props

Featured here: Farrell and Brandon, hard at work trading jokes while the rest of us slave away over hot, dirty presses.


When I moved here from Chicago, I never expected to be doing letterpress. Although I started collecting letterpress type when I was 19 and stopped at a backwoods barn sale, my printing experience in Chicago had been largely limited to work with an anarchist print shop. At the risk of offending, let me just say...BAD IDEA. Running a business with anarchists can put you off printing, politics, art, food, sleep, or associating with anyone for quite a while. True, I had kept my tiniest press and a great deal of type, lugging it from apartment to apartment, but I had never again had the space to truly set up and work.

All of this changed happily when I moved to Asheville and found Blue Barnhouse. I applied for and got an apprenticeship, began working on presses again, along with doing the various errands and coffee-making required of a new apprentice. In all honesty, I don't think I would have considered again buying a press without my experiences here. Blue Barnhouse not only does lovely letterpress work, (coupled with often dirty context), but offered a calm haven, where good music is played, beer is usually present after 3, and sarcasm is an appreciated art form. Check out their blog and cards online at bluebarnhouse.blogspot.com, buy a card, revel in the beauty. Or stop in and meet Brandon, Sarah, or Farrell, but don't tell them I said they were great, I totally won't admit to it.