I had been told to sketch Flying Horse Editions by several readers. When I contacted them, Theo Lotz quickly said, “Yes, come on down!” Flying Horse Editions is located in the UCF Center of Emerging Media building right across from the Bob Carr and the old Amway Arena. For some reason there was an old steam locomotive in the parking lot of the Arena. I was happy I didn’t have to pay to park. Simple pleasures. The hallway leading to Flying Horse Editions had computer workstations for student. Right in the entry there was an old wooden press that could have been used for the Gutenberg bible. I immediately wanted to sketch, but no one was using the press so I went inside.
Theo, dressed all in black, introduced himself and showed me around. The room was immense and immaculate, filled with dozens of presses both old and new. They do limited edition fine art prints here of the highest caliber. They had just finished 2 run of 15 prints by artist Carmon Colangelo. The boxed set was bought by the Saint Lewis Museum of Art. Student Ashley Taylor was working the press right in front of me. She was experimenting on a way to reproduce some spiral patterns by artist Tom Nozkowski using relief printing techniques. Elizabeth Moorefield was in constant motion, talking on the phone and working on her laptop. Larry Cooper was building boxes that would hold prints.
Theo asked me if I wanted a scoop for my story. “Of course I do!” I said. “Well, Ashley just found out she is getting a full scholarship at the University of Florida. We are all so proud of her!” he said. Ashley smiled shyly. I was fascinated by the large trays of old letterpress leads. The typeface was an old western font. I wondered what they had been used for. Theo suggested I come back when there was an artist in residence. Things get crazy when an artist is given free reign and people stop sleeping. This place was a treasure trove of sketch opportunities and I look forward to returning. I congratulated Ashley as I left.