Eight years ago, I developed a sudden and unexpected interest in traditional printing, resulting from exposure, in Berlin museums, to evidence of the trade.

The interest may have stayed strictly academic if I had not taken the opportunity to travel to Brooklyn, eight years ago today, to take a one-day Introduction to Letterpress course from The Arm.

By the end of that day I was hooked, but also lamenting that I would return to Prince Edward Island with no way to continue. I was assured that the stars would align if I simply held my breath and had faith; sure enough, it wasn’t long before my friend Joan offered me the loan of a tiny Adana Eight-Five press, and I’ve been printing ever since.

Here’s the first job I ever printed that day in Brooklyn, a postcard for Oliver.