Interview with Brandon Griswold of Honeycomb Print Shop

Biography

I’m a graphic designer living in Dallas, TX and am fortunate enough to work for the talented art department at Fossil. In my free time I design, carve and crank out prints for my humble print shop in the corner of my apartment. While I was earning my BFA in graphic design, I dabbled in printmaking. After I completed the courses I kept on producing relief prints when I had time. I was fortunate enough to intern at Hatch Show Print in Nashville last summer, which taught me a lot about letterpress and further instilled my passion for printmaking. While I haven’t made it my career, I think I keep my passion for it by making it my side gig. As a recent graduate, I’m glad to be able to continue to produce art constantly.

Why printing?   

I was attracted to printmaking after I took a couple of courses in college. We started with woodcut prints (still one of my favorite mediums) and expanded to intaglio, etching, litho and screen printing. I was especially drawn to the carving of woodcut. My dad used to carve constantly, so it connected me to that somewhat. I also loved the challenge of creating a perfect edition with perfect registration. It’s a nice feeling to step away from the computer and produce work that isn’t made with a mouse and software.

What is your favorite print medium and why? 

I love both relief prints and letterpress the most. Relief prints keep me connected to the love of carving and producing authentic hand made work. Letterpress is just awesome. I love using type that has been around for decades and it shows. The pits formed in wood type, the gouges in lead type, and the occasional work up all make it feel so warm.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I’ve only been printing for about 3 years now, but my style and experience has changed quite a bit. I grew out of the traditional woodcut aesthetic with lots of carved lines for texture to now doing work that looks a little more contemporary with big fields of shadow/highlight. My love of type has made it into my work more and more as I’ve challenged myself with hand carving smaller and smaller type. I also just love the look of a grid of text.

What or Who influences your work?  

The work of Hatch Show Print has completely shaped how I view letterpress. I love the big, bold, and justified looks of the posters. I was also lucky enough to be trained there by some of the current printers to follow that aesthetic. I’m also influenced by many of my friends and what they’re doing, be it letterpress, poster design, or even animation. I’m influenced by everything around me, but then translate that to the mediums I use.

How do your promote your work? 

Promotion is probably my weak point when it comes to my work. I’ve got a facebook page, website, etsy shop, and twitter. Even though I have all of that, I rely a lot on word of mouth. Many of my sales have come through connections and referrals from friends.

Any good printing tips or funny printing stories (or both??) 

Always make sure you’re printing the right color before you start – I once printed 200 posters the wrong blue before realizing it. Needless to say there were plenty of make readies for a while.

Brandon's Etsy Shop and Website

Interview with Kelly Tankersley of 88 Editions

Check out Kelly's Etsy Shop and Blog

Biography  

I received my BFA in printmaking and photography from the University of Texas at Austin. Like many artists with degrees I went on to work in the art world instead of actively making art. I have been a Corporate Art Consultant,  gallery manager and grant writer for a museum. It wasn’t until years later and after a work friend taught me how to make handmade paper that it all came together for me. As a gardener and nature lover, I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to take raw plant materials and cook them, beat them, mold them, press them—then whalla—beautiful artist’s-made paper.

Just about a year and half ago, a group I’m in Women Print Makers of Austin, obtained a studio with two etching presses! Finally an easy way to marry my three loves of paper, photography and etching.

Why printing? 

Printing appeals to me because of the “Happy Accidents” that can happen. I like a process between me and the finished piece. I’m much more excited about results that surprise me a little instead of forces what’s in my head to materialize. Not sure how to explain it any better, but I’m not too interested in a straight sketch or photo—I like machines or processes to get into the mix and shake things up a bit.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

Etching—inking the plate, the indention the plate makes on paper, all of it.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I have only been printing since December 2009 when I gained access to the WPA studio.

What or Who influences your work? 

Andy Goldsworthy’s earth art, Joseph Stella’s mystical paintings, Duane Michals’ narrative photo stories, and Pat Steir’s gorgeous paintings, to name a few of course!

How do your promote your work?

I just started promoting my work last November.  I wanted to make sure I had enough depth and breath and just enough work! So far it’s been in a few local exhibits, tons of time spent making Etsy treasuries (I can’t stop!), and I just started my blog. Said I never would, but it is 2011.

Any good printing tips or funny printing stories (or both??)

Play! The series of birds you see was a labor of love and planned out from designing the papers and getting the plate quality just right, etc…  After I finished that huge project I spent an entire week while I was on vacation just playing with odd papers, processes, mixing plates up. For example, the pieces Night Voyage under the Moon and Moonrise: Charmed Meadow, were not planned—they were total experiments. I told my husband I was just going to go into the studio and “free fall” which to me meant allow myself to play around with no direction or goals in mind. I highly recommend it.