Sara Froese, a letterpress printer, describes using a hulking 1910 printing press as ‘a very interactive process.’
The idea to become a letterpress printer literally fell into the hands of Hamilton-based artist Sara Froese when she was passed a handbill advertising a local event a few years ago.
"That was a sort of printing I'd never really experienced before, and I just thought it was so satisfying to look at," she says.
Now she runs a small business called All Sorts Press out of a studio in a historic cotton factory in downtown Hamilton. The 20,000-square-foot building houses 60 artists and businesses and hosts a range of events.
Froese makes event posters, business cards and calendars, and most other printed things with a hulking 1910 Chandler & Price printing press.
"The prints [it makes] are unique. When you hold a print in your hand and compare it to something that comes out of a laser printer, which is shiny and flat, it's so much more beautiful," she says.
"Same as any traditional printing, like silk screening, or etching. … You can tell the difference. It has a tactile feel."
The process itself is both time-consuming and entirely manual. Sheets are fed individually and only one colour can be applied at a time, which can be a messy affair.
The machine is foot-powered, like an old vintage Singer sewing machine.
"I liked the idea of standing at it and operating it yourself. It's a very interactive process when you're printing. You're kind of moving with this giant cast-iron machine and working with it."
To create her crisp, colourful designs, Froese hand-picks and inserts type evenly into forms to create a symmetrical and original piece of work.
"It's kind of like putting together a puzzle. You have to find the right typeface, and what will fit and what will look right and then physically fit it into a form to be put in the press."
While the craft takes patience and training, the tools are quite basic, the options simple.
"You're pretty limited to what you're working with, which seems like it would be more difficult, but at the beginning I found it almost easier to have fewer options instead of working with a huge font list, like on a computer program," Froese says. "It's a challenge, but it's a fun one."
Sara Froese's work can be viewed at allsortspress.com.