our front door with the “&s” to remind me to embrace a few new adventures as I’m heading out the door…
Would you like a print?
I have two prints remaining from this class that haven’t been gifted. If you’d like one of these shown below, let me know in the comments and I’ll be happy to send it out to you!
