Category: Sneak Peeks

We heart SF

Saltwater taffy photo by Chandler O'Leary

Splurging on a giant bag of salt water taffy is probably a weird way to research a new project, but I swear it’s relevant.

Process photo of "Even Keel" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

That’s right—Jessica and I are carving again. We’ve been invited by the good folks at the San Francisco Center for the Book (big shout-out to the amazing Rocket!) to be among the featured artist at their eighth-annual Roadworks festival this weekend! Needless to say, we’re super excited.

So if you’re in the Bay Area, swing on by the Potrero and check it out—it promises to be a real hootenanny. The party will be taking up a whole block, chock full of artist vendors, food carts, letterpress demos, and, of course, steamroller printing! And since these guys are rumored to be the original, no-kidding inventors of steamroller printing, they’ll show you how it’s done, for real. Here’s the scoop:

Roadworks 2011
Saturday, September 24
12 to 5 pm, Free!
Hosted by the San Francisco Center for the Book
Rhode Island Street, between 16th and 17th Streets
San Francisco, CA

As a bonus, stick around afterward for a gallery reception for the steamroller prints at 6 pm. There’ll be drinks, music, and a whole lot of loopy artists covered in ink.

Process photo of "Even Keel" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

We’ve designed a brand-new, San Francisco-themed, honorary Dead Feminist for the occasion. I won’t reveal who she is until we get back, but here’s a hint: she knew her way around a fo’c’sle and a taffy pull equally well.

And of course, in honor of our muse, we’ll be sharing that salt water taffy at our table. It’s the good stuff, we promise. (Well, we had to sample it, didn’t we?)

See you in San Francisco!

Revolving door

Process photo of "Paper Chase" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

With both of us traveling all over the country lately, this summer has had us scattered to the four winds. We’ve hardly seen each other all season, but we did manage to squeeze a little printing into our schedules between trips.

Process photo of "Paper Chase" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

There’s just one compass point left to explore: Jessica and I are off to Asheville, NC for the first-ever Ladies of Letterpress Conference, finished goodies in hand. When we come back next week, we’ll have a new broadside for you and a whole lot of tales to tell.

Happy trails!

Persimmons on press

Process photo of "Peace Unfolds" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

I’m still not sure how it happened, but it’s May already—and that means Jessica and I are due for another broadside. This weekend, while everyone else is grilling hot dogs, we’re cooking up something entirely different. Now, if only print racks left behind those tasty-looking grill marks…

Process photo of "Peace Unfolds" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Memorial Day has a little bit of a part to play in the new piece, so we’ll be unveiling it here on Monday.

In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday weekend (and to all our friends outside the U.S., a safe and happy regular weekend!). See you soon.

Process photo of "Peace Unfolds" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Gearin’ up the ‘Goose

Process photo of "Loosey Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Jessica and I have locked ourselves in her studio with an armful of Talking Heads records (go, portable turntable!) and some very sharp knives. Don’t worry about us, though—it’s just an annual tradition here in T-town.

That’s because this Sunday is the seventh annual Wayzgoose, that crazy letterpress block party that draws hordes, flocks, gaggles of people to King’s Books for some seriously huge fun. And we’ll be polishing up our street cred with the main event—steamroller printing. We’ll be pounding that pavement come rain or shine (please, pray for shine), so stop by and check it out!

7th Annual Wayzgoose
Sunday, April 17, 2011
11 am to 4 pm, Free!
King’s Books
218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, WA

Near the top of a very long list of things I love about Tacoma is the sheer number of people here who know what the heck a Wayzgoose is. If you haven’t experienced ours yet for yourself, you’re in for a treat. Meet a whole host of local and regional artists; shop a huge array of letterpress art and gifts; make your own books and posters; and don’t forget to bring a t-shirt! The D.I.Y. screen printing booth will back by popular demand, and this year, some of the street-printing artists (including yours truly) are going to have bite-sized versions of their steamroller designs ready to be made into t-shirts. I know what I’ll be wearing this weekend.

Speaking of which … Jessica and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so we’re keeping our design under wraps for now. But let’s just say that this year we’ll be getting our feathers ruffled—

Process photo of "Loosey Goosey" steamroller print by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

—and breaking out the ‘stache wax.

See you Sunday!

 

Almost ready

Teaser for "On a Mission" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

Just wanted to give you a little teaser of what’s about to come…

Detail of process drawings for "On a Mission" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

I’m not going to say much, so as not to spoil the surprise, but I thought I’d drop a few clues by way of my messy drawings—

Detail of process drawings for "On a Mission" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

warts and all. As you can see by all the smudges and arrows, doin’ it by hand is hardly a perfect process,

Detail of process drawings for "On a Mission" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On a Mission is on press as I speak, inching closer to the finish line every moment. Look for it here on Friday—see you then!

 

Yes, there is a manatee in it.

"Drill, Baby, Drill" hand-lettered process drawing by Chandler O'Leary

The next print in our series will be making its in-person debut on Tuesday—these few snippets might give you a clue as to our latest theme. Jessica and I will be doing our dog-and-pony show at the Gig Harbor branch of the Pierce County Library; if you’ve missed our previous lectures, come check it out! If you have seen seen it, you’ll already know our schtick, but you’ll still get to see the new piece first! As always, you can also get up to speed by reading about our process here.

