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Festive flock

"Mini Flock" holiday ornaments illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

Hot off the press and just in time for this year’s holiday season, I’m proud to present a mini flock of letterpress bird ornaments!

Hand-carved linoleum block for "Mini Flock" holiday ornaments illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

Just like the larger prints in my Flock series, each one of these is printed from a hand-carved linoleum block.

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

Then each was individually hand-painted with watercolor (which, I’m not afraid to tell you, is painstaking in the extreme!),

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

and then hand-cut, hand-assembled, and signed/dated.

There are six songbirds in the set—a northern cardinal,

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

a black-capped chickadee (you might recognize him from our Thanksgiving table!),

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

a chipping sparrow,

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

a common yellowthroat,

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

a dark-eyed junco,

"Mini Flock" holiday ornament illustrated and letterpress printed by Chandler O'Leary

and a mountain bluebird.

Here’s the catch: they are extremely limited-edition. I only printed 100 sets, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. So flap on over to the shop and pick up your set before they fly away for good.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to deck some halls!

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In print

Uppercase Magazine

Every three months my all-time favorite magazine, Uppercase, arrives in my mailbox, and productivity in the studio comes to a screeching halt while I drool over each gorgeous page. I’ve been a subscriber since almost the very beginning (if only I could get my paws on those first two sold-out issues!), and impossibly, every new issue is even lovelier than the one before.

Uppercase Magazine article featuring illustrations by Chandler O'Leary

So you can imagine my giddy delight to be included in the latest installment. They had a submissions call for a feature on “labor-intensive illustration,” which was so squarely up my alley that I had to laugh at myself. But I never imagined my little birds would actually be accepted—let alone given a full page. A letterpress colleague received her copy a day or two ahead of me and tipped me off, and I swear I did a little dance around the room.

Uppercase Magazine

UPPERCASE is the brainchild of a gallery by the same name in Calgary, Alberta. The magazine is tailor-made for anyone with a creative soul; every page is devoted to sharing visual inspiration, shedding light on obscure or vintage art and design work, and detailing the work lives and creative spaces of people who do what they love for a living.

The whole thing is a perfect mix of vintage nostalgia and cutting-edge design, all wrapped up in a sumptuously printed package. If only everything in the world had this much thought and craft behind it.

Uppercase Magazine

But my favorite—I mean, favourite—parts of the magazine are the recurring features. There’s an abecedary in every issue, each with a different theme (which does my bookish heart good), as well as a series of collections of vintage objects: bottle caps, cereal boxes, even alarm clocks and fishing lures.

This magazine is truly a thing of beauty, and I hope it’s around for me to keep my subscription going for many years—and issues—to come.

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Goosed!

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

Holy flying gaggles, but we upped the ante this year!

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

I don’t know if it was the gorgeous sunshine that graced us after literally months of dreary rain—

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

—or Sweet Pea’s extra-awesome 2011 poncho—

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

but this year’s Wayzgoose was larger than life.

(In case you’re curious, that little Sigwalt press is inked up to print “I got goosed in Tacoma!” in an eye-frying safety orange that would make any Ducks Geese Unlimited hunter proud. I mean, come on—we have standards. This is some high-brow entertainment here.)

Anyway, speaking of geese…

"Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Ta-daaaa!

As you can see, we took our little Dead Feminists theme somewhat loosely this time. And in fact, we’ve dubbed our print Lucy Goosey, so there! There is a bit of a story behind this one, though. We’ve been equal parts amused and annoyed by the recent crafty and pop-cultural trends involving moustaches and putting birds on things—and for months I’ve been threatening to put a moustache on a bird on something, just to prove a point. I don’t know what that point is, exactly, but I figured it was time to put my moustache where my mouth is.

Which reminds me:

Jessica Spring and Chandler O'Leary at Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011

we weren’t kidding about the ‘stache wax. Hey, if you’re going to go, go all out.

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

Jessica seemed perfectly at home while operating heavy machinery and sporting a full-on Wilford Brimley look—

Chandler O'Leary at Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011

I mostly just looked like Ned Flanders. Good God, but that mustache looks real on me. Sheesh!

Jessica Spring and Chandler O'Leary at Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011

That’s okay, though—synchronized inking is serious business, and we don’t mess around.

