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What is letterpress?
What is letterpress?
Letterpress is the act of pressing letters into paper with ink in between. Usually there's old printing presses also incorporated in the process. I love the physical, hands on process letterpress printing takes.
Letterpress is the act of pressing letters into paper with ink in between. Usually there's old printing presses also incorporated in the process. I love the physical, hands on process letterpress printing takes.
Some context...
Some context...
I started letterpress printing in the spring of 2024 at the Indiana University Type Shop. There I had access to four working Vandercook Printing presses; three 1961 SP15s, and one 1959 Universal III. I also had access to one of the largest, nicest university collections of antique wood and metal type.
Hand carving my linoleum blocks and then printing from them on an antique printing press means that I get almost full control over every single aspect of the image I’m making. Emphasis on almost full control. Sometimes my carving tools slip, and I accidently take a chunk out of something I most certainly did not intend to. That includes my own hands sometimes; ouch. Other times, the press I am using will leave mystery ink smudges on the edges of my paper that I really do not want there, and no matter how much I clean the press, it still happens. Things like this are annoying to me most times, but I also realize that these are the prices I pay for making hand-made art.
You might wonder why I choose this “outdated’ form of printing when we have an abundance of very high-quality printers on campus and really could just use my computer to make the same designs. Well, my answer would be this: it’s just not the same. And honestly its far more interesting to use old presses that were used to print who-knows-what 50 years ago.
Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed
DEC. 2024
8" x 10"
6 layers hand-carved linoleum, 1 layer lead type
Hatch Show Print Internship- 2026
During the summer of 2026 I was granted the opportunity to work as an intern printer and designer at Hatch Show Print located within the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN. During my work there I communicated with clients assigned to me, designed posters for different events and concerts, and then built and printed my designs using historic wood type, presses, and linoleum cuts belonging to the museum.
The following four posters were designed by me during my internship and are owned by Hatch Show Print.
Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Poster for Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
2026
Nate Bargatze
Nate Bargatze
Poster for Numerica Veterans Arena
2026
Black Berry Smoke
Black Berry Smoke
Poster for Durham Performing Arts Center
2026
Tipton Church Picnic
Tipton Church Picnic
Poster for Tipton Church
2026
Personal Letterpress Works
The following posters and prints were made by me in my own letterpress studio after my graduation and also during my time as a student at Indiana University at the letterpess studio on campus. These designs are owned by me.
ROB'S MOTORCYCLE
ROB'S MOTORCYCLE
NOV 2025
10" x 13"
2 layers hand-carved linoleum
The Deer
The Deer
SEPT 2025
8" x 12"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
Bird's Eye View
Bird's Eye View
SEPT 2025
9" x 9"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
Keeping Watch
Keeping Watch
SEPT 2025
9" x 9"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
Echo of Summer
Echo of Summer
SEPT 2025
8.25" x "11.25
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
Two's Trouble
Two's Trouble
SEPT 2025
9" x 9"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
How's it hangin?
How's it hangin?
OCT 2024
12" x 18"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum, 1 layer wood type, 1 layer lead type
Sweet Little Things
Sweet Little Things
SEPT 2024
12" x 18"
4 layers hand-carved linoleum
Coneflowers
Coneflowers
SEPT 2024
12" x 18"
2 layers hand-carved linoleum
What's up?
What's up?
AUG 2024
12" x 18"
4 layers hand-carved linoleum
Pumpkin Cat
Pumpkin Cat
JUL 2024
8" x 10"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum
Daylillies
Daylillies
JUL 2024
12" x 18"
5 layers hand-carved linoleum, 1 layer lead type
Window- Still Woozy
Window- Still Woozy
MAY 2024
12" x 18"
2 layers hand-carved linoleum
Mayflower Gulch
Mayflower Gulch
APR 2024
12" x 18"
3 layers hand carved linoleum
Ipanema - Still Woozy
Ipanema - Still Woozy
APR 2024
12" x 18"
1 layer hand-carved linoleum, 1 layer laser-cut wood, 1 layer lead type
DREKI
DREKI
MAY 2024
12" x 12"
2 layers laser-cut/engraved wood
Lava - Still Woozy
Lava - Still Woozy
MAR 2024
12" x 18"
3 layers laser-cut wood
See Ya Later!
See Ya Later!
FEB 2024
12" x 18"
3 layers hand-carved linoleum, 1 layer lead type
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