Pressing Matters: local letterpress artists combine craft with history
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
7:00 p.m., free!
Gig Harbor Branch, Pierce County Library
4424 Point Fosdick Drive NW, Gig Harbor, WA

"Drill, Baby, Drill" hand-lettered process drawing by Chandler O'Leary

We’re a month late with the new broadside for a couple of reasons. The longest (4 months!) and most annoying delay came from the fact that we’ve had to switch to a different paper. I know that sounds silly, but the paper industry is very volatile, and if you’ve ever used a type of paper that you love, only to have it be discontinued (or worse, the company goes out of business), you’ll know how frustrating it can be to find a reasonable facsimile. I guess we should have seen this one coming—the paper we’ve been using is not only extremely unusual (made from recycled clothing!), but it’s also made by a tiny, independent paper company. It’s a long story, but the short version is that the paper is now perpetually on back-order, and we had begun to notice quality issues. So! We’ve finally found a very good, high-quality replacement, and while it doesn’t quite have the Cool Factor of the other stuff, we certainly have a lot less to worry about.

"Drill, Baby, Drill" hand-lettered process drawing by Chandler O'Leary

The broadside will appear online (both here and in the shop) on Wednesday, so stay tuned for more information. And in the meantime, in case you’re debating whether it’s worth the Sturdy Gertie bridge toll to attend the talk, you can say hello to the giant octopus* on the way!

Detail of "Tugboat Thea" letterpress broadside by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring

*I just learned that one of the world’s largest species of octopus lives in the Tacoma Narrows, right under the bridge—a fact that completely made my week, and that I’ve obviously been dying to work in to a blog post.

We heart archivists

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

It’s just about that time again: Jessica and I are working hard on the next broadside. She’s poring through texts and historical facts, and I’m pencilling as fast as my tendonitis will let me. This time we’ll be unveiling the new piece at the Washington State Library near Olympia; the staff invited us to give a lecture about the series next month.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

The library boasts the entire collection of letters and personal papers of Emma Smith DeVoe (pictured above, right), women’s rights activist and leader of the Washington suffragist movement. And since this year marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Washington, we figured Emma would be a perfect fit for the new piece.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

So a couple of weeks ago, Jessica, my intern and I took a field trip to visit the archives and conduct a little research. When we arrived, we realized what they meant by “collection:” twelve enormous boxes packed full of letters, clippings and souvenirs. A “little” research obviously wasn’t going to happen.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Luckily, the incredibly knowledgeable and helpful library staff (thank you, Sean!) let us take as much time and as many photos as we needed. So we cozied up to a work station and dived in, one box at a time. Together we went through literally thousands of pieces of paper.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

What we found was a fascinating collection of souvenirs, business cards, newspaper clippings,

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

leaflets and other propaganda,

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

fan letters (Emma had an impressive array of admirers),

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

telegrams, notes from sitting U.S. senators and presidential aides, and reams and reams of correspondance between the members of the Washington suffragist movement.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

The trouble was, most of these documents were utterly mundane—letter after letter simply acknowledged receipt of previous correspondance, or gave detailed instructions for planning events and delegating tasks. Worst of all, Emma rarely made carbon copies of her half of the correspondance, so there was very little in her own voice.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

We spent nearly four hours poring over every folder and box, and the only potential Emma quotes we found were mined from this instructional card. Still, it didn’t feel like we had found our inspiration—just a few weeks from our talk, we had no quote and no social topic for the piece.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

What we did have, however, was a much clearer picture of the women behind the fight for suffrage in our state (that’s May Arkwright Hutton above; she and Emma didn’t exactly get along), right down to addresses of homes and buildings still standing in Tacoma (the headquarters of the movement).

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

From the documents themselves to the individual script hands of each letter writer, we had an incredible window into political life from a hundred years ago.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

And we found a good lead. Just as interesting as Emma (and more forthcoming with their own voices) were Cora Smith Eaton King, M.D. (pictured above, right)—correspondent, fellow leader of the movement, and one of the first women to scale Mt. Rainier!—and Bernice Sapp—friend, activist, and the one who compiled this collection of documents and donated it to the library.

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Bernice’s letters were full of quirky character and wit. We loved how she called Emma “the General,” and referred to herself and other suffragists by male titles: “Brother King,” “Mr. Hutton,” or simply “him.”

Washington State Suffragists archives at WA State Library. Photo by Chandler O'Leary

Cora, on the other hand, was a real firecracker. Her letters (often scribbled on scraps of paper, even her own prescription pad!) revealed an eloquent intelligence and a sizzling sense of humor. We fell head-over-heels for Cora, and began to doubt that Emma was the right voice for the broadside—still, though, we had no quote from any of these women.

A few days later, Jessica hit up the astounding Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library, and hit the jackpot. She discovered a document that linked all of these women together, which decided us on a slightly different approach to quoting historical feminists. That’s all I’ll say for now, except that the new broadside may or may not depict a certain quivering, questionable “food” substance:

Vintage jellies

If you want to be one of the first to see what the heck I’m talking about, I invite you to come check out our talk at the Washington State Library. Here are the details:

Pressing Matters: an evening with Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:00), free!
Washington State Library
6880 Capitol Boulevard, Tumwater, WA

Libraries and archives face a tough reality in the current economy—especially here in Washington, where a regressive tax system has left the State Library with a 30% staff reduction and major cuts to its operating and acquisitions budgets. The 2003 earthquake damaged their building on the historic capital campus in Olympia, and forced them to relocate “temporarily” to a suburban office park a few miles south in Tumwater. Even when the economy recovers, it is unlikely the library’s funding will return to the levels it enjoyed in more prosperous eras, so the move to Tumwater is looking increasingly permanent. Despite these setbacks, the State Library continues to acquire new items (including our artwork!) for the collection and provide an essential service in preserving our state’s history. So please come and show your support for the library—a good turnout will help them provide more public events in the future, and might just go a long way toward saving them from another visit to the chopping block.