About

Hi! I’m Tracey Sandoval. I live in MN with my übergeek husband and our two mini-Sandovals. By day I facilitate support groups for people who live with chronic pain, focusing on the mind/body connection, and at night I sneak down to my home studio and get messy.

I’m nuts about making things, and like many makers I’m a dabbler. If I could eat the contents of the art materials store I probably would. However, a couple of years ago I was introduced to a world that has completely sucked me in. Printmaking with linoleum block and a printing press. After taking my first letterpress class through Minnesota Center for Book Arts in 2016 I’ve been hooked. The paper, the ink, the clanking of the old presses that have so much history and personality, the camaraderie of fellow printmakers sharing tips and tricks. Every part of it is beautiful and brings me joy. After a few more classes and lots of support from my family, I now have a Chandler and Price 8x12 printing press in my garage, a C&P Pilot Press on my desk, and a tiny little Baltimore #10 that could fit in my bicycle basket. I’m pretty much in heaven.

I’m currently working on a series of linoleum block prints about women and their friendships and relationships. Volunteers, friends, partners, family, co-workers. All the different ways that women’s lives intersect and how they support and cheer for one another. I’m always on the hunt for interesting vintage photos that would fit with the series, and then I carve portions of the images into the block and print them on the press. With some of the prints I’ve been experimenting with painting them after printing. It creates a look I really like, but I mostly started doing this because I’m a novice printer and I still can’t get the damn blocks to print evenly. So…I paint them to finish off the look I’m trying to achieve. Lazy printer? Probably. Happy printer? Yes.

Thanks for stopping by!
Tracey

Tracey is a graduate of the University of North Dakota, where she took coursework in ceramics, drawing, and art history. Most recently she has taken printmaking, book arts, and letterpress classes at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, the Savage Arts and Cultural Center, and through the Ladies of Letterpress Print Week conference in St. Louis, MO, 2017. She holds a Masters degree in Counseling Studies and enjoys chocolate covered potato chips.