Back to the Press

A press, a process, and art. That is printmaking. This Sketchbook Stories is about finding my way back into printmaking in my own way — a place I found near my studio to use for classes, and the people behind it.

Let's dive in — back 15 years. I fell in love with printmaking at Ringling College of Art + Design. I learned so many forms of it, and the techniques behind each one: embossing, monotypes, copperplate etchings, woodblock, linoleum cuts, and many more.

When creating pieces in class, I remember taking the blocks and wanting to create new shapes out of them — testing and pushing the boundaries of the process. I didn't know it at the time, but what I was doing was innovative. It made the finished art surprising, and even the process of how the image came together. How the block had to be placed on the press, how many times it went under. The process of learning runs of pieces for multi-colored prints — how you had to line everything up to create a perfect print.

Here's something most people don't know: you can print a relief block two ways. By hand, you lay the paper over the inked block and burnish the back with a spoon or baren, rubbing until the image transfers. It works beautifully — for small prints. But a press changes everything. Rolling the block and paper between steel rollers delivers perfectly even pressure across the entire surface: larger blocks, crisper detail, and consistent editions where print number twelve looks exactly like print number one.

I would say printmaking has become somewhat rare. Presses are expensive, heavy machines that demand dedicated space. The process is slow and labor-intensive. And as art programs have shifted toward digital skills, fewer young artists ever get to stand at a press. But the fine art world knows what the rest of the world is forgetting: it is something truly special.

That's why I'm so excited about what's happening at the Leesburg Arts Center. I'm partnering with the Center — a Conrad Machine Co. press was donated this year — and every other Friday you'll find me there at open studio, up to my elbows in ink. I've met with the directors, and printmaking classes are coming soon.

Last week at open studio, I inked up a hei tiki — a Māori figure I carved when I was 21, after a trip to New Zealand — and printed it for the first time in over 15 years. The whole first run sold. That's what coming back to the press feels like.

This matters because my own studio doesn't have a press. At Studio Agnew I can teach small-size printmaking — hand-pulled linocuts and woodblocks. But the press at Leesburg opens up the full process: the real weight, the real pressure, the real reveal. It's something I can finally offer and teach properly.

If you've ever wanted to learn printmaking — carving a block, rolling ink, pulling your own prints — now's the time to raise your hand. Call the Leesburg Arts Center at (352) 365-0232 to get on the interest list: give them your name and the best times you're available, and we'll reach out as classes take shape.

The Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit in downtown Leesburg.

See you at the press,
Leesburg Arts Center @ The Tropic — 122 W Main St., Leesburg, FL 34748 | (352) 365-0232

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