Thursday, May 6, 2010

Pressing Letters

So after months and months of talking about it, I finally did it. I signed up for a letterpress class, and yesterday was the first of two sessions. I think I'm in love...

(Tsk, tsk, tsk, irresponsible blogger am I. My apologies for the crappy cellphone pics, next time I will have to remember my real camera!)


So first, can I just say, I have a serious new-found appreciation for my computer, my Adobe software, and my keyboard... I don't know how ANYONE managed to print a newspaper... much less a bible! Setting type is TRULY a lost art.
Second, in regard to my addiction to all things old, worn, carved, useful, historic... let's just say this is like the Bellagio to a person with a gambling problem... a bar to an alcoholic...

Row after row, with drawer after drawer after shelf after box of type, spacers, slugs, chases, and the other printing paraphernalia I've been reading about and not truly understanding until now.

So what do I have to show for it? 3 lines of type. Not printed. Not finished. Yes the class was three hours long, yes, I MAY have spent the first hour and a half just pouring over the different fonts, characters, and doodads...

I am, admittedly, not the greatest student, and I was nervous that I would be staring at the clock, waiting for the class to be over... but when I saw we had gone 11 minutes over, and I didn't even realize it, I knew we were meant to be. And like new true love, now I cannot WAIT to get back to that little studio to see them again...

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