Pixel Press, Stoke Newington, London
9th January, 2016
Ok, I’ve got a little behind again in these reports from my studio visits. Apologies to those concerned. Back in January, after stopping off in Colchester (see this post), I arrived in London town. The main event was a press maintenance workshop at London Centre for Book Arts with the legendary Basil Head, but it also gave me a chance to print a project at LCBA and to poke around the corners of the city where the dark art of letterpress is practiced. My first visit was around the corner from my digs, near Clissold Park in Stoke Newington.
Pixel Press is an artists’ studio established in 2012 by Julieta H. Adame and David Vassie in an old light industrial building. Something of an artists’ complex, they also live on site alongside a host of other artists, makers and craftspeople. They have a really nice approach, definitely coming at letterpress as artists first and foremost, but encompassing graphic design as well. Much of their equipment has come from several years of befriending local jobbing printers and helping them to dispose of their shops when the sad time came to close up. In the centre of the space is a very nice Farley proof press.
And hidden under the plants is an Adana T/P48.
Taking pride of place on the wall is an early piece of Vassie’s, based on a tall story his mum used to tell. I’ve heard different variations of this told over the years.
And lastly a piece of Adame’s from a college course a few years ago. She didn’t have a print to hand, but her conception was that this piece was about the type as much as the print, with the two elements being displayed together for a show. It’s a totally fascinating piece with really unusual and expressive typesetting - contrary to received wisdom, the uneven lines were really tightly locked together and wouldn’t have presented too many problems to print from.
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Paekakariki Press, Walthamstow, London
9th January, 2016
Second studio of the day was Matt McKenzie’s superb Paekakariki Press in Walthamstow, in another light industrial building, hidden away down a side alley. A New Zealander with a deliciously dry sense of humour, McKenzie has assembled an astonishing array of equipment in a short space of time. (The Paekakariki site itself describes the press as “full-blown” and that seems a fair description.) As a publisher of poetry, he has all the tools needed at his disposal...
Heidelberg cylinder (note the very nice Monotype sample prints on the wall):
Casting room (much of which was acquired from Harry Macintosh’s Speedspools in Edinburgh):
The latest collection from the press.
The Paekakariki website is a fantastic resource, both about the press itself but with a slew of useful letterpress advice and history. Much better that I direct you there than waste space here. I look forward to coming down for the biannual E17 arts trail - Paekakariki helped organised a letterpress fair for the 2015 event and there’s a plan to run it all over again in 2017.
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Thames Barrier Print Studio / Kim Vousden, SE London
9th January, 2016
A visit to Thames Barrier Print Studio, nestled on the river between Woolwich and Charlton in a new-build, yielded a pleasant surprise. It was really nice to chat to studio director Carolyn Nicoll about the history of the studio but then I got to spend most of the morning with Kim Vousden in her studio next door, talking shop, distracting her from getting on with proper work.
Describing herself as a “graphic designer, typographer and image maker”, Vousden works with letterpress as an adjunct to her commercial commissions, adding value but also seemingly as a place to experiment and push her practice into unexpected areas, mixing processes and approaches. This shot of her print wall gives a flavour. (The Vic was poorly on my visit; hopefully working again now.)
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The Counter Press, Bow, London
10th January, 2016
The last studio in this report was a surprise visit. After the workshop with Basil Head at LCBA, a gang of us went visiting other studios (including Tom Mayo’s new place which he was still getting into shape, hence no photos), finishing up at The Counter Press, home to David Marshall and Elizabeth Ellis. “Somewhere between a graphic design practice and a traditional private press”, their work is marked by clarity and precision; the actual studio reflects exactly what you’d expect having seen their work. (You must check out Extra Condensed if you’ve not seen it before.)
Amongst around 7 or 8 presses, the studio houses a Vandercook SP20 and a Grafix GX1N.
A lovely end to a great week of London letterpress. Thanks to all the studios who welcomed me and to all the others on Basil’s course at LCBA - inspiring people, one and all.
