Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring present ‘End of the Line’

Local letterpress collaborators Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring have been quite busy ever since the inception of their feminist broadside projects and are currently working to finish the next poster in the series titled “End of the Line,” which highlights the work, life and struggles of Harriet Tubman.

The duo’s last release of feminist broadside letterpress posters in May was a profound success, so much so that all of the prints available have since sold out. The ladies showed those pieces at University of Puget Sound back in April of this year, and they have both been up to new projects since. O’Leary affirmed that the idea of a series of these specific broadsides wasn’t their original intention.

“They’ve done really well, (we’ve been) pleasantly surprised by the response. (We) never intended to do a series at the start…we wanted to do a print in time for the elections to capture the energy at that time. I was shocked at how well the first one did, then we did the series and each one has done well.”

Due to the fact that the series projects became an organic evolution of the women’s creativity, O’Leary cannot say how many more series and also broadside pieces will be produced in the future.

“(We’ve been) pretty careful not to commit to a certain number. I think it’s a combination of making sure we still want to do it…we don’t want to get into a situation if we commit to a number and don’t want to do that or want to go on and do more. We just want to do it as long as it feels good and we’re excited about it.” Spring went on to add to the process of creating these pieces together. “It’s a challenge to collaborate, at times. We have different ideas, and when they overlap it’s really great. I sure can’t draw.”

In the past series, Spring and O’Leary chose strong, history-making women such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Alice Paul and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to highlight in their beautiful, multi-colored and intricate letterpress pieces. Though these women have all been prolific and instrumental to American history in their own way, both Spring and O’Leary wanted to change directions and focus with their newest release.

“We wanted to inject a cultural diversity into the pieces, and had been wanting to do Harriet Tubman for a while, but we weren’t sure where she fit into the grand scheme of things. We try to tie into a specific issue we’re currently facing or one that is relative to our area, the economy, etc. With the title, we focused on the fact that we have so many things ahead of us and must come up with solutions as a country. We admire the work

(Tubman) did not only for slaves in the South but also for civil rights in general – it affected the political and social climate of this country. It was especially inspiring with how difficult it was for a woman of color to achieve that,” O’Leary affirmed. Spring added to the sentiments. “We wanted to include some women of color, because up to this point we hadn’t…that was important. Race in our country is getting a lot of attention, a real dialogue is opening up. It made sense to include that as part of the journey the country is on.”

In addition to creating these art pieces celebrating feminism around the country over the decades, Spring and O’Leary have been creating buzz with their solo works as well.

Spring recently held a show in Portland titled “The Horse Show,” and the centerpiece of that show was a two-foot-tall plastic horse that was cut in half to reveal a new artist book of Spring’s of the same name. She’s getting ready to teach a class, “Art of the Book,” at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) again this year on bookbinding and letterpress printing. She also has a current show up called “What Would You Give Your Eyeteeth For?” at Brooks Dental Studio here in Tacoma that highlights her work as well as provides an interactive arts experience for patients to contribute to.

O’Leary’s most recent design work can currently be seen all over Tacoma. The Maritime Festival 2009 poster was of her handiwork, and highlights her classic letterpress style. She will be showing work at PLU this fall and is creating  new pieces for that which will be an alphabet series with prints on fabric. She also continues doing freelance illustration design work and letterpress prints.

Now that the feminist letterpress ball is rolling and has been taking on a schedule of new prints being released every quarter, this is the path that O’Leary and Spring will be following. “(It’s) worked out to be a pretty good schedule. The next in the series will come out in November, but we don’t know who will be highlighted yet. Then in February we will speak at the Washington state library in Olympia,” O’Leary said. The library has diaries of Emma Smith DeVor, a suffragist who worked for women’s rights, and the artists felt it appropriate to utilize a quote from her.

“It’s really cool how supportive people are of the pieces and how they’re just turning friends onto the prints…talking at the state library is a great way to reach more people,” Spring said.

This November both artists will be holding open studio tours of their individual studios as a part of Art at Work Month to show their processes from idea to finished product.

For more information about both Jessica Spring’s and Chandler O’Leary’s work, past projects and upcoming shows, visit their websites at http://www.springtidepress.com and http://www.anagram-press.com.

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