Printing like Gutenberg: Crow Designs Letterpress Studio opens in Clarks Summit

CLARKS SUMMIT — When printmaker Christine Medley saw a ‘for rent’ sign near the building on Depot Street two blocks from her house, she believed she found the best location to move her Crow Designs Letterpress Studio from her former location in downtown Scranton. After a few months of moving and unpacking, she settled in the summer and opened the new studio during the inaugural Art of the Abingtons Studio Tour, which was held at The Gathering Place in August.

“I felt this was the perfect opportunity to invite the community in rather than have a stand-alone grand reopening,” Medley said. “I had many new visitors to the shop and many who had previously taken workshops or visited during the Scranton First Friday walks.”

Medley displayed and sold a variety of letterpress, printed cards, posters, handmade books and fine art pieces featuring handmade paper and other printmaking processes like etching, block and screen printing. There was a make-and-take project where visitors could print a seed packet with a 1950s tabletop Kelsey press to experience how letterpress works.

The new location is home to four presses specifically for letterpress type and image blocks, which range from old advertising logos to decorative borders and beautiful illustrations. Many of them are over 100 years old. There is also one portable etching press for flat plates like linocut or plexi. I also have gel plates which is a soft pliable plate similar to gelatin that are fun for experimental one of a kind prints. three

The studio is a print shop primarily set up for letterpress printing, which was used since 1450 when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and moveable cast type.

Medley hosts introductory letterpress workshops, which gives a basic overview on how to select and lock up simple type designs with images from the collection; then how to ink the lock up, and then print it as a poster, coaster, greeting card or whatever paper type desired. Multiple colors and registration are used in more advanced workshops. A typical workshop ahs a small group of no more than five people and runs three hours. There are also one-on-one workshops for anyone who has a special project.

“I have had couples come in and print their own wedding invitation,” said Medley. “I even had a proposal locked up and printed with the proposal happening as the print was pulled. That was a special one!”

Medley does workshops that don’t require a press or type such as printing from nature, eraser stamps, book arts, alternative plate block printing, printing on fabric, and monoprinting with gel plates.

The workshops are scheduled by request by posting them on her Facebook page and Instagram. During the school year, they will occur on weekends, typically Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. She also does workshops at other spaces including two coming up at The Gathering Place in October: Fall Prints on Textiles & Handmade Paper on Friday, October 3rd; Single Sheet Book & Eraser Stamps on Friday, October 17th. She will be selling her printmaking book, which was published by Dover in 2020, at the Local Author Fair at the Abington Community Library on Saturday, September 20.

“The great thing about my new location, is I can throw my supplies in a cart and just wheel on down to their space, which is much larger than mine and can accommodate more people,” said Medley.

Before moving her studio to Clarks Summit, Medley shared a space with Cristin Powers of ScrantonMade and Matt Hiller of Revival Letterpress at The Workshop on Adams Avenue in Scranton. The Workshop was the coop name for the group of artists in the space. Powers and Hiller moved out a few years ago, and there were many artists in and out of the coop afterwards. Medley moved out last May, and the space is now evolving into a music-art venue run by Michael Lloyd.

“After 13 years in Scranton, a lot of First Friday art walks, rising costs, and really too much acquired stuff, my plan was to downsize, simplify and move my studio home to my basement or garage in Clarks Summit,” she said. “But I literally had a ton of stuff (one press weighed 1200 lbs) and the challenge of fitting it in house was daunting. I only moved what I could fit in the space and the rest was sold or donated to the Marywood printmaking studio. Being so physically close, I can pop in and out quickly. I just love the location and the space. It’s got a whole new vibe to it than the Scranton space.”

Medley’s love of printmaking goes back to her grandfather, who owned a typesetting business in Omaha, Nebraska. Her dad worked as a linotype operator until it closed down in the early 1970s. Medley is a full-time art professor at Marywood University and a graphic designer. She has an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Maryland College Park and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska. She learned letterpress on her own by attending fun printmaking conferences and workshops for the past fifteen years as an art making process instead of the commercial side of it.

“As I tell everyone now, I’m not in this for client work, I’m in this for the creative challenge,” she said.

Medley consistently participated in community events such as First Friday Scranton with groups to learn about the history of type and printing.

“I now look forward to doing some of that with the Clarks Summit community, still offering workshops, and focusing on making my art,” she said. “Plus not acquiring any more stuff (unless it’s super cool).”