Denver, CO: The Letterpress Depot

We weren’t in the car for two hours before making our first stop on the tour. A few days before we packed our bags, Erika from Windy Mill Press (www.windymillpress.com) messaged us with a request to stop by her shop in Billings, MT.While we hadn't originally planned to stop in the large eastern Montana city, we couldn't say 'no' to sharing a meal with a fellow creative. Though we didn’t print with Erika, we knew from the beginning this trip was going to be a lot of meeting, looking, oohing and ahhing, talking, and learning from the best. Oh and of course print with the energy and time we had left. If you’re a printmaker or have even printed once in your life, you understand the actual ”printing”aspect takes only 10% of the time. That’s how the trip feels so far – which is exactly how we wanted it. 

We zigzagged our way through the big-little town of Billings to Windy Mill Press. You would never g\ess there was a letterpress shop in the building our maps guided us to, nor a type nerd that worked there, but as we smelled our way through the halls for that distinct print shop smell we ran into Erika. She said, “Are you the gals?” We said simultaneously, “We guess!” Erika curated a beautiful space, lined with posters from Bobby Rosenstock, and, of course, some of her fun Montana themed work. She graciously bought us our last Montana meal for the months to come. We shared our stories that led us both to letterpress and once again we were off. 

In corresponding with another lovely Erica, at the Letterpress Depot (www.letterpressdepot.com)  in Denver (our first official print tour stop) a few individuals offered us a place to stay for our short visit in the city. Depot board member Bill and his wife Kathleen were a couple of those people. We pulled into Fort Collins with tired road eyes and bellies full of excitement, although they were quite literally empty. Bill and Kathleen greeted us right when we pulled up and welcomed us in to meet the confident Mr. Newton, the cat of their beautiful home. The evening consisted of a refreshing meal with wine at a local restaurant down the road and, of course, a lot of letterpress talk. We quickly realized that Bill is a very knowledgeable letterpress printer and typographic consultant, as he describes himself, and we spent the meal, listening with a lot of “wait, what is that,” “one more time,” “oh yes I’ve heard of that but explain more!” His shop in the back of their house is a space I’ve only ever seen in my dreams - immaculate, welcoming, well lit, and, of course, including windowed doors to see Kathleen’s full garden out back. We were giddy both in the evening after dinner and in the morning when we toured it again. 

Tuesday morning we made our way into the city to print. With only a short gas detour we made it to the Letterpress Depot. The building, a reclaimed train station, sits high and proud off S. Santa Fe Drive in Englewood, CO. We pulled up just before Elanor, who organized our visit. In an effort to use the bathroom, we shuffled in quickly out of the sun and we were immediately greeted by three men in the basement - Tom, Mark, and Brian. My first thought was, “I could ask them anything about the craft and between the three I would get an answer.” They lived, breathed, and oozed letterpress. Just as dancers look like dancers, or ship captains look like captains, these printers looked like printers. Their passion, integrity, and steadfast charisma for the craft was the fuel that inspired our print-sesh the whole day. We felt privileged to print with them - even just for one afternoon. Dave, another board member, patiently took photos and videos of us while Elanor supported our endeavors with lemonade and popsicles - essentials for a day working in the summer sun. We printed a three color print, inspired by the hot day and a few unique cuts they pulled out for us. By the end we were empty on brain power and dehydrated, but recharged on the raw inspiration of a print community. The individuals at the Letterpress Depot had so much to offer in terms of knowledge of the age-old craft, but perhaps better yet, great company and community. 

In an effort to solidify a location to print in Denver, we reached out to Jason at Genghis Kern (www.genghiskern.com). The printers at the Depot advised that we must go meet Jason and Jeff. We didn’t print with Jason the next morning, but like I said, that’s only 10% of this adventure. As we made our way into the air conditioned studio, we both felt right at home in the contemporary graphic design space that lives in the front of the house. Jason then led us to the back of the house, which you could call land of the giants. Six large presses nest in the studio, two of which are windmills, and as Bill taught us, is the American name for that specific press. Oh, so much to learn! Jason and Jeff shared their work and the unique layout of the space. We were both wildly impressed by the emboss, foil, and production design work they presented. And not to mention their colorful collection of prints on the wall -- one cannot fill the walls enough with inspiring letterpress ephemera. 

We spent the afternoon decompressing at the Denver Art Museum and catching up with an old friend before making our way to Colorado Springs to spend the evening with some family. 

The next day as we drove to Santa Fe, Rosemary pointed out an interesting sign that read “gust winds may exist,” which I guess is always true in life but so far just four days in and we are sailing smooth with a nice tail wind pushing us South.