Mary Laird at PressTeaching and printing fine letterpress books

Master teacher at the San Francisco Center for the Book

Retreat Guide

Mary Laird, MFA, UW Madison, has published letterpress books since 1969 as Quelquefois Press and as partner in Perishable Press Limited from 1969-84. Ms. Laird loves teaching letterpress. Currently she is a board member and teaches at San Francisco Center for the Book, where rumor has it, editions of 40 chapbooks are cobbled together and printed in a day with eight itinerant devils.

Her production style is slow and ornery so she works best alone. The Bixlers’ Type Foundry has set many of her books for which she is most grateful. Poetry, jazz, painting, drawing, the mystics of all traditions and participating in long silent retreats all over the country lend meaning to her life and inspiration to her work; her books may be found in many collections across the country and in London. She has three grown children and lives in Berkeley with her husband John Malork.

About Mary Laird and Quelquefois Press

LETTERPRESS & BOOK ARTS

Mary prints on Vandercook presses and often combines letterpress with the art of creative bookbinding. Her portfolio ranges from simple poetry chapbooks to highly complex book sets.

CLASSES

Mary has taught letterpress at the San Francisco Center for the Book since it opened its doors in 1996. She also leads letterpress and bookbinding workshops at her home studio in Berkeley.

MEDITATION & RETREATS

Trained and appointed as a Retreat Guide in the Inayati Order, Mary also offers guided meditation retreats (3-30 days) in her garden hut in Berkeley. Instruction and vegetarian meals provided daily.

Drop Spine Box
Commissions: Drop Spine Boxes
In Boxes
Sometimes
Sometimes
In Bookbinding / Letterpress
Love in Unexpected Places
In Bookbinding / Letterpress
A Song About Myself
A Song About Myself
In Bookbinding / Boxes
Silence Always Answers
Silence Always Answers
In Bookbinding / Letterpress
Remember the Light
Remember the Light
In Bookbinding / Boxes / Letterpress
Jagged Stones
Jagged Stones
In Bookbinding / Boxes / Letterpress
Kindred Flame
Kindred Flame
In Bookbinding / Boxes / Letterpress