Field Notes Holiday Market

Current goods, archival finds

The Field Notes offering includes the complete product line and a large selection of archival rarities, press sheets and miscellaneous goods. Those categories suggest a broader browse than notebooks alone, but specific archive items—and their availability—are not listed.

The market also brings in ten named vendors: Arceo Press, The Bird Machine, Cut & Placed, Ground-Up Press, Matterworks, Nerfect, Paper Perennial, Starshaped Press, Struggle Inc. and Tenoch Press. The announcement gives no table-by-table schedule or confirmed inventory, so the names provide a guide to the makers represented rather than a promise of particular products.

Further reading: Field Notes Holiday Market in Chicago at Field Notes Brand HQ ↗

Letterpress, illustration and paper florals

Several vendor profiles point to different ways of working with paper. Starshaped Press has practiced letterpress since 1999, using historic metal and wood type and concentrating on limited-edition printed ephemera. Its studio also describes a commitment to reusing materials and choosing sustainably sourced papers. The market listing does not specify which pieces the press will bring.

Cut & Placed is the practice of independent artist and illustrator Laura Weiler, whose past collaborations include Field Notes. Paper Perennial describes its work as paper floral artistry. Matterworks’ general storefront lists drafting rolls, serving trays and bioactive terrariums, but those listings do not confirm what will be available at the market.

These profiles make the roster’s range clearer, while leaving the day’s actual stock open. The event announcement does not confirm demonstrations or specific offerings from individual vendors.

Further reading: Field Notes Holiday Market in Chicago at Field Notes Brand HQ ↗ · Starshaped Press ↗ · Collage | Cut & Placed | Laura Weiler ↗ · Paper Perennial | Chicago Suburbs | Paper Florist ↗ · MatterWorks ↗

A Chicago printmaking history behind Arceo Press

Arceo Press’s background connects collaborative printmaking to Chicago’s art history. René Arceo’s account traces one early chapter to 1990, when artist Tomas Bringas proposed a portfolio project with Chicago printmakers. The resulting El Canto del Papel brought together seven artists, including Arceo, around images inspired by poems by Duddley Nieto. Within a year, the group established Taller Mexicano de Grabado in Pilsen, now Casa de Cultura Carlos Cortez.

A later project helped lead to Arceo Press. In 2003, Arceo coordinated Bajo un mismo cielo with Juan Guerrero of Artistas Visuales de Michoacán. The portfolio involved 12 artists from Michoacán—six living in the United States and six in Michoacán—and Arceo identifies it as the catalyst for founding the press.

Arceo Press’s wider practice is built around limited-edition portfolios that bring together artists from different countries around shared themes. That collaborative history offers context for one of the market’s named printmakers; it does not confirm which portfolios or prints will be for sale on Dec. 12.

Further reading: ArceoPress – Chicago Printmaker ↗