I am so excited for our guest blogger this week! Elisabeth contacted me several months ago after I posted about her wonderful letterpress company, Black Pearl Press. We found out that we have a lot in common and share similar tastes. Elisabeth is originally from NYC and currently resides in Boston. She went to Middlebury College and used to work for a non-profit in architectural preservation (these were two of my dreams at one time too!) Here is a little bit about how Elisabeth got started in the letterpress business, in her own words:
Letterpress happened a bit by accident but was a natural fit. I had always felt a creative tug: I wanted to design things that I could also make, I loved paper, and my work in New York had instilled in me a great respect for craftsmanship and more specifically building techniques. So I did some research, posted an ad on Briarpress (http://www.briarpress.org) and a month later 2,000 pounds of cast iron made the trip from Wisconsin to our doorstep. For the first three months my Pearl press sat untouched, in pieces, in the small room that would become my studio, while I thought about what I had gotten myself into and began to plan. One night while I was at a dinner, my boyfriend took matters into his own hands and assembled the press with a friend. I don’t know how to drive, and so for my birthday a week later I asked for a ride to Chicopee, to meet a man named John Barrett and poke around his shop, appropriately called Letterpress Things (http://www.letterpressthings.com). After a few weeks of tinkering and learning the ins and outs of the press, I asked my mom to host a trunk show at her house. It was November 2004, it was a huge success, and I was in business. Nearly three years later I’ve acquired two more presses, a massive guillotine cutter, and have moved into a 600 square foot studio in a terrific building in the South End. My clients have included Harvard University, the Wang Theater, two Oscar winners, Reebok, and dozens of wonderful brides, expectant parents and friends.
Thanks, Elisabeth. I can’t wait to start reading your posts!