Today we’d like to introduce you to Louise Marler.
Hi Louise, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My destiny in print started working for my dad in the letter shop at an early age. By today’s standards, it would be scandalous, but helping out was right, even for a 12-year-old. We had a back room with a circle of auto-typists who worked like a player piano, suction through perforated rolls of paper that pulled the keys. So on a rolling chair, I would put the letterhead in the typewriter, press start, and roll to the next machine. Take out the paper, insert new letterhead, roll to the top of the page, and press start. The following process was the auto-typist, a small light label with a fountain pen. A custom plate would move the pen to form a signature true to the VIP sending the first direct mail letters. Of course, there was folding, stuffing the envelopes, sealing the letters and stamps. Before, both had sticky pull-tabs and stamps; both required a wet sponge.
After graduating college, I willingly went to work for the daily newspaper, The Globe-Democrat. Being in the Union of Newspaper Workers gave me pride, and the huge presses downstairs excited me. I went to LA, worked in an international magazine, and took graphic design classes. I bought a printing company with lithographic presses and was the first to initiate soy-based inks and recycled papers.
I created a fashion T-shirt line that shipped nationally with postcard-sized original photos I printed on nice blank T-shirts. Unlike the other lines who bought screens and dozens of screen-printed, I printed to the order. The Body Type line was typewriter art. It was so different that people liked it and bought them. Little by little, I work from a commercial angle to pay all my bills.
The work comforted and rewarded me. Being featured in a documentary film, Typewriter in the 21st Century, was a solid moment in this tiny family business inky roots into a national stage. Even though it is a B film, it validated this project’s progress.
2016 was the year I finally concluded the 2-year conversation with the Smithsonian Museum of American History Business Industry department for a typewriter gift and multiple documents about our family business. Getting an NEA grant and being included in the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Big Read was great credit and fun in the community. Having Tom Hanks gift me one of his typewriters with his note was big. But as a Gen X rock-n-roll fan, being invited to exhibit and sell at the Desert Trip concert of a lifetime was ultimate, even in 100-degree heat.
Solo exhibits were other mile markers, yet no guarantee of monetizing. Discovering Cherokee Street and my place to create, exhibit, and live was a lifelong dream. Quarantining here gave me time to relax and spread out in a space I had never had. My concept gallery is a mini-typewriter museum exhibit and the photo-based pop art of the same machines. It’s home again with every handmade novelty I created from $5-5000 and the family heirlooms.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Not going to art school did feed insecurities. Although I learned that doesn’t make anyone more creative, just more likely to be employed. But not necessarily in art. Being self-taught gave me total freedom of perspective and production. Learning how to live on a very modest budget was a challenge. It drove creativity. The economy and ability to make it yourself rather than by it out builds personal skill sets.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
First, I take a photograph and only use my own. Then I use Photoshop to transform the photo, remove the background, and colorize. I am a master of fine art digital printers. My mentor, Jack Duganne, pioneered and taught me the Iris printer Digital Fine Art in Santa Monica. He also taught Photoshop at Santa Monica College. There I took Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and layout software classes. More recently, I began to paint on the prints, collage and reduce ink on the prints for mixed media work. I became known for typewriter art before the current sub-culture of typewriter enthusiasts proliferated. Photographers love my vintage camera art. It’s an ironic commentary to photograph range-finder cameras digitally. One of my most creative works is the camera art on lightboxes. For those who don’t know, when a photographer used a film camera, they would get that developed and need a lightbox and magnified ocular to see how the shots looked. So in the vein of irony, I mount Fuji C-prints onto the lightbox for a sculptural photo. Knowing how to make and fix things is a big asset. Printing, graphic design, and various productions enable me to design achievable ideas. Originality and unique perspective set my artwork apart.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Trust myself. Take risks. Bare your soul. Don’t be afraid to try or fail. Build on it.
Pricing:
- 5000>
- <50
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LAMarler.com
- Instagram: @la_marler
- Facebook: @TypOwriterArt
- Linkedin: Louise Anne (LA) Marler
- Youtube: @lamarler
- Other: www.TheTypeInns.com
Image Credits
Dana Bash, CNN Reporter bought the vintage TV art 2023. Deepa Subramanian, curator and collector at LA Art Show 2023, All other photos of artwork by LA Marler. Photos by LA Marler.
