BYO Print

Hello all! Lauren and I spent out Saturday in the studio. Welcome, BYO Studio business cards, to the world! This is batch #1, a combination of woodblock, linocut, rotary letterpress, and intaglio! All-in-one! Some are lino and rotary letters printed on old intaglio proofs, others are printed over a woodblock background. All the way to the left, prints of an old Rx (prescription slip) letterpress block, printed on the etching press like a woodcut. So crisp! Many more to come....Lauren spend all day working on a hand drawn silkscreen of beautiful curly-q's and scrollwork and a very nice and feminine "BYO." Next: more printing!

And restructuring! But let's start at the beginning..... Welcome to BYO Studio, a shared printshop based in Philadelphia that provides shared access to printmakers who need access to a press. BYO was loosely established in 2008 as the brainchild/inkling of me, Katie VanVliet. After graduating from Moore College of Art & Design in 2007, I eagerly sought a volunteer opportunity to work in a Philadelphia printshop in exchange for press access. After having very little luck, and finding rental prices at educational institutions too high for a young artist, I vowed to start my own shop, where young artists like myself could come and make a print, on their own schedule, and their own budget. I wanted to get this done by the time Philadelphia would be hosting an international celebration of printmaking; Philagrafika 2010. Well, I saved and saved and saved, and was able to buy a small scale, but professional grade etching press from Conrad Machine Co, built to my specifications