Jessica Spring

Working on the quokkas this week! #workinprogress #reductionprint #letterpress #queertails Queer Tails is a letterpress printed ABC series celebrating queerness in the animal kingdom. Sign up for our free Substack (link in bio) to stay in the know!

The hyena was our first pancake (ie. the first critter of the series we did start to finish to make sure this crazy idea would work!)

The happy hyenas behind the Queer Tails project, a letterpress printed ABC series celebrating queerness and gender diversity in the animal kingdom. Sign up for the Substack at the link in our bio to stay up to date on the project and upcoming drops. This project is funded in part by Tacoma Artists Initiative Program (TAIP).

See you this weekend! Thank you @write.253 @tacomalibrary @_saikick_ for making it work. #tacomawayzgoose2026

Maker’s Table is a local art market on Saturday, May 30th, 2026 from 10am-5pm at the Tacoma Armory’s Roosevelt Room. Find affordable ceramics, fiber arts, glasswork, jewelry, original prints, paintings, & works on paper. Free entry for all ages, the event features 13 South Sound artists selling their artwork & connecting with the community. Springtide Press makes limited-edition letterpress printed artist books, broadsides and ephemera. Take a look at their website at springtidepress.com! The zine Black & Blue uses lyrics from the song made famous by Louis Armstrong. Hope Hana is a Victorian puzzle purse structure that unfolds to reveal a bit of hope. Posters are from the protest series “Speak Your Piece” printed with wood type from the collection at Springtide Press. @springtidepress @acceleratingcreativeenterprise @tacomaartslive

Clock in to Tacoma Wayzgoose! Pick up your very own save-the-date keepsake, printed by the incredible @springtidepress , at Write253, the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch. Event Details Dates: May 1 & May 2 Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Location: Tacoma Public Library – Main Branch 1102 Tacoma Ave S, Tacoma, WA About Tacoma Wayzgoose Tacoma Wayzgoose is a large-scale printmaking festival bringing together artists, schools, and community members from across the region. Featuring hands-on activities, live demonstrations, and opportunities to create your own prints, the event celebrates creativity, craftsmanship, and community connection through printmaking. Free and open to the public. . . . . . . #letterpress #printmaking #wayzgoose

Last week’s mini residency with Aimee Lee included a Vandercook duet printing on hanji with wood type and borders. The handmade paper will be sewn into dresses for Aimee’s upcoming exhibition. Her amazing show, Untethered, is at @bimuseum.of.art until June 14. #woodtypewednesday #letterpress #hanji

(Big debates here if this should really say “Speak Your Peace,” but know I mean that too.) “Speak Your Piece” is the title of my show at Brooks Dental Studio that opens next week, and shows the power of the press (and some beautiful wood type) utilized to create monthly protest posters—and some signs of hope—since the start of the current administration. I especially love this print that combines 40L Day & Collins French Antique Elongated No.3 from the late 1800s with nearly new @moorewoodtype Oval Tuscan. Join us to see the work, gather energy to keep our voices strong, and celebrate completed renovations at @brooksdentalstudio on Thursday, March 19 from 5:30 to 7:00. I’m so grateful to Dr. Jamie for continuing to share the light—and the work of local artists—with our community. The show is up until May, when Tacoma Waygoose prints will be exhibited. #iprotest #woodtype #woodtypewednesday

Y’all need to give women more than a day, or a month. I call bullshit. #imwithher

New episode of Artists’ Books Unshelved 📚 This episode features two artists’ books that explore paternal inheritance, memory, and palaces through layered, sculptural forms. “Layered Time – Grapevine Lattice” by Jana Sim and “Memory Lame” by Jessica Spring of Springtide Press show how books can hold histories, emotions, and personal narratives—turning reading into an immersive experience. Follow the artists for more: Jana Sim (@janasim_studio ) & Jessica Spring / Springtide Press (@springtidepress ) and watch this week’s episode at the link in our bio!! #artistsbooks #bookart #visualart #contemporaryart #sculpturalbooks

Home from Japan, back to the barrage of bad news. I was reminded today by a younger, wiser printer about the importance of continually connecting community and our vital heritage as printers to a lineage of revolution. Casting that net further and tightening those lines sustains us in the worst of times. (Thanks for the reminder @rascallysophistpress ). On that note, our last stop in Japan was in Osaka where I squeezed in more letterpress goodness. I visited Yuichiro Ohnishi’s shop in 2018, and since then @nanikatsu moved to a smaller storefront. Nanikatsu Press was started in 1937 by Yuichiro’s grandfather, and has transitioned from letterpress to offset and back again. Yuichiro had to buy letterpress equipment again—mostly from the United States—to replace what had been sold. The shop has a large collection of predominantly roman wood and metal type, and photopolymer plates are utilized for commercial jobs. Yuichiro’s skills as a translator—especially letterpress-related material—has been invaluable for producing zines/journals he calls “Pied Type.” The latest issue is a companion to Rich Kegler’s documentary “Making Faces” now available with Japanese subtitles (and premiered at @kappan.tokyo ). Yuichiro shared delightful treasures and recent projects during my visit. While rescuing some equipment, he discovered a small case that included Japanese type… but it was glass. No, he has not tried to print it, and we are both utterly curious and confused about its existence. In a rural area outside Osaka he has started experiments with washi, making it with black beans, barley, and bamboo. What I especially love about Yuichiro’s work is the humor and playfulness with attention to craft. In the creation of kinpū (envelopes for gifts of money) he started with wood type to create a pattern, reduced drastically to create a much larger pattern reminiscent of bamboo. Considered a lucky plant, the meaning is embedded in the finished envelopes. Yuichiro’s shop tour was a great gift, as was this character, meaning circle or loop, which accompanied me home. Hopefully it means we’ll see each other again.

Another shop tour after Kappan Tokyo included a visit to TypeShop_g where Tomomi Uno has continued after Hitoshi Koizumi’s recent retirement. @typeshopgstudio includes a Swiss type shop and a Graphix press, and—intentionally separated to keep languages and measurements together—a Japanese type shop, including type, mats, and an NGI press. I learned these tabletop presses were built post-WW2 and saw several more during my trip. We had the opportunity to see Uno’s recent work, including a stunning book completed with her mentor in Switzerland, Romano Hänni. It is handset and letterpress printed with a section of offset photographs showing typographic composition, and perfect bound by Uno. I especially appreciated some of the quirky and delightful details I wouldn’t typically associate with Swiss design. The book’s back cover includes a Penline flourish and an Art Nouveau border. A bird motif, composed entirely of ornaments, is documented with photos of the lockup. Thanks to @typeshopgstudio for the tour, and to @kappan_tokyo for arranging our visit, including our awesome translator. #metaltype #letterpress #swisstype #kappantokyo