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studio tour

Studio Tour – Pinball Publishing

I was lucky to get a small tour of the Pinball Publishing studios while I was in Portland a few weeks ago. They make tons of amazing work using both offset lithography and letterpress, including their famous Scout Books (my boyfriend loves the 33 Bottles of Beer Journal!)

I really admire this print shop, both for their awesome creative team, and their dedication to making awesome things in a sustainable way. A little about Pinball, in their own words:

Pinball is a Creative Publishing Company.

Our Portland, Oregon headquarters include an integrated printing plant, design studio, editorial offices, and a book manufacturing facility. Within its walls, we combine craft and ingenuity to produce results of the highest quality.

Fueled by a passion for ink, paper, and collaboration, Pinball powers a growing web of interconnected projects, including Scout Books, Print Pinball, and Bangback. With all of these endeavors, we use 100% recycled papers, vegetable-based inks, and renewable energy sources.

Even more awesome: they are super kind to animals! Some of the employees bring their pets to work, like this awesome pup who was acting as shop mascot the day I visited.

I have been dreaming about their insane ink storage area ever since my visit… can you imagine having so much ink?! I wish my studio was even a fraction as awesome as the one at Pinball.

*All photos borrowed from the Pinball Publishing website, except the final two photos, which are my own.

Studio Tour: BT Livermore at Magnetic North

photo taken by BT Livermore

In an effort to stay close to my roots as an artist working in the real world, I want to begin a new feature here on the Cotton & Flax blog: studio tours! While I was visiting Portland, Oregon a few weeks ago, my friend BT Livermore gave me a tour of his new communal studio space in NE Portland, Magnetic North.

BT Livermore is a talented printmaker, sign painter, and illustrator, who I met back in my beard-obsessed post-college days (BT co-owns a moustache wax company called Man’s Face Stuff along with Evan Dumas). He recently moved into a new studio space, called Magnetic North, that also serves as a studio space for artists Mary Kate McDevitt, Fred DiMeglio, KB Sawyer, and Lacey Van Nortwick.

Magnetic North is a great space for these creatives, they have space to tackle a wide range of projects. In addition to having their own desk area, there is space to screenprint, a tabletop letterpress complete with type, a small laboratory corner for creating moustache wax, and lots of table space to spread out and draw or paint.

Printmakers require ink, certainly.

photo taken by BT Livermore

Another of BT’s hand painted signs. And below, a large hand painted sign in progress.

There is a small retail space up front, which sells original art, prints, and even moustache wax.

And outside, you’ll see more hand painted signage inviting you into the shop. Mary Kate McDevitt and Fred DiMeglio created the beautiful window, made using windows reclaimed from a 100+ year old house in Portland. It lets in lots of light, and lends charm to a space already loaded with personality.

Check out the Magnetic North Blog, or visit BT Livermore’s Website, Blog, or Twitter.