Hi, and welcome to the Gamewell Press Blog. This blog is really a record of experiments: an experiment in learning things like HTML and photoshop (bear with me on these) but mostly experiments in printing and setting up a hobby press. Maybe one day Gamewell Press will be slightly more than just a hobby, but right now I've got my hands full learning the basics, trying new things, and doing projects for friends and family.
In February of 2008 I bought a little 5x8 Kelsey platen press from the friend of a friend. It is probably from the 1890s, but it had been sitting in a garage or basement for two or three decades along with seven cases, three cigar boxes, and one wooden box full of pied and very dirty type, ink, brayers, and other assorted printing accoutrement.
The little press needed new rollers and some clean-up and gripper bar work, so I left it with John Barrett of Letterpress Things in Chicopee, MA. This gave me two months to figure out how I was going to fit even this tiny press into my even tinier studio apartment in Brooklyn (pictures of my crowded work-in-progress set-up will be forthcoming). I also started cleaning and sorting some of the dirty pied type, but I have two jobs right now, so that mind numbing process may well take the rest of my life! (That two month wait also provoked a nasty ebay habit that I have recently kicked, although I think occasional flare-ups may be inevitable.)
Anyway, John Barrett is a wonderful man, the roller recovering company is frustratingly slow, and I finally got the press back at the end of April. This gave me a week to get it set up and print party invitations. Considering the time-frame and my learning curve, that first project went pretty well. The moving announcements for my parents were not quite as successful. Although I've taken classes in both platen and proof presses, the small platens like the Kelsey are their own special breed, and take considerable make ready and fiddling to produce an acceptable print. It has finally occurred to me that keeping an organized record of what works and what doesn't might be a bright idea and with this blog I get that and a place to put all these pictures I keep taking.
So that's the Gamewell Press Blog. One girl, a Kelsey, and occasional appearances by Gus, an attractive, yet anti-letterpress cat.
Photo courtesy of the amazing Jen Bandini (jenbandini.com)