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Jessica Spring
Web: https://springtidepress.com/
IG: @springtidepress
BIO
Jessica Spring began her interest in typesetting and printing as a phototypesetter in the 1980s. Her introduction to letterpress printing paralleled the birth of desktop publishing: an exciting time to explore graphic arts. She has been a letterpress printer ever since, researching historic type composition and inventing Daredevil Furniture to help other printers expand their skills. Her work at Springtide Press—artist books, broadsides and ephemera where typography plays a central role—is included in collections around the country and abroad. Spring teaches book arts workshops and is the co-author of Dead Feminists: Historic Heroines in Living Color..
ARTIST STATEMENT
The power of taking an idea from conception to print is palpable: we have a voice, but also the means of production. My work focuses on amplifying voices needing to be heard, telling stories in a new way, and ultimately, preservation through production. Closely related is the importance of surprise, and the opportunity to learn and explore that I associate with printed matter. Underlying all of these influences is humor, and woven throughout my work is wordplay, wit, and a fresh point of view.
ARTIST'S WORK
SPEAK YOUR PIECE
Since the start of the current administration, I’ve made a protest poster each month in response to unrelenting assaults: on democracy; against the people in our own cities; and around the world, in league with heinous dictators. The barrage of news is overwhelming, and it’s so difficult to focus and move forward. I’ve motivated myself to keep the project going with a simultaneous goal to document all the wood type in the shop. Each poster features a different typeface, which makes for a great design challenge. I’ve done my best to identify the wood type, though some are unmarked or from European foundries, which makes identification a bit more challenging. I have enough type to keep on protesting, and the urgency continues.
Eventually I’ll have complete boxed editions of the 13 x 20 prints, and many of them have been reproduced as postcards, available at https://www.daredevilletterpress.com/
June 2026
The Reflecting Pool, dedicated in 1922, has been drained, again, after no-bid contract “repairs” have resulted in peeling paint and algae clouds. The administration’s response is murky, blaming it on vandalism.
10L Page Chromatic Arcadian
January 2026
In memory of Renee Nicole Good
24L Day & Collins Atlas Ornamented
July 2025
Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer speaking to the Democratic convention in 1964.
20LSprin gothic ornamented #2
8L Moore Wood Type stars
April 2025
The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
15L Hamilton Gothic NO. 717
June 2025
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
15L & 24L Gothic
February 2026
A Japanese proverb which translates “fall down seven times, rise up eight.”
18L Reed & Sons Ornamented
McKellier Kalocsa Flowers
August 2025
In hope that Palestinians can live in their homeland as free and equal citizens, neither dominated by others nor dominating them.
15L Hamilton Cheltenham Poster
May 2026
Supreme Court guts Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, allowing states to eliminate Black-majority districts.
7L Page Streamer No. 41
not part of the series, but thought it would be fun to include…
WHEN WE PRINT WE WIN!
During a week-long residency at HMCT’s Archetype Press in Pasadena at the end of October 2024, I was drawn to a large broken W. No doubt it resonated with the election (and waves, women, worry, and the World Series.) The broken letter was printed, then healed with a cacophony of ornaments to make it whole again. Letterpress printed on blue-speckled cover stock, the text within reads "When we print, we win." The edition of 100 broadsides measures 16 x 20 inches.
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