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Hooksmith

@hooksmith

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Russell Frost: Letterpress artist, Shopkeeper, wood whittler, frugivore, mandolin/trout player. Ex NZ Professional Flyfishing Guide.

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Nostalgiic new earworm in E

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Enjoying the wood-panel vibe with this print. Made with Delittles Eboracum white-letter type circa 1890

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Couldn't find my hammer. . . I love collecting objects and art for the walls, Fresh ink up on the walls from @hooksmith and vintage bus sign from @decor_fionadesign

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This is Russell: he’s a former fisherman, former architect and now a print maker of 15 years. He’s based in Leytonstone, where he collects over a 100 different letterpresses from around the world. I chatted with him last year and learnt more about his story.

#docuseries #story #documentary #condenasttraveller #london

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More of Russell and his enviable collection of type. He works out of a small studio packed to the ceiling with large machines and tiny lettering. What he's created is really beautiful and the product is precise, thoughtful and provocative.
Please go check him out for cards, posters and social commentary.
@hooksmith

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Photographs of Russell Frost, someone who remembers the taxing joy of craft and process. Russell creates posters and flyers out of his workshop in East London, using his hand letterpress, a machine that takes time and patience to get right. He has the most incredible collection of metal and wood types, producing (quite) clever and witty captions (I know you'll see this Russell). It was a pleasure to capture him at work. Go check him out for any letterpressing needs @hooksmith

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Fun weekend had @glasgowmandolinretreat , national piping centre. Thanks @theotherethansetiawan @lbdiddle for organising a first class weekend and to Cahalen, Pepi and Calum for imparting their exceptional skills and wisdom.
Couple of shots of Gotham City, Batman set in Glasgow CBD and random encounter with kiwi mates. Made it back for my daughters Birthday, sad to miss concert. Group photo @lbichan #mandolin

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Too much heat in the kitchen. Thanks for documenting Nadia’s Plum Sauce Recipe @danieletherington #grillbabygrill #laddertolarder goes equally well with a ploughman’s. Need rain

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Church Lane, #Leytonstone during “Shopping Week”, 1910’s, and how it looks today.

#ThenAndNow #LondonHistory #WalthamForest #ChurchLaneLeytonstone

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"An absolute treat of a morning yesterday, I got to cross the threshold into a place…." – and that is where my sentence was left for hours yesterday, upon returning from my time spent with Russell at his @hooksmith engine room. Nay, holy ground. Hallowed land?

Calling it a studio feels too fickle — it's just not enough to describe what it was, and in the same vein, writing a description here about what I experienced feels equally insubstantial.

So all I'll say for now is: 40-year-old me stood in reverence, the scrappy feral kid in me came alive, and the creative in me remembered she was part of something much bigger.

The typesets, the paper, the ink, the monumental presses, the stories, the craftsmanship, the engineering — all tactile things you have to wrestle with in order to create. And though I wrestle with ideas and designs all the time, this felt different. This felt like having a soul again. I felt my chest want to puff out, my muscles want to flex, and my brain was firing on all cylinders. There was no ctrl+Z, no flicking through endless fonts at the touch of a button — everything was intentional.

Russ, to you a massive thank you once again doesn't feel enough. Seeing how you have collected and curated such a beautiful place, and how you take stewardship of a mind-blowing collection — curated and looked after with the utmost respect and love — is a moment that has been marked in my brain as something rather special.

In my humble opinion, you finally did get that elephant in your garden!

#typography #print #letterpress #woodtype #madebyhand

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The era of doomscrolling is over. Here’s all the things I’ve done this month to avoid the chronic ill doom scrolling cycle. And I’ve got to say, I am feeling happier for it! Less time online = less comparing myself to “healthy” bodies and feeling mad at myself for needing more rest and not being able to achieve much. I do live the little community of chronically ill girlies though and that makes me feel less alone and more seen so it’s a bit of a catch 22!

Does doomscrolling with a chronic illness make you feel this way?

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A football commission underway this week using a fantastic large wooden block. Laying down some tester background. Could make A World Cup flag for Japan? Any ideas on age/type of ball appreciated.

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