Mollie’s Creative Path

As abbreviated as possible…

Since I was a little kid I’ve always made things for other people. I grew up at my dad’s veterinarian clinic where I had an endless supply of copy paper and pens. I made cards to send to pen pals and great grandparents. I drew pictures to sell to my dad’s employees and to decorate the cages for the animals. I loved making and giving.

In middle school I made zines before I knew what a zine was. In high school I was the designated sign maker for all pep rallies and I continued to make cards experimenting with different materials for friends and family.

After a stint in political science during college I finally landed where I belonged in graphic design. This was the pre-Pinterest, birth of blogs era. I saved inspiration directly onto my computer in folders! I still dreamed of making my own greeting cards but now in a real way… I was in graphic design, surely we would cover different pathways. Spoiler: we did not.

Graphic design was a hard major. It was competitive. It was time consuming. Our professors had really high standards for our work. By the end of my senior year, I was burnt out… and graduated in the beginning of the recession (yay 2008!). 

After a miserable design internship I decided to go to graduate school for art education. I’ve been teaching full time ever since. During that time, I found my way back to design and know a lot more than I did when I graduated college. Possibilities!

In 2017 I took a letterpress class and instantly fell in love. I mean instantly. I loved everything about it. I loved the repetition, attention to detail, the history, and just how special words and images look pressed into paper. For the second time in my life I listened to my gut and started looking for presses as soon as I got home.

I ended up calling a guy that lives in Tybee Island, GA (which he’s a story in itself). That November he drove up in his motorhome (that has a lounging tiger painted on the back) and the press was mine! 

In the months leading up to the delivery, my husband, uncle, and I built a studio in my unfinished basement. Now my press was actually in it! Because all presses have names, I named mine Goldie because she has original gilding on the wheel from 1908.

Ok, cool. Got my press. Built a studio. Now what?