Letterpress Holiday Cards
In early December I decided I had to print a vintage Happy Holidays plate I got from eBay. So my boyfriend and I headed out to the presses and set out to print greeting cards in a garage in 20° weather.
The presses live in my friends garage. So we let the Chandler and Price warm up with the motor for about 15 minutes while it spread ink. I pre-cut my cards, so we just went for it. My friend PK also assisted a few prints, as Josh hand turned the fly wheel. Our motor is WAY too fast for our beginner hands, so we are just taking it easy doing some hand turning. Makes sense for winter, really.
We printed about 100 cards total, and it was super fun despite Michigan being pretty wintery this year. I used French Paper Co. paper, they are a Michigan company that has been in business for over 100 years, and I just like supporting Michigan peeps.
Looking for some letterpress? Let's make something!
Adventures in Printmaking
Art Inspired by the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya in Colorado
This year has been pretty crazy for Charmellow. I saved some printing presses from the scrap yard in the spring and have been on a mission of rediscovering my printmaking love ever since. The presses are out in Hoxeyville, 15 miles or so west of Cadillac. They are in a friends garage, covered, along with the rest of the shop. I will do a post about the equipment soon!
Anyway the presses in general have inspired me to start hunting for vintage blocks, carving my own linoleum blocks and lots of experimentation at home. I wrote a nice long list of my favorite places I've visited in the world so far and plan on making prints and plates out of them somehow.
The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado is high on the list of favorite places. I went there one summer when I lived in Denver, while attending a music fest near by. It left a huge happy impression on my heart. In my search for what I love I remembered I loved this place SO MUCH. I’ve been doing a lot of yoga and it just came together to make this.
The stupa is the only one of its kind in Northern America. It stands 108 feet tall, and has an 18 ft. tall golden buddha in the temple. Its nestled in between a couple of small ranges, and you can feel the energy of the place as soon as you park your car. I loved exploring the park area and hike to the stupa, and the temple was awe inspiring. I hope to go back and visit soon, and take them a print!
The first edition of final prints are in blues, gold, red and white. I am thinking up a color scheme to go on some new green paper I have. They will be available on this site soon, and at select stores around the Cadillac area.