Two-Color Linoleum Cut Class: July 28

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching the 2-color linoleum cut workshop at Evanston Print & Paper Shop again in late July. 

"Linocut is a relief printmaking technique similar to woodcut or a wood engraving, where a flat surface of linoleum is carved with a knife or gouge tool and inked as a printing surface. In this Two-Color Linocut Workshop, participants will be guided through design strategies for relief printmaking, develop an understanding of the printmaking medium as well as the materials and equipment used in the process, and will get to take home a small two-color linocut print that they have designed, carved and printed themselves on a Vandercook proofing press. No previous printmaking experience is required!"

To sign up please contact eileen@evanstonprint.net or call the studio at 847-475-7674. It's going to be a great time, I look forward to seeing you there!

Mountains and Banners: March Wedding Invitation #1

Although the bulk of the business at Monkey-Rope Press is artist-driven prints and books rather than commissioned work, I readily admit that I really enjoy working on wedding invitations. I am reminded of a friend who has worked an absurd diversity of jobs--from fixing cages at a chicken factory to moving furniture for the military, and now as a college professor--who said his favorite job was his year working as a flower delivery man. He loved getting to spend his whole day making people happy. Who isn't delighted to receive flowers?

Similarly, it is a pleasure to get to bask in the ambient happiness that surrounds the planning of a wedding. The couple who commissioned this invitation are avid hikers, campers and national park enthusiasts and, though they live in Chicago, they are getting married in their home town in full view of the beautiful mountains of New Hampshire. I was excited to get to use these elements in designing the print.

These 5" x 7" four-color invitations and 3" x 5" RSVP cards were printed at Evanston Print and Paper Shop on a Vandercook proof press using hand-carved linoleum blocks, including hand-carved text. The print process went smoothly, with only a slight registration hiccup when I discovered that one of the linoleum blocks was not cut straight. I put a few lead slugs on the corners to twist the uneven block so I could lock it up square; the fix worked, and I could move forward without a second thought. (Every printmaker is a secret MacGyver.) I'm very proud of how it turned out. All the happiness in the world to Tim and Natalie!

Next week is March Wedding Invitation #2, a 5-color, 2-sided 8.5" x 11" poster!

Volume 2: So close!

Printing the cover of Volume 2 this weekend and sending the files to press next week. Not ready for a victory lap yet, but it is exciting to see the finish line!

New Prints in the Shop

Four new prints in the shop! We've got a deep sea, shiny metalic "bioluminescent" jellyfish; its warm-water cousin; a cicada-killer wasp chasing a cicada; and, our personal favorite, a tea-time Jolly Roger flag. 

**3 cheers to Evanston Print and Paper for studio time, coffee delivery and light-hearted camaraderie.

Summer Round-Up

It has finally happened: the high temperatures later this week will dip in to the upper 50s, pumpkin-flavored everythings are available with irritating regularity at coffee shops and bakeries city wide, and citizens everywhere are discovering orphaned gloves and single cough losenges in newly aired-out jackets. Summer is over and fall is settling in!

We here at Monkey-Rope Press are settling back into a long-overdue work flow after a heartily enjoyed summer hiaitus, but that's not to say that we've been without news:

• Earlier this month, Chicagoist and Gapers Block picked up on our CTA Announcement print series. Any and all publicity that hilariously modulated voice acting can get, the happier we are! 
• The first chapter of Monkey-Rope Press's first graphic novel, In the Sounds and Seas, is now available at both Quimby's here in Chicago and at Comix Revolution in Evanston. If those are too local for you, the book is also available on our etsy store.
• Last but by no means least, we printed wedding invitations for beloved pals, fellow nerds and sociology PhD candidates this summer. I offered to print their invitation before I knew what they wanted, and couldn't have been more tickled or excited by their idea. Who needs cherry blossoms and cursive script when you can have gigantic robots destroying the Las Vegas strip?

This brown, cream and metalic-bronze linoleum block print was printed on Cream Cordtone Speckletone French Paper on a Vandercook 4 proof press at Evanston Print and Paper Shop. Unfortunately, Las Vegas was not damaged in the production of this print.

Looking forward into the coming layering seasons, we look forward to adding new prints to our shop page, publishing small experimental comics and settling into Chapter 2 of In the Sounds and Seas. Now it's time to put on a kettle for tea and settle in to business. Happy autumn, one and all!