Atlanta

printing coasters for Young Blood

It was a rainy night at Young Blood Gallery – this kept some people away, but we had a good turnout at the beginning of the evening.  And the gallery is awesome – all manner of hand crafted lovelies, from jewelry to posters to candles, etc etc.  I met a sign painter who had just finished some beautiful work on Young Blood’s front window.  He had a few spare hours to kill, and I’ve been feeling like I’m finally ready to commit to some signage on the truck.  We talked about a game plan, and he went and got paint and everything.  But then… the sky opened up and it began to pour.  Game over.

Rebecca prints her own stationery!

The next day, I headed over to my friend Becca’s house for a neighborhood printing party!  It was still raining, but we stayed dry and relatively cozy in the truck, and Becca kept us all happy and fed with mac n’ cheese, pulled pork sandwiches, and (truck shaped!) cookies.  Becca’s friend Mendy is a rep for Mac Papers, and she was kind enough to provide all sorts of beautiful papers for us to play with.  I’ve been getting used to just printing on whatever paper comes my way, which is usually fine, but it was a really nice treat to print on some really nice hefty stock for a change.  Thanks so much, Mendy!  Everyone who came to the party walked away with a big alphabet/type specimen poster, and Becca and a few friends printed their own custom stationery.  This was such a fun way to gather some friends for an afternoon – I’m definitely looking forward to doing more events like this in the future.

release the pressure!

On my last day in Atlanta, I headed over to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  This school has its main campus in Savannah, but the Atlanta campus opened in 2005 (I think?).  The facilities are amazing.  Seeing the printshop seriously made me consider going to grad school.  There were entirely separate rooms – big rooms – for letterpress, etching, lithography, screen printing… so much room to work!  And I was really impressed by the work that the students were doing.  I was treated to a really nice lunch with some of the deans and staff before opening the truck doors to students in the afternoon.

The next morning, I woke up with a fever and headed a little bit outside of the city for a day at Kennesaw State University.  Despite the fact that I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, it was a really fun, laid back visit.  The students I met were smart and curious, and printmaking professor Valerie Dibble was an excellent host.  She and her husband were kind enough to put my sick, pathetic self up for the night.  Next time, you guys, I promise to be more fun!