Lindsay Schmittle

ARTIST FOR THE AMAZON

Artist Bio

Gingerly Press is the printmaking studio practice of letterpress artist, Lindsay Schmittle. Lindsay discovered her love for old-school letterpress printing as a visual communications major at the University of Delaware. Jaded by the copious screen time and dull printing results of the digital design world, Lindsay found her sweet spot in the letterpress studio, at the intersection of design, illustration and hands-on craft.

After honing her skills at various print shops post-graduation, Lindsay began her own venture under the name of Gingerly Press. She relocated across the state of Pennsylvania to expand her studio practice in Pittsburgh in August 2019.

Inspired by her quiet time adventuring in the woods, Lindsay creates colorful, modern and sustainable letterpress printed artworks & products with vintage type and hand-carved wood blocks. Her letterpress creations aim to inspire mindful connections with the natural world, our communities, and our minds & bodies.

Also inspired by the historical power of the printing press to encourage social change, Lindsay aims to create a positive impact with every printed piece through her visual storytelling, bold wood type statements and raw materials used. Each Gingerly Press product is printed on 100% recycled paper and plants a native tree through a Small Business Partnership with the National Forest Foundation.

Lindsay Schmittle

The Amazon Rainforest matters to me because I recognize that we are all connected to the Amazon, no matter if you have traveled to witness the beauty & wonder it holds or not. The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Even if you are not into the idea of thousands of wildly shaped insects, poisonous snakes, fish with huge fangs or palms with giant thorns on their trunks, these species and their wellbeing must be protected. What happens to this vast array of species in the Amazon and the dense rainforest that houses them affects what happens to the rest of the world. When the Amazon is logged, mined and fragmented into smaller and weaker forests, the biodiverse ecosystem dies off and the balance of the rainforest and the way it “breathes” for the planet, sequestering carbon and producing oxygen, are destroyed. Considered the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon is a vital organ for the wellbeing of the Earth. When the Amazon is destroyed from capitalist greed, carbon releases into the atmosphere, warming the entire planet, furthering climate change, causing drastic & dangerous weather patterns around the globe, affecting us all. This is why the Amazon Rainforest matters to me, and why it should matter to you too.

Through my letterpress printed artwork and art products, I aim to share nature’s stories, focusing usually on the small beauties that are often overlooked in our fast paced world. Through sharing these stories in my colorful abstracted compositions my goal is to help heal our human relationship with nature, drawing others into the idea of connecting to the natural world all around us. When we feel connected to nature, we care about its wellbeing and we will be more likely to help protect it from harm.