Somewhere in Wyoming?

 

 

I'm Leil, also known as Camellia. Born in 1973. I got into letterpress through book arts at Mills College in Oakland CA. I ended up with more than a minor's worth of classes and did my senior project as a letterpress printed book.

 

Then I was lucky enough to recieve both the Rosalind Keep award and the Charlene Garry scholarship for a graduation Mills student in book arts to go and study for a masters degree at Camberwell College in London and even luckier to have the opportunity to intern briefly with Ron King of Circle Press.

 

My master's degree project is also heavily letterpressed--enough that Ian, the pressmaster at Camberwell, blanched when he first saw it (because they didn't actually TEACH how to do letterpress at Camberwell--Ian did most of the work). When he realized I could do it by myself, he turned over a wide bed vandercook and several drawers of type to me for several months. He taught me a lot of tricks, for which I am very grateful.

 

Since then, I have had minimal opportunity to print, having gone into Peace Corps in Jordan and now I have a job (for the WY Arts Council as the arts education specialist) which takes up more than its share of my time. However, last year I found a type case in an antique store which came with all the type that had originally been in it (unfortunately pied). It belonged to the Lusk newspaper, but isn't the newspaper font--it is a motely mix of fonts and sizes which I am still sorting. Since then, I also purchased a galley with trays and recently, a proof press from Phil Ambrosi. I am looking forward to setting up shop and hope at some point to get a vandercook or some other flatbed press.

 

This state does not appear to have many enthusiasts, although I have heard a rumor.