North Bay Letterpress Arts

Variations on a theme ring a ding ding, the shop is closing up to avoid the extreme, better to be safe than to feel the sting, so let’s see what the new year shall bring, hopefully more sing and less zing. Eric Johnson from Iota Press revisiting an older broadside yet in smaller format. So why not grab a seat, ponder for a while as the storm passes. #letterpress #printing #justified #inkdifferent #variationsonatheme #allwhoponderarenotlost

It’s funny how many many people when they’re talking about letterpress and the machines and the letters talk about it being rigid. I didn’t find that...I found the structure opening, the bigness and the smallness of it, the live performance of it... - Judi Goldberg commentary on some really great videos we had made for us years ago. While tidying up the shop and website I discovered the videos and wanted to share those with more people, and at the same time was planning a p...ost sharing Judi’s wonderful work, so it all coalesced nicely. She’s been away from the shop since March with the pandemic doing its thing and we miss her. Fortunately she has a small studio and has remained active, creative and cranking out prints and such. She was one of our first members technically as she started printing with Eric Johnson and a few others over a decade ago when it was Iota Press and in a smaller space next to our current location. Check out her work, give her a follow, send a message, AND click the link in our bio to watch the video and the two others, there beautifully made and quite inspiring. See more

To honor the memory of fellow printer Rod Buchignani, the Studio Printers of North Bay Letterpress Arts have created a Scholarship Program in his name. In the spirit of Rod’s delight in Letterpress and his lifelong commitment to education, this new venture will provide partial fees to individuals and groups with interest in printing, poetry, and book making who encounter financial limitations to participation. When we are once again able to host in person workshops, we intend... to use this fund to create broader access to all of our activities, especially for people encountering ongoing histories of oppression. This includes developing unique workshops and creative activities for middle and high school-age students, in addition to expanding opportunities for a greater diversity of adults to participate in studio printing and our skill-development workshops. As you know, the NBLA is a non-profit and we rely on your participation to make these scholarships more readily available. We appreciate you donating at any level you can and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you can donate, click the link in our bio to be redirected to our website and scroll to the bottom of the page. If you have other ways to contribute we’d love to hear from you. Thank you, and stay safe.

Our founder and resident Master Printer in this place, Eric Johnson of Iota Press, has spent a great deal of time organizing and cataloging the type and cuts in the shop, among many other things of great use of course. These books are used quite often and help us all find our way around, as creatives often wander into uncharted territory, either by chance or by choice. Here is a peak inside the books and how they work. Everything is labeled to a match a specific place within ...the shop. It’s generally made up of two digits: a letter for the cabinet and a number for the drawer. There are a few wild cards and loose odds and ends that lurk about and aren’t even in the books, and if you’re brave enough to poke around maybe you will discover them. I am curious how other shops catalog and manage there own type and cuts etc? One of our member was kind enough to scan and made digital copies but admittedly I like to hold the book and flip through the pages, go finger...I mean go figure. See more

Our friends at Art Escape in Sonoma shared some pictures with us recently from their visit to the shop here last October, and they are great and also bittersweet. We miss having people in and around the shop, and cannot wait for some return to normalcy and the ability to schedule events and workshops again. That said, it’s simply better to be safe than sorry. #kidsareawesome #gratefulforwhatwehave #thankfulforthesupport #letterpress #printmaking #analog #handmade #teachpeace

Are you tired and suffering from electile dysfunction, desperately seeking distractions, well break the spell and go no further than this miracle cure post entitled scenes from in and around the shop walls, floors, tables and beyond a great batch of random randomness from many of our wonderful Studio Printers and a few special guests. Ok now back to your regularly scheduled programming, bonne journée!