Hooksmith

Original Hand Printed Letterpress Artworks by Russell Frost

 
 

Hooksmith Press  is a small letterpress print shop
based in East London.

Hooksmith Press

Limited edition print runs of posters are hand-crafted using a combination of traditional wood type and metal type.

My work reflects a slower time and a love of typography and the written word.

Inspiration is also drawn from 30 +years of appreciating and collecting Kiwiana and other ephemera, and my own rural, New Zealand upbringing, as well as 10 + years now spent living in East London (Leytonstone) with Epping Forest on my doorstep.

Presses include an Adana 8×5 platen and several proofing presses including a Farley, Stephenson Blake, Vandercook14, Vandercook SP15, Harrild & Sons Albion Press.

Letterpress is a medium which allows me to collect and re-use elements from the past to create something new; a tangible and tactile connection to history and  a continuation of a craft.

The name hooksmith alludes to a time of specialised artisans and guilded craftsmen.  It  plays on the most common European surname in New Zealand, coupled with  the Maori myth where Maui pulls up the North Island with a fish hook.  Okay maybe it also reflects my fly fishing infliction.

Commissions welcome.  If you're an old printer reading this and you are looking to down-size your wood type collection, I'd love to hear from you!

Leytonstone Shop: We are open most weekends, though from time to time, the odd thing crops up. CLOSED FOR NOVEMBER 2024 please see below for details.

Visit our physical shop 54 Church Lane Leytonstone, London E11 1HE
Open most Weekends 11am-5pm, other times gladly by arrangement
- please feel free to contact to check opening times on public holidays, or even if you are planning to make a special journey/visit.
07450292792

WE OFFER WORLDWIDE SHIPPING - If you’re outside the UK, please enquire via email: workshop@hooksmith.com and I will aim to reply within 24 hours.

**********ATTENTION********** Please note we are away for Month of November (3rd), through December 6. Any orders placed in this time will not be dispatched until week commencing December 9th 2024, Thanks for your understanding.

 

Please enjoy Lonehand Production’s short film (Zak Crafer, October 2024) getting in behind the inner workings of Hooksmith Press. Filmed in a new purpose built studio 7 years since Joshua Panter visited and made his short feature.

Hooksmith is a film about Russell Frost, a New Zealand born, former fly fisher who now runs Hooksmith Press, producing letterpress prints in his workshop based in East London. Russell was kind enough to open his workshop to us, and offer an insight into the creative and technical aspects of his letterpress craft, giving us a glimpse into the machinery, equipment and process required to create his prints. A film by Joshua Panter Music: "Gymnopedie No. 3" Camera: Fujifilm XT-2 Lenses: Fuji 23mm f2 Lens + Fuji 18-55mm XF Lens Software: Premiere Pro, Audition