Sorting type

Part of a double case of type before cleaning and sorting.

This is part of Northern Print‘s Letterpress – A Lasting Impression project. We were starting the cleaning and sorting of numerous unidentified cases of type. Given the choice, I decided on a double case that contained quite a large font so it would be easier to see. We opted to work in the Education Room so we had plenty of room, light – and could have cups of coffee as we worked (the latter isn’t allowed in the studio downstairs for sensible health and safety reasons).

First stage of cleaning the case.

First stage of cleaning the case.

Printing from the type by hand to check what it is.

One of my fellow volunteers, James, demonstrates in the photos above how we tackled the task. A small table-top kind of vacuum cleaner was useful for removing the worst of the dust, fluff, bits, fragments of feathers and what appeared to be mouse fur. We took the type out, wiped the compartment with baby wipes (for sensitive skin), wiped the type with baby wipes. Then we  checked what character, spacer or punctuation mark was on the type and whether all matched, inked and printed one of them by hand to check what it was before either stamping or writing it onto a label (smaller fonts were better written on the label so more legible), and returning all matching type to the compartment – and repeating with the next one.

We will be printing a sample of the characters from the cases we clean to send up to Robert Smail’s Printing Works for help with identifying what typefaces we have. For temporary reference purposes, I decided to call my case ‘Fred.’ Until we know their names, we need to identify the cases somehow and I came to the  conclusion that any name that is clearly not a serious traditional typeface name is more memorable than a number. Spending so much time with a case made it feel quite personal so a name also seemed more appropriate.

The new labels on the compartments are just temporary. Another task will be to decide on what the case lays or layouts should be. Some that we looked at seemed to be in alphabetical order which is not a usual printer’s way of organising them. The characters include some not used on typewriter or computer keyboards. Some fonts have different characters so would need different case lays. It appears that most of the cases are double case rather than divided into upper case and lower case. The case I was working on is a double case.

I wasn’t sure if this was the sort of task I would enjoy or find tedious. Fortunately, I really enjoyed it (I also had lovely company as other volunteers were there) and was reluctant to leave by the end of the afternoon. There is a sense of satisfaction in cleaning and ordering cases. All my training in heritage collections makes me want to record it all in detail. I may have to create spreadsheets to record what’s in the cases for my own peace of mind (and so we can see more easily what characters we might need – from our first day, it seems that there are some missing).

I’m looking forward to doing more.

Ouseburn Community Art project

Brick-shaped pieces of paper, all printed with the word Nettles.

I started taking series of photographs of Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne years ago. I have spent more time in the Ouseburn Valley, and become a lot more involved in it, over the past few years. I started making a series of linocuts of the animals at Ouseburn Farm, but had to pause when I ran out of paper and found the cutting of the lino was too tough for me. I hope it is a temporary pause. I have continued to think about the valley and trying to pluck up courage to try drawing outdoors in charcoal and Conté the great viaducts crossing it. also trying outdoor, Low-tech plant outdoor printing such as my friend Stef Mitchell does is something else I would like to try (she prints in the studio too), though I doubt I would ever produce anything as wonderful as her work.

When I saw that Theresa Easton was inviting people to take part in an Ouseburn Community Art project, I was keen to get involved even without knowing much more than it would be about Ouseburn and that Theresa was leading it. It is just a couple of hours a week, based at Ouseburn Farm. When I saw a block of clay looking like a big brick, and some examples of fired bricks that had colours on or had been carved, I knew I would enjoy this project. Theresa explained that we would learn some printing techniques and make books in which to keep our prints and ideas. She showed us examples – all lovely objects.

We had a little time to try out some printing before the end of the session. I was put off printing at school because of the fumes and difficulty of cleaning up when printing with traditional oil-based inks. I also saw it as a medium that required precision. Thanks to Stef, Theresa, and others, I begin to see it as a medium that can be used more freely. Theresa had brought some old typeface, carved from wood, for us to use. The prints I produced were printed by hand. The darker one has the word Nettles printed over textured areas of blue and green, printed from scraps of textured wallpaper. The prints ended up with more texture than I had intended because after interleaving them with newspaper so I didn’t get wet ink all over myself or the car, I forgot to take them indoors. By the next morning, some of the newspaper had stuck to bits of them. I may add some other things to the other Nettles prints next week.

I need to learn again for this project to research and draw out my ideas. I have been jotting down notes already of some of the specific things that I might include in images on the picture bricks that we will eventually make. I found myself wondering if I could start with printing the names of the birds I see Ouseburn. There are, of course, the plants and trees. I have already made a start on the animals and birds at the farm but there are plenty more to do. Then I thought about vehicles and equipment…

I’m looking forward to the next session.