Moveable Type Studio is setting up at the Toowoomba Art Society for a weekend of hands-on letterpress printing, and we’re bringing more equipment than is probably sensible.
On Friday 15 May, we’re kicking off with Ink & Drink, a relaxed evening session introducing the fundamentals of letterpress. With a glass of wine in hand, come and work with real wood type and printing cuts, and learn how these materials were used in commercial and community print shops for over a century. No experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to get inky.
Then on Saturday and Sunday, 16 and 17 May (10am to 3pm), we’re running Handset: a typographic workshop. Two days, two traditional presses, and a proper deep dive into hand composition. We’ll work with wood and metal type, learn how traditional forms are assembled through the lockup process, and spend enough time at the press to produce a hand-printed keepsake. Fair warning: you will develop opinions about letter spacing 🙂
Letterpress sits apart from other forms of printmaking. It’s not lino, it’s not etching. It’s the art of arranging individual letters and ornaments, locking them up, and printing directly from the surface. It’s how every book, newspaper and broadsheet was produced for 500 years. And yes, everything is backwards and upside down.
This is a craft that’s becoming genuinely hard to find. The equipment is scarce, the people who know how to work with it are fewer, and it’s not something you pick up from a YouTube tutorial. MTS is a mobile letterpress studio that brings a fully equipped workshop directly to regional communities, supported by ongoing research into historic Australian printing inks through a recent Powerhouse Museum Research Scholars Fellowship.
Spots are limited for both sessions, and once they’re full, they’re full. Book via Eventbrite; https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/17846586703
For more information click here
