Printer's Blocks. by [Springtide Press] Jessica Spring - 2012.

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2015.. 8.5 x 4" single sheet, small broadside. Letterpress printed with handset Hobo type. Wikipedia: "Hobo is a sans serif typeface. It is unique in having virtually no straight lines and no descenders. It was created by Morris Fuller Benton and issued by American Type Founders in 1910. A light version, Light Hobo, was released in 1915. Matrices were offered for mechanical composition by Intertype. Hobo possesses uniquely organic and art nouveau-style features. "Its name came from a story stating that it was sketched in the early 1900s, sent to the foundry nameless, and progressed so little for so long, that it was called "that old hobo." Colophon: "Love it or hate it, 'that old' Hobo' is unencumbered with descenders & straight lines while burdened with an unfortunate name and plus sized physique."

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2011.. Open Edition. 10 x 13" single-sheet broadside. Printed letterpress with dark purple lettering [Mogen David?] on cream paper. Jessica Spring: "This 10 x 13" print is handset with vintage wood type and letterpress printed in purple ink on 100% cotton Lettra, a reminder to spend less time whining and more time wining and dining." A simple to-the-point broadside by Jessica Spring.

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2012.. Open Edition. 9 x 9.5" broadside. Letterpress printed on Fabriano Murillo paper. Jessica Spring: Wood type arranged and printed as a rainbow roll is overprinted with handset type in circles, all singing the praises of heirloom tomatoes. Bold green type contrasts the oranges, reds and yellows reading 'You Say Tomato! I Say Tomato!'

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2013.. Edition unstated. 15 x 21"; single sheet. Broadside. Handset and letterpress printed on creamy disco paper. Jessica Spring: "Hustle is a new print in a series of mottos created at Springtide Press, poking fun at motivational posters, but also serving to keep us moving." More Hustle / Less Bustle

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2012.. Edition of 99. Black folder, 6 x 6", 2 pages, holds a flexagon 4.25". Letterpress printed in gold, copper, silver and black with photopolymer plates on paper handmade by Helen Hiebert from recycled linen rags and shredded currency. Laid in pocket of letterpress printed black folder. Jessica Spring: "Rags to Riches: A Capitalist Flexagon is a tri-hexagon, a structure invented in 1939 by Arthur Stone. A flexagon appears to have just two sides, but when flexed by the reader, a third side is revealed. Manipulating this hexagon reveals a 19th century English proverb (begin at the golden pointer) and provides an opportunity to consider the flow of cash.  "The panels read in a continuous cycle: Rags make paper. Paper makes money. / Money makes banks. Banks make loans. / Loans make beggars. Beggars make rags.

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2010.. 12.9 x 9.9"; single sheet (broadside). Letterpress printed. Jessica Spring: "I've been printing my mottos – that was one inspired by two huge vintage plates a friend found at a junk shop. No limit, I probably printed 30 or so. I like to add some ephemera into the work flow with the editioned work. A lot of buyers are putting them in the bathroom or laundry room – mine is in the shop of course!

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2015.. Edition of 40. 12.5 x 19" single sheet. Broadside letterpress printed on French Paper Muscletone utilizing wood and metal type and a vintage copper engraving of an ink pen. Each print is amended in pencil, numbered, and signed by the artist. Jessica Spring: "It seems we barely have time to grieve and another mass shooting is announced. While politicians respond with 'thoughts and prayers' and continued debate over gun control, nothing seems to change. There are simply too many guns in our country, many designed for military use so powerful they massacre innocent victims in seconds. The Second Amendment, written in 1791, is constantly used to defend the rights of gun owners. Amend is my attempt to rewrite the Second Amendment, honoring our collective right to be free of gun violence. "A portion of each sale will be donated to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence."

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2014.. Edition unstated. 21 x 10" single sheet. Broadside. Letterpress printed. The 26 letters of the alphabet plus a Question Mark (?) and Ampersand (&) aligned in 4 columns and 7 rows. Each letter/symbol printed in red on a perforated rectangle (2.25 x 3"). One in a series of broadsides based on mottoes or common phrases created by Jessica Spring. "Red Letter Day" is used to describe a special day, a day on which something special has happened or will happen. Red & white twine accompanies each broadside. The letters can be perforated, given out, displayed individually or kept in a 'bundle' with the thread to tie them together.

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, March 2013.. Edition of 50.. 13 x 13"; single sheet. Handset and letterpress printed in two colors by Jessica Spring & 13 x 13"; single sheet. Handset and letterpress printed in two colors by Jessica Spring & Mary-Alice Pomputius at Springtide Press. Printed on textured Fabriano Murillo paper. Signed by both artists and numbered. Jessica Wood: "One of a twin series of prints inspired by wise words from characters in Twin Peaks, made in collaboration with Grundoon Press. A quote from the Log Lady is handset and letterpress printed with some damn good wood type and miraculous 60 point Hobo. Carefully handset and curved, the text and ornaments resemble a slice of pie, complete with hand-formed crust."  The Log Lady is a character from the television series Twin Peaks which ran during 1990–1991. The Log Lady carried around a small log which she used to dispense gossip and philosophical tidbits.

Tacoma, Washington:: Springtide Press,, 2015.. Edition of 100. 11 x 18" single sheet. Broadside letterpress printed on soft white Arches paper. Signed by the artist. Jessica Spring: "During a residency at the International Printing Museum in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to work with type from the David M. Norton Collection, full of 19th-century typographic gems. My visit overlapped with a relentless heatwave and several rain showers. Being from rainy Washington state, it seemed like the ideal inspiration when I discovered what appeared to be rain-or tears-intended for border material. Labeled Unique Border 215, the drips came in corner pieces, single drips, and, the ones I used, in triplicate. Some stunning 48-line wood type numerals made fine clouds, and the next pass, inspired by an English nursery rhyme, was set with Ionic Comp. and Antique Extended. I utilized concentric rings to set Livermore; Gothic Ornate No. 2 and Satanick in the clouds. The sixth and last pass of the edition… Read More