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2011 photo by Chandler O'Leary

Many, many thanks to all the supporters, enthusiasts and volunteers who turned out in droves;

Process photo of "Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

to Katy Meegan and Mary Holste for snapping ‘stache shots for us;

"Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

to King’s for being the host with the most;

Process photo of "Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

and to the Tacoma Arts Commission for sponsoring our steamroller shenanigans.

So … tell me.

Is it too soon to start cookin’ up next year’s ‘goose?

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Gearin’ up the ‘Goose

Process photo of "Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Jessica and I have locked ourselves in her studio with an armful of Talking Heads records (go, portable turntable!) and some very sharp knives. Don’t worry about us, though—it’s just an annual tradition here in T-town.

That’s because this Sunday is the seventh annual Wayzgoose, that crazy letterpress block party that draws hordes, flocks, gaggles of people to King’s Books for some seriously huge fun. And we’ll be polishing up our street cred with the main event—steamroller printing. We’ll be pounding that pavement come rain or shine (please, pray for shine), so stop by and check it out!

7th Annual Wayzgoose
Sunday, April 17, 2011
11 am to 4 pm, Free!
King’s Books
218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, WA

Near the top of a very long list of things I love about Tacoma is the sheer number of people here who know what the heck a Wayzgoose is. If you haven’t experienced ours yet for yourself, you’re in for a treat. Meet a whole host of local and regional artists; shop a huge array of letterpress art and gifts; make your own books and posters; and don’t forget to bring a t-shirt! The D.I.Y. screen printing booth will back by popular demand, and this year, some of the street-printing artists (including yours truly) are going to have bite-sized versions of their steamroller designs ready to be made into t-shirts. I know what I’ll be wearing this weekend.

Speaking of which … Jessica and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so we’re keeping our design under wraps for now. But let’s just say that this year we’ll be getting our feathers ruffled—

Process photo of "Lucy Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

—and breaking out the ‘stache wax.

See you Sunday!

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Merry and bright

Letterpress holiday card by Chandler O'Leary

I was afraid I wasn’t going to have any holiday photos to show you—when I was in Portland the other week, my camera took a nosedive after being bumped off my shoulder in a crowded room.

Daily Sketchbook drawings by Chandler O'Leary

Snippets from my daily journal

So I shipped the lens off to the good folks at Canon for repair, and switched to paper for awhile.

Seattle and Stowell-Sendak Nutcracker Ballet sketch by Chandler O'Leary

One of Maurice Sendak’s eye-candy stage sets for the Pacific NW Ballet’s Nutcracker

My favorite thing about sketchbooks is that I can take them anywhere—including places where cameras, functioning or not, are strictly verboten.

Seattle and Stowell-Sendak Nutcracker Ballet sketch by Chandler O'Leary

More Nutcracker scenery, plus Christmas on Pine Street in Seattle

The downside, though, is that it takes me a lot longer to draw a picture than to shoot one—so my output is always smaller than I’d like.

Christmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'Leary

But then the Fedex guy showed up with my lens, good as new and just in time for Christmas.

Christmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'Leary

I managed to refrain from hugging him, and then hopped around the house in manic glee, documenting the holiday the Tailor and I have spent all week creating.

Process photo of letterpress holiday card by Chandler O'Leary

(We finally broke down and bought twinkle lights for the tree; which provided the perfect inspiration for this year’s card!)

Christmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'LearyChristmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'LearyChristmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'LearyChristmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'LearyProcess photo of letterpress holiday cards by Chandler O'LearyChristmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'LearyChristmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'Leary

Wherever today finds you, have a warm, cozy, abundant, and very merry Christmas.

Christmas 2010 photo by Chandler O'Leary

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Flock

Detail of "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

I’ve been sitting on this post for months now—it’s just that after spending so much time hunched over this project, I needed some time off from even thinking about it. But now I’m ready to talk birds again.

"Flock" hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

From left: Cedar Waxwing; Steller’s Jay; American Avocet; Purple Martin; Tufted Puffin

Eighteen months, twenty-five birds, six hundred twenty-five individual prints and ten box sets later, my little Flock is finished.

