Writing/Essay/Journal
Through his work with The Nomadic Press, Kent Aldrich brings to life the old-world art of letterpress. He believes the recent resurgence in letterpress is due in part to people’s need to have something tactile during this digital age. Do you think that some day printed books might be considered an old-world art? How might Kent Aldrich feel about print books versus e-books? Where do you stand on this debate?

Activity
Traditional letterpress printing and rubber-stamping have a lot in common. They both utilize a backwards-carved “pad” dipped in ink and pressed onto paper to achieve a forward image that can be re-stamped multiple times. Make your own stamp using the top of a Styrofoam take out box.

1. Draw a shape or design onto the Styrofoam surface using a pencil or other sharp object. Draw hard enough to make indentations where you don’t want the ink to go.
2. Using a paint roller, cover the indented surface evenly with a thin layer of paint. If you don’t have a paint roller, you can use a paintbrush, but be sure not to get paint into the indentations or your image won’t print clearly!
3. Stamp a practice round on scratch paper to remove excess paint, and then begin stamping. Re-apply paint as needed.
4. Allow the paper to dry and add decoration if desired.