The Brickyard Book Arts Studio is Up and Running!

It’s been a whole lot of work, and mostly by our Book Arts Shop Steward, Mitchel Ahern, but we’re finally able to announce our Book Arts Studio is OPEN!  We’re kicking it off with FOUR classes – 3 working with Letterpress and one very special class teaching Intaglio, using our revered Intaglio press.

In case you missed it, this is the only Letterpress and Book Arts studio available on a co-operative access basis in the entire Northeast!  Sure, you can take classes at several other facilities, but what do you do when the class is done and you can’t get into the studio anymore?  Simple.  Come to The Brickyard.  So yeah, this is a pretty special studio, and a pretty exciting opening, especially if you’re an itinerant printer looking for a press.

We’re starting off with three Letterpress classes:

Introduction to Letterpress

This one-day 5-hour course will provide participants with the basic knowledge and hands-on experience to start them on the path to letterpress proficiency. We will briefly cover all the bits, pieces and nomenclature of this hundreds-of-years-old printing tradition, including type, spacing and the styles of  presses. Students will then design, prepare and print their own small letterpress project, and conclude by distributing their type and tidying the shop.

More here, along with scheduling and price information: Introduction to Letterpress

Intermediate Letterpress

This one-day 5-hour course will provide participants with additional knowledge of and practical experience with, letterpress printing. After a brief review of basic principals this class will review printing on the platen press, including the tabletop platen and the small floor model press as well as the roller presses. Two-color techniques will be discussed, including techniques for hand-inking. We will also briefly touch on letterpress printing on fabric and linoleum block cutting.

The complete description is here: Intermediate Letterpress

…and

Letterpress Printing on Fabric

Letterpress is not just for paper!

This course will review different techniques and materials for letterpress printing on fabric, including fabric options, ink options, plusses and minuses of different presses, methods of printing without a press, as well as linoleum block printing and cutting.

The whole story is here: Letterpress Printing on Fabric

 

Finally…  Our Intaglio Class:

Introduction to Intaglio Printing

Intaglio printing is a way of making marks by incising into the printing blocks rather than carving away areas in relief. Artists can get almost molecular-level detail with this process. The students will learn to draw a drypoint image on Plexiglass sheet, proper wiping of the printing plate, how to dampen and handle paper for the process, and how to set an intaglio press for printing.

More information along with registration is here: Introduction to Intaglio Printing

Whether you’re ready to take a class or not, come down to see the studio at work at one of our Saturday morning Open House tours…  Contact us for a date, or sign up for our email news to get the latest…

…as always: “Keep making stuff. Take care of people, play nice and clean up after yourselves.”