Blog
June 13th, 2015
Holy cow—we made our Kickstarter goal three days early! I can’t tell you how much it means that you helped us reach our goal, and so quickly. This project has truly been a labor of love, and it feels so good to know that you support local and women-owned businesses like us.
Production is going to begin shortly and the coat will start being shipped in early fall, so I’m sure I will have updates to give you in the near future. In the meantime, there are still three days left of the campaign if you’re looking to get in on the coat and other rewards. And the Tacoma News Tribune did a great article about the women involved in the project in today’s paper—you can read about it here.
Thank you so much again for all your support and help spreading the word. We truly could not have done this without you, and we are so looking forward to the day when we can all wear our coats! Many, many thanks.
August 14th, 2014
For months now I’ve been busy drafting ideas, scribbling sketches and painting—painting and painting and painting!—icons for a new project I’m working on with my friend Sonja. We’re still keeping a pretty tight lid on things for now, but we’ll be launching soon, so she gave me the green light to show you these little snippets.
Any guesses??
July 21st, 2014
It’s that time again—Jessica and I are hard at work on the next Dead Feminist broadside. Actually, we’ve been hard at work on this piece for months already. I think it’s safe to say that this piece has the most research and labor behind it than any we’ve done so far.
There’s a lot at stake this time, and we want to get things right. And besides—as you can see, the piece is chock full of teeny tiny bits, and the registration is going to be tight. So we’re doubling down on the proofreading skills and triple-checking every detail.
Now the design is done, I just sent out the finished files for the plates, and we’ll be on press starting this week. More soon!
April 3rd, 2014
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with creating pattern repeats. Surface design (illustrating for textiles and other things that use repeat patterns) is something that has interested me for years and years, but I haven’t had much of a chance to create repeats of my own until now. I’ve been taking an online class since last year that deals with surface design and creating pattern collections. So I applied what I learned to the playing around I did last week. I have no idea where this is all going, but the journey has been a whole lot of fun so far!
March 2nd, 2010
Allison of Igloo Letterpress and I have been doing some more cross-country collaboration lately. This time I illustrated a set of hand-bound journals featuring a pattern of Brownstones—one of my favorite types of houses, and a recurring theme in my drawings.
I’m so lucky to work with Allison—despite the distance, and the fact that we haven’t seen each other for two years, I feel like I we’re on the same wavelength. I love the fact that we can trust each other to make independent creative decisions, and have faith that they’ll come together into a harmonious whole. But my part of the project is finished when I send her black-and-white illustrations for printing—since I can’t exactly pop into her shop whenever I want, I really have no idea how the finished product will look until she sends it to me.
So imagine my delight when a package arrived containing four beautifully-bound hardcover books, with my illustration splashed on the cover in gorgeous color—
—and printed right onto the book cloth, no less!
I did a little hopping dance around the living room after that.
Here’s the best part, and a flash of Allison’s brilliance: not only do the books fit together thematically, but when they stand together on a bookshelf, the spines line up to complete the picture.
Since these are so labor-intensive to make, Allison is offering them only as a limited edition. But they’ve already been a big hit so far—which makes everything so, so satisfying.
April 24th, 2009
For the past eight months a stack of hand-printed postcards bearing my Versailles gals illustration has lived in the front pocket of my bag—sharing cramped quarters with my sketchbook and watercolors, ready whenever anyone asks for my business card. I’ll admit this sucker was originally designed as a promo postcard, but I kind of like the idea of a gargantuan, six-inch business card—even if you’d need a really big wallet to keep it in.
These days, the question I most often hear is “How can this be letterpress?” I’ve launched into so many long-winded explanations of the convoluted process behind this thing that sometimes I bring visual aids with me to art functions. Yes, I’m a nerd. I carry visual aids around.
Ahem. Anyway, soon I’ll be putting those visual aids to use in the classroom. If you happen to be a fellow Northwesterner, I’ll be teaching a letterpress class in Seattle next month that combines good old-fashioned line drawing with digital typography, and old-school hand printing with snazzy graphic design software.
Johann Gutenberg is probably rolling in his grave right this minute.
Hmm … well, before I get my cosmic comeuppance from the ghosts of my professional ancestors (I also know how to hand-set type, I promise!), here are the details:
Digital Design Meets Letterpress Printing
Six Mondays, May 4 – June 15, 2009, 12 – 5 p.m.
School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, WA
The class is already almost full, so hurry and claim your spot! Let’s give old Herr Gutenberg something to spin about.
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