Interview with Emily Wismer

Who are you and what do you do? Include a little about your background.

My name is Emily and I’m a letterpress printer. I run a press called Lady Pilot Letterpress and a custom imprint called Ameila Fine Printing. I’ve spent about 10 years creating a line of snarky greeting cards printed on a Chandler and Price from 1907. I became fascinated with letterpress at 19, when I found some type in an old barn during a road trip. After many years and various careers, I found a shop where I could pursue my passion through an apprenticeship. Eventually, I bought that shop and now I get to combine my sometimes inappropriate sense of humor with a beautiful art form, for fun and occasional profit! 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

I think the best advice I ever received was in the context of creative writing, but applies really well to life. “Show, don’t tell,” was a cardinal rule in Mr. Holt’s class.  For creating a story, this meant not telling the reader what to think or feel, but creating an environment that made them think and feel, creating a space they could live in. On a larger scale, I think it’s just better to show people who you are by your actions, rather than wasting a lot of time talking about what you think, and to create art that allows people to decide how they relate to it. 

What do you love about your work?

I love the physicality of what I do. It’s humbling to be able to work with a press with its own history, to feel like I’m connected to the past. It’s very grounding. And I love being part of the small but inspiring letterpress community. There are so many good people out there creating new work with this old medium. I met a lot of women at a Ladies of Letterpress conference years ago and at various conventions who I call on a regular basis, who I’ve visited across the country. When I first met them, I felt like I’d finally found my people- smart, creative folks who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.  Most everyone in this community is very open to sharing what they’ve learned and they’re consistently supportive. 

What do you hate about it?

I have a serious love/hate relationship with social media (mostly hate). I love making things, but talking about what I’ve made is a struggle. I think many artists come up against this dilemma. We love keeping our hands busy, seeing what comes out of our relationships with ink, or clay, or metal, or glass, etc. That interaction is very concrete and real and life-affirming, it’s an adventure to create, but translating that inspiration into promotion can feel uncomfortable. 

Professionally, what’s your goal?

Honestly, I’d just like to make sure my little business survives. I dream of doing more outreach and creating a writing/book-making program for high school students, but that dream needs Lady Pilot to be stable enough for me to shift my focus to other places. 

What superpower would you love to have and why?

How would you define Aquaman’s superpower? I have a deep love for fish and aquariums and have never even gone scuba diving, but I remember swimming as a child and thinking how beautiful it would be to be able to stay underwater for long periods of time. I think seeing the world from this perspective would be fantastic. And talking to animals could be seriously cool. 

What places are most inspiring to you?

Every fall, I go with my partner to a small town in Maine. We spend a lot of time watching the water, sitting on a dock, and recharging. Being there gives me a calm place for inspiration and introspection so I can return to my studio with new ideas and energy.

What is your dream project?

I have always wanted to work on books. They’re huge, often expensive projects, but I’d love to have the time to print short stories and original artwork, even create a small publishing imprint. 

What has it meant to be a Liberty Arts Artist?

I love being part of Liberty! It’s wonderful to be part of a community of artists, to see what people create in their mediums and to learn from them. Being part of Liberty has also given me the chance to teach and mentor with other community organizations, which I think is a crucial role for artists. Introducing people to letterpress is inspiring and adds to the energy of the studio every time. 

How has COVID-19 changed your life/business?

Whew. Where to start?  Covid has essentially shuttered my business. Most of my clients are small stores, who are also closed right now, and any events I would do custom work for have been postponed or cancelled. It’s scary and uncertain, especially because like most small businesses, I operate on a thin budget and money has always been invested back into Lady Pilot. I’m heartened by staying in contact with clients big and small, knowing we’re all in the same boat and working to support each other in whatever ways we can. 

I continue to work every day, and to send out retail orders I couldn’t be more thankful for. Working through a pandemic has shown really bluntly how dependent we are on one another as a community, how important our connections are. And for me, it’s shown me how my practice is central to my emotional well-being. I start feeling pretty stir-crazy when I can’t get my hands inky and spend time in my studio. I ended up creating some quarantine-specific cards hoping to make people laugh a little in difficult times, and to find a way to keep printing through it all. 

I’m very lucky that as far as my life goes, I have a supportive partner and family, and that I already worked mostly by myself. I’m not lonely, we work in the garden and cook together, and stay connected to friends and family, but the business uncertainty can be a constant source of worry. Like everyone, we’re navigating this with as much positivity as we can muster, but we keep wine on hand.