A Warm Afternoon at Sacred Art

This post is a bit belated, but we spent a very warm afternoon at one of the best shops in Chicago back in July. Sacred Art is such a lovely little store in the Lincoln Square neighborhood; Sarah and Lisa have put together such a wonderful collection of local art, design and well made items, that it's easy to spend a great deal of time looking around.

We were invited to bring the Press Bike by to print little cards to hand out to passersby. Parking in front of the store, Jo made lots of little Chicago cards and showed a few curious kids how to print their own.

Then we headed over to Chicago Printmakers Collaborative to visit with our friends, especially Megan, one of the fabulous Starshaped Press interns. She's on her way to an artist residency in Idaho, and will be greatly missed by both of us!

Kidical Mass is Kidically Awesome

Saturday was the monthly Kidical Mass ride in Welles Park, Chicago, a kid-friendly version of a Critical Mass ride. Instead of taking over the streets of the Loop, we had an enjoyable jaunt through Lincoln Square and North Center. And while Jo isn't big enough to 'drive' the Press Bike, she sure enjoys pretending to do so while other kids get the chance to print. Of course we needed a bike-themed print for the day, and here's what we came up with:

Needless to say, the press was popular, and many Bikes Are The Coolest stickers were printed.

Here's a shot of one stop, waiting for the lights to change. There was a great variety of bikes and ages!

This may very well be our new shop manager... oh the entrepreneurial spirit!

We stopped by the North Center Farmers Market for a breather, and to pick up some fresh produce for the rest of the ride. Our numerous markets (one or more for every day of the week!) are one of the best things about Chicago in the summer.

No, you don't need a helmet for printing, but when you're on the road it's a requirement!

We're back to Welles Park! You can get a little shot of Mr. Starshaped corking the ride in the left corner.

And of course here's Todd, a staple of all Kidical Mass rides! Thanks for providing the great tunes to keep us hummin' on the road.

 

A few last prints for the morning and then we were on our way. Jo wants to ride her own bike next time, so we're looking for a little volunteer to run the Press Bike!

 

Later in the evening, we headed back to the Ravenswood Outdoor Movie Night for a showing of Toy Story. We switched out the chase in the little Sigwalt for a more appropriate sticker and had a few of our youngest printers so far. Hats off to the 2 and 3 years olds! To infinity and beyond, indeed.

We've got another great event next weekend, so stay tuned for the details coming soon...

Two events this weekend!

This Saturday, July 21st, the Press Bike will be making two appearances. Around 10am we'll be heading to Welles Park in Lincoln Square to join up with the Kidical Mass ride, the kid-friendly version of a Critical Mass ride. These are super entertaining and reminiscent of the kiddie bike parades you joined as a child. It's also a great chance to see a collection of cargo bikes from around the world. We'll be taking a bit of a breather in the afternoon to clean up the press and switch out what we'll be printing (that'll be a secret for now!) for the evening. Then around dusk we'll head over to the Ravenswood Outdoor Movie Night for a showing of Toy Story. Jo is narrowing down the options for what we'll be printing, but it will definitely be in sticker form again.

See you there!

Ravenswood Outdoor Movie Night

Last night we were invited to print at the Ravenswood Outdoor Movie Night at Bethany United Church of Christ. It was the perfect night for printing while we waited for the sun to go down and for ET to start. In honor of the film's theme, we set up little envelopes on which the kids printed a famous line from the movie, and then stuffed them with Reese's Pieces. A big hit with kids and adults alike! And while Jo went to town printing the envelopes, these little cuties took to distributing them to the crowd so everyone could enjoy a treat. We'll see you next month at Toy Story!

Hurrah!

Today we had our first printing adventure as we celebrated Jo's final day of school. The press was in good form after a few tweaks and we set up a little 'School's out!' sticker for everyone to print. And print they did, drawn to the little press and thrilled with the chance to make something cool.

Thanks to all the kids from Chicago Montessori and Lill Street Art Camp for making our first outing a real success!

Success... and setback

Well, we had every intention of getting the Press Bike out on Lakeshore Drive this Sunday for the always awesome Bike the Drive event, in which the entire Lakeshore Drive is shut down to cars and opened to bikes only. However, our little Sigwalt had other plans. Whether it was the humidity or our relative inexperience making the little guy work well, the printing was just not happening and we had to scrap it for the day. We'll be taking the press back to the studio to make a few more tweaks this week so we can get to printing asap! In the meantime, here are a few shots of the fabric signage we made for the sides and back of the bike. Maybe we'll add a little flag? Also, Jo got a killer new apron to match.

Final Assembly

Today Jo and I set up our little Sigwalt to print for the first time. It needs a few tweaks, but is well on its way to printing for our Press Bike. Our first print is on sticker stock (what kid doesn't love stickers?), and is bike themed to coordinate with our first event... more on that tomorrow!

Jo chose type to create the fabric signs for the sides and backs of the bucket of the bike, which we printed in happy red on yellow gingham (each letter is 5" tall, and represents our largest wood type in the studio).

Our signage is finished, and the press is ready to roll! The big reveal is coming soon.

Bikes? Letterpress? Yes Please.

You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow.  ~H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance In the fall of 2010, we purchased one of Madsen's sweet cargo bikes, in a lovely warm yellow. It quickly became our main source of transport, riding miles every day between home, school and work. We carried boxes to UPS, groceries from the farmers markets and occasionally other children for short joy rides through the park.

Since 1999, I've run Starshaped Press, a full time, old fashioned letterpress shop in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, focusing on the original craft of printing entirely with antique wood type, metal type and linoleum cuts that are part of the studio's collection. On New Year's Eve, 2006, my daughter, Jo, came into the world with a bang, and hasn't let up since. At 5, she is starting to wholeheartedly participate in the day to day activities of running Starshaped, including cleaning and maintenance, organizing type and yes, a little bit of printing.

At some point in the last year, the idea of turning our beloved bike into a mobile printing unit for kids came to be. We talked about how it would work, what kind of press to use, what to print and where to go. And now it's coming together! I found a small 3x5 Sigwalt press, not too heavy or awkward for children, and enlisted the help of Mr. Starshaped to build a strong 'shelf' that can both showcase and protect the press when not in use. Jo and other children can sit on the seat in the bucket and easily reach the handle of the press to pull prints.

The shelf flips over when the press isn't in use so that it can be stored under the surface.

We'll be printing the banners to wrap around the outside of the bucket this weekend so that everyone knows what our mobile press bike is all about! Can't wait for a summer full of printing adventures and making new friends.