Hope A 12/30/15 Hope A 12/30/15

Shark Attack!

For November's postcard, I wanted to accomplish two things:

experiment with overlaying two colors to create a third color
make something with the image of a shark to be included in the annual animal themed fundraiser at the Practice Gallery in Philadelphia.

You many not have even realized that I have goals each month, that I am not just making up designs willy-nilly. Well, there is some of that too. But it is nice to have a goal, a chance to refine a skill, or just show off. When I was training on the Heidelberg at Painted Tongue Studios, I didn't quite realize how tight the registration was on their designs. (Oh, non-printer side note here: in letterpress each color is laid down individually, on a separate run through the press. So if the design has two colors that are close together with fine lines, it is important that they line up. That is called registration.) Once in a while they would lay one color onto another, often using a cool red and a green to create brown. The card would have three colors with only two runs through the press (and with your fellow printer-in-training only crying once or twice). When I left Painted Tongue, I opted for a much more loose style. Until I remembered the magic of overlays. And so here I was, wanting to use a little more green in my print without having to clean off the press and add that color. Viola, my favorite teal made of lime green and bright blue.

As for the shark, you may have noticed that most of my designs are text-heavy. I also like to look through Dover books of old printers cuts--things that would be lead images if I had moveable type. Since I don't I make my own plates form old cuts. But once in a while I can't find what I need. I barely passed my drawing classes in school, but it is fun to practice. This is what you get. This creeper. I made a few prints which were hand colored and then stored away somewhere. I really need to get back to cleaning up my studio.

PS Thanks Charity for asking me to participate in the fundraiser. And yes, my name is Hope and I know someone named Charity. Also we are both from New Hampshire. True story.

Hope A 4/25/15 Hope A 4/25/15

Collapse of Industrialized Society

Once a week or so, especially after a long day printing or washing dishes, I like to fill the tub with hot hot soapy bubbly water and read the fiction selection in the latest New Yorker. I might also make myself a beverage, maybe grapefruit soda and gin with a little rosewater, perhaps even drink it out of tall glass with a fat straw. When I am warm and pink and sleepy, I might get out of the tub and eat a few spoonfuls of ice cream for dinner.

Don't mistake my occasional treat as a symbol of a decadent lifestyle. I know how to enjoy myself but the realities are also crystal clear. I live in a state in the middle of a severe drought. (I skip showers and generally use an "efficient" amount of water so I can sometimes take a bath). Sometimes I look forward to the collapse of industrialized society. I am not sure how long I will last, but I am an efficient cook, with a lot of practice at one pot meal (post-Katrina Plan B kitchen, anyone? I was cooking with one burner in a bicycle shop). I can make do. I will certainly miss the warm tub of soapy water, and silly silly straws, but I will be ok with letting a lot of other things go.

Every month I print a folded card and mail it to a list of subscribers and call it the Keep Writing Project. One part of the card is for you to keep, a letterpress memento. The other half has a little story about the image, and some instructions. For April, I sent these, asking people what they will bring to the collapse of society. I post the responses here but you can also see them if you follow me on instagram, @gutwrenchhope. Oh, and if you want to subscribe, you can do on my website here or in my etsy shop .

And, if you live in the Bay Area you can come look through baskets of responses when i share them at a show at EM Wolfman's Bookstore for the month of July. There will be more special treat but you will have to wait and see.