Letterpress for beginners

Umm… can you be more specific about location please? GTA doesn’t mean anything to me. What state or country? Major city?

To me it means: Greater Toronto Area…and if I am correct, then Paperdiva has someone else who want to learn as well - ME! Now I’ve looked through the web, and also on these Yellow Pages, and the best I can find is KOZO studio and Trip Print Press. I haven’t heard back from either, so if Paperdiva has any better luck, perhaps they can pass on the info to me too!

The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild in Toronto (www.cbbag.ca) has a letterpress workshop as well as a lot of other workshops which are mainly related to bookbinding.

I believe Black Creek Pioneer Village has a letterpress print shop. I don’t know if they take volunteers or not, but you might be able to volunteer there and learn.

I am a long-time letterpress printer, and although I no longer have my own shop, I volunteer at Westfield Heritage Village about an hour west of Toronto (assuming no traffic haha), near Cambridge. Westfield’s website is www.westfieldheritage.ca. Their print shop has an operational Washington Hand Press, a platen press which should be running this spring, and an unrestored large flatbed cylinder press. You could visit the village and the print shop in the spring when the village opens again for the season, and if you like it you could volunteer there and learn more about letterpress.

Geoffrey - thanks so much for the information - I tried CBBAG - no luck. However, I was unaware of WHV - perhaps I can meet up with you sometime when you are volunteering there, and I can get involved…

Thank You so very much equitas and Geoffrey for your responses. And sorry MarjorieAPA722, GTA is a Greater Toronto Area, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I have inquired with regards to KOZO studio, and the studio is closed until further notice due to personal issues (very unfortunate). I also tried CBBAG and also no luck. If by any luck I end up finding something, anything, I will let you know equitas, and your help would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

Paperdiva - I’ve found a place in Kingston. They are offering a two day course for $500, and you can have up to 3 people. At 3 people, two days would cost about $185. If you’re interested, I’m thinking Feb 28, March 1, or any weekend in March.

Oh! I just joined this community because I wanted to find a letterpress workshop in Ontario. I would like in on this Kingston workshop if there is still room and time do to so!
Equitas - if you could email me if you need a third person, that would be awesome!

I would also like to put my name into the mix here - I would like to also learn letterpressing. please do contact me as well.. snoovy At the hot mail dott commm :)

me too! I’m new to letterpress printing but would love to learn the basics. I’m in the Toronto area too. could you please contact me if there is a class for letterpress for beginners? thanks so much!!!

Equitas, can you give me the contact information for the workshop in Kingston. I am interested in doing this later this year. Thanks!

Paper Diva, Fuschia Rose, Snoovy, Soyee and Meena:

Try contacting Margaret Lock at: [email protected]

I was pleased with the workshop.

Thanks for the information, Equitas!

Open Studio: “Using the Vandercook Press
Saturday, June 13 (10-2) & Sunday, June 14(10-4), 2009
Instructor: Shaunie Young
Cost: $150.00
401 Richmond Street West,

This workshop is a great introduction to the Vandercook press. A high speed, versatile mainstay of small press publishers everywhere, the Vandercook is a cylinder proof press originally designed to produce trial impressions of type and image blocks. Participants will explore the many possibilities of block printing while experimenting with linocut, hand set type, and a selection of the instructor’s own dingbats and pre-exposed photopolymer plates. “

Ummm … if the Vandercook is “high speed,” I must be missing something with mine. Seems awfully slow to me.

Barbara

Paperdiva, I am not sure if you found a course yet but I actually just took a course with Margaret Lock in Kingston because I couldn’t find one in TO. It was really good!