"Flock" hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

Mountain Quail; American Bittern; Long-billed Curlew; Hooded Merganser; Laysan Albatross

"Flock" hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

Barn Owl; American Kestrel; Eurasian Coot; Anna’s Hummingbird; Herring Gull

It’s a little crazy to see these all together, like, well, birds on a wire. Each one has been broken down into its own little assembly line for so long that I forget sometimes to see them as a set.

"Flock" hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

Western Tanager; Lazuli Bunting; Northern Flicker; Bullock’s Oriole; Belted Kingfisher

"Flock" hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

Common Loon; Marbled Murrelet; Northern Shoveler; Harlequin Duck; Brown Pelican

As you can see, what’s represented here is a pretty broad cross-section of Washington birds. There are so many bird species ’round these parts, in fact, that I almost didn’t know where to start—and narrowing the choices down to twenty-five was by far the most difficult task.

Process photo of "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

Wait. I take that back. The hardest part was keeping the glue off of the pricey imported Japanese book cloth (glue plus cloth equals death—or at least wailing, gnashing of teeth, and starting all over from the beginning).

"Flock" artist book and hand-painted bird linocut print by Chandler O'Leary

You see, it seemed silly to have a set of prints with nothing to house it. My inner book artist took over (thanks to Jessica’s tricksy enabling), and insisted on encasing the first ten sets of the edition in handmade clamshell boxes.

Colophon page for "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

Even though the results are always worth it, I don’t have much love for making boxes—what I do love is printing the colophon. A colophon (or in today’s hardbound novels, the “note on the text”) is an essential element in any artist’s book; this is where the artist steps outside the book’s content and talks about the making of the book itself. For this I decided to go back to my letterpress roots, and hand-set the text in metal type.

Process photo of "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

While I’m rarely able to fit hand-setting into my projects these days (a drawback to all the lettering I’ve been doing), it’s still my favorite method of getting a block of text onto a page. And this beloved Bembo, cast locally at Stern & Faye, is so beautifully spaced and balanced that it’s a dream to set and a pleasure to read.

Detail of colophon page for "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'LearyProcess photo of "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

Here’s what it says:

The sheer variety of avian species here in the Pacific Northwest is staggering. Nurturing a fledgling love of birding was easy; the hard part was winnowing my list of favorites down to a couple dozen portraits. Here, then, is Flock, a motley kettle of songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, and shorebirds. While they’re not exactly birds of a feather, every member of this brood can be found either as a permanent resident or a passing traveler in Washington state—with just a wingtip of artistic license, that is.

Printed from October 2008 to December 2009 on a gaggle of presses, including Vandercook models SP15 and Universal One, a Craftsman 6.5 x 10 platen, and my little Kelsey 3 x 5—at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle, Springtide Press in Tacoma, the University of Puget Sound, and here at Anagram Press, respectively. The colophon is hand-set in Bembo, and each hand-carved linocut print is hand-painted with Pelikan watercolor (no pun intended). Of a covey of 25 birds, a tweet of 25 prints each, and a parliament of ten box nests, this is number [2].

"Flock" artist book and hand-painted bird linocut prints by Chandler O'Leary

Okay, so maybe I went a bit overboard on the avian puns. It’s just that the thought of getting my hands dirty on type drawers again had me all twitterpated.

And I have a fluttering feeling that there might be even more birds in my future—one of these days, anyway.

Detail of "Flock" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

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A flat-out smashing time

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Inked up,

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

hand-pulled,

"At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

and voilà! Our second collaborative steamroller print, an unofficial Dead Feminist, inspired by Cora Smith Eaton King, who in 1909 climbed Mt. Rainier with a party of Seattle Mountaineers and placed a “Votes for Women” banner at the summit.

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

This year’s Wayzgoose was the biggest bash yet! We had all the regulars—

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

who churned out perfection under pressure (no pun intended)—

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

our beloved ringleader,

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

a certain befezzed flavor,

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

and a whole host of newcomers to round out the experience.

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

We had an enormous crowd (thank goodness for the good weather!),

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

and even a few unexpected audience members.

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

This year I got to try my hand at driving the steamroller,

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

but I think pretending was plenty enough for this little guy.

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Thanks to everybody who stopped by to say hello, or stuck around to lend a helping hand.

Tacoma Wayzgoose 2010 photo by Michael O'Leary

And of course, a huge bucket of gratitude to the Tacoma Arts Commission for making it all happen!

