Beth Baker

Who: Beth Baker, teacher by day, artist and creator of Gillfoy Paper Arts the rest of the time.

Special Delivery: “Three years ago, I took a class about making books. I loved letterpress, but didn’t know how to get into it,” Baker says. “About the same time, my father-in-law was closing his print shop, so I dragged my husband, Mark—who I’d been married to for three years—to Milwaukee to check it out. My jaw dropped because I didn’t realize he had a letterpress. I still love my husband, but I can’t believe he didn’t tell me!”

Key of G: “The print shop in Milwaukee was named Gillfoy,” she adds. “I asked my father-in-law if I could keep the name. [The logo] is the best ‘G’ ever. I like the sound of it. It’s family tradition.”

Setting Up Shop: Baker started by making paper in her kitchen, then co-owned ArtCo with local artist Ingrid Restemeyer. Her current studio is in the Northrup King Building, where she makes letterpress art, greeting cards, stationery, and pretty much anything else involving paper. “I want to take letterpress from sweet and nice to something else.”

Letter Perfect: “I don’t have formal training so I don’t have any ‘you can’t do that’ rules.

Spell Bound: “I’ve always been a word nerd. I enjoy crosswords in ink, puns, malapropisms, alliterations, and double-entendres.”

Wordsmith: “I listen to my sixteen-year-old punk rock son, Dylan, and his friends,” says Baker. “I like to get people to think deeper—how words are used and affect people. Words are important,” she adds. “One little word can make or break a relationship—did you know people break up over text messages?”

Spelling B: “Kids are using all these abbreviations, like ‘U R nice.’ I tell them: ‘Is your name Prince? Is your band The Revolution?’ Until that happens, you must spell your words out.’ Thankfully, they still know who Prince is!”

Beth Baker has shown her work at Corazon and the Artists’ Mercantile. Her studio in the Northrup King Building (401A, 1500 NE Jackson St., Mpls.) is open during Art-A-Whirl, which runs May 18–20, art-a-whirl.org. To contact Baker, call 612-387-8013.