Natalie takes commissions for anything that suits metal type: wedding and party invitations, business cards, programmes, and single poems set and printed as a keepsake. Each is set by hand, letter by letter, from type held at the London Centre for Book Arts, so a short run takes time and looks quite unlike anything off a digital press. Send her the wording and tell her what it is for. She will ask how many you need, then come back with a quote and a lead time.
Natalie is a typesetter and letterpress printer, working with metal type and other forms of relief printing.
As a student of medieval literature at university, she has been interested in early bookmaking practices. Her work is inspired by historical print culture, especially broadside publications and cheap woodblock illustrations. Her pieces are thoroughly researched, and revolve around her passion for medieval and folk literature.
Natalie studied medieval literature at Oxford university, where she became enamoured of manuscript and early print culture. She started spending time at an art room in Christ Church College – home to a number of historic presses – and there she started to learn relief printmaking. She took a letterpress workshop after university and found that typesetting seemed to go hand in hand with her earlier interest in block printing.
Moveable type made of lead, antimony and tin (the alloy discovered by Gutenberg himself). Type from the 19th and 20th century, taken from a number of former London presses, including the Curwen Press.