One more acknowledgement: photography by Michael O’Leary. Thanks, Dad!

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Start your steamroller engines

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Jessica and I are carving like mad this week, getting ready for some quality steamroller time.

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Next Sunday, April 25, is the sixth-annual Wayzgoose at King’s Books, right here in Tacoma. This year promises to be the biggest hullabaloo yet, with letterpress magnetic poetry, B.Y.O. t-shirt printing, papermaking demos, artist tables, and the star of the show: steamroller printing! Last year over 500 people came to check it out, despite a torrential downpour—and this year, the weather just might promise to behave, so we’re bracing for a mob. There’s a reason for the crowds: this is a heckuva lot of fun. Here’s the skinny:

6th Annual Wayzgoose!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Noon to 4 pm
Free!
King’s Books
218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma

Process photo of "At the Summit" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Eight artists and artist-teams will be printing gigantic three-by-four-foot linocuts in the street, including Jessica and me—we’ll be adding another unofficial Dead Feminist to our roster. (Take a gander at our last steamroller print here.) This is just a sneak peek; stop by next Sunday to see this block in action.

See you there!

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Home for the holidays

Knitting illustration by Chandler O'Leary

Every year I whip up a little holiday postcard and send it winging to far-flung friends and family. It’s a long-standing tradition of mine, and an important constant when many other holiday plans change from year to year. This year’s card reflects my own personal plans for Christmas this year—I fully intend to spend some serious quality time with needles and wool.

Photo by Chandler O'Leary

We’re staying home and having our own Christmas this year, and along with rare treats like time for knitting and the luxury of jigsaw puzzles, the celebrations come complete with seasonal goodies (like these saucy sugar cookies made by my friend Maggie)…

Photo by Chandler O'Leary

…cozy surroundings…

Photo by Chandler O'Leary

…and all the comforts of home. So this is my Christmas card to you. Wishing you the merriest of holidays, and a new year filled with peace, love, and joy.

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Still reeling

Studio photo by Chandler O'Leary

Yowsa! When Tacomans say they’re into art they’re not kidding. Despite absolutely horrendous weather, we had 130 visitors to the studio this weekend! (Hmm…which, oddly enough, is almost exactly the square footage of the space. This is how things looked before that first knock on the door Saturday.)

Studio photo by Chandler O'Leary

So a vast, colossal thank you is in order for all of you who braved the downpour and jet-propelled ice pellets to get here, and then shoehorned yourselves into the studio to order prints, start a subscription, get your hands dirty on press, or just say hello (sorry the Tailor’s fabulous cookies ran out so quickly). Friends stopped by for a quick hug, gaggles of kids discovered the joys of printing, and one person immediately ran out and bought her own Kelsey press that very same day (you know who you are!), courtesy of Tacoma’s Antique Row. Lots of people returned the second day, and I lost count of all the newcomers and fresh faces. Everybody came with intelligent questions and thoughtful insight, and I’m just overwhelmed by all the kind words of welcome and encouragement. And as if that weren’t gratifying enough, when we finally closed up shop on Sunday, everything was just as tidy as it was on Friday night—no mud tracked in, no prints out of place, no ink straying beyond the demo table. You people are amazing! Sign me up for next year.

"Flock" hand-painted linocut bird prints by Chandler O'Leary

In the meantime there’s still quite a lot of finishing-up to do before the holiday rush consumes my brain (I’m still not over the weird sensation of being on the other end of holiday retail). I’m going to hold onto Marie Curie until Thursday so I can tie up some other loose ends first, so look for it online then.

"Flock" hand-painted linocut bird prints by Chandler O'Leary

For now, here’s a quick peek of the new birds that were unveiled this weekend. I’m still finishing up the editions (you should see my little watercolor assembly line), so if you placed an order at the studio tour, I’ll be contacting you in the next couple of weeks.

"Flock" hand-painted linocut bird prints by Chandler O'Leary

If you’re local but you missed out on the tours this weekend, these little guys will be available at the next Tacoma is for Lovers Craft Fair, held at the inimitable King’s Books on Sunday, November 22, from noon to 5 pm. And for the online world, I’m posting them one-at-a-time, every couple of days in the Etsy shop—just so I don’t get too far ahead of myself!