Within the overarching name, Obee Studios LLC, Obee Editions and Wishing Flower Press & Bindery are emerging print studios based in Black Mountain, NC. Perry and Kimberly Obee, a husband and wife team, will work side by side in their newly acquired studio space, printing letterpress stationery, hand-binding books, and offering services in collaborative printmaking to artists locally, nationally, and internationally.

Our Story

Perry and I met in 2016 in Asheville, NC, where our shared interest in Printmaking brought us together. Perry hosted a lithography demo for the local printmakers group at his studio in Marshall, NC, and I began working with him to print my lithographic drawings. Soon our shared interests and time together led to a blossoming relationship, and we started dating. In 2018, Perry was accepted into the esteemed Tamarind Printer Training Program in Albuquerque, NM, and we packed up our cars and drove out west. After one year in NM, Perry was selected as one of only two printers to complete a further year of study and attain the Tamarind Master Printer certification. Eager to further my own education, I applied for and got accepted into the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book and earned an MFA in book arts, which I completed in 2022. Oh, and amidst all this school and learning, we got married in 2019 and welcomed a baby girl into the world last winter!

We only planned to be gone from Asheville for one year, but life happened, and four years later, we have returned to the mountains!

Back in the place where we met and have always considered “home,” the plan has always been to set up a collaborative printshop and book arts studio.

Together we envision Obee Editions and Wishing Flower Press bringing new resources and opportunities to the arts and crafts community of the Asheville area and artists further afield.

With the addition of our baby girl to the family, we also hope to set a strong example of how to be successful in following your dreams, as we build the life we envision for ourselves and our growing family.

About our Printshop:

Wishing Flower Press & Bindery

(Wishing Flower Website)

Wishing Flower Press & Bindery is an independently owned boutique-style printshop specializing in hand-printed letterpress goods. Kimberly Obee founded the press in 2022 in Iowa City while completing research for an MFA in bookarts from the University of Iowa, Center for the Book. The name Wishing Flower is inspired by Kimberly’s childhood love for the dandelion flower and her lifelong passion for promoting overlooked plants. She aims to educate audiences about wild plants and the environment through beautifully hand-printed letterpress goods. Products include letterpress notecards, mini cards, varying-sized notebooks and other hand-printed ephemera.

Obee Editions

(Obee Editions Website)

Obee Editions was founded in 2016 by Tamarind Master Printer Perry Obee in Asheville, North Carolina. Our mission is to provide national and regional artists of all levels access to the expertise of a professional collaborative printer. We specialize in personalized collaboration and the production of limited, high-quality editions of fine-art printmaking. Obee Edition’s philosophy is based on the traditional model of the atelier, with a master printer working and collaborating closely with the artist to achieve the highest standard of artistic expression in fine print techniques.

Our Fundraising Goal: $10,000

We found a beautiful space for our studio, but it still needs a lot of outfitting before we'll be ready to begin printing. We've moved some previously acquired equipment out of storage and into the new space. This includes Perry’s Griffin Lithography press, a modest lithographic limestone collection (the drawing surface for printing lithographs), Kimberly’s out-of-use Kluge letterpress, two sets of flat files, some moveable carts, and boxes of various printmaking supplies.

(Our 1700sq foot studio space in Black Mountain, NC)

(Kimberly's Kluge Automatic Feeder Press)

(Perry's Griffin Litho Press)

What we'll use the funds for:

With the money raised, we will be able to acquire the remaining crucial pieces of equipment and supplies necessary to get our business fully up and running. Specifically, a Chandler & Price (C&P) letterpress is needed for Wishing Flower to start working. We will need several months to get the existing Kluge press operational. The Kluge will not only need a good and thorough cleaning and oiling, but it will also need a lot of maintenance. Including new rollers, air hoses and suckers, and repairs to missing, worn-out, and broken parts. In that time, I will need to begin printing letterpress goods for Wishing Flower, and the C&P we've had our eye on will allow us to do that. The C&P we’ve located to purchase will become the "production" press for the time being. Once Kluge is up and running, it will be used for large batch printing, while the C&P will be used for smaller projects.

Items needed for Wishing Flower Press:

-10 x 15” Chandler & Price platen press (big ticket item, it'll need new rubber rollers and a rental truck. It'll run us about $2000)

-Standard Boxcar printing base 6 x 9”

-Adjustable printing Quad Guides

-quoins and keys

-printing furniture/ reglets/ storage cabinet

-Start-up set of Van Son rubber-based inks

Items needed for Obee Editions:

-24”x32” lithographic limestone (big ticket item, $750 each x 2 = $1,500)

-Hydraulic Lift Cart (for moving stones)

-Large glass palette 30 x 40”

-Takach hand inking Roller 6.74 Diameter x 16.75” 35D

-100 Sheets of Rives BFK White 22"x30" 280gsm ($595)

-100 Sheets of Somerset Satin Soft White 22"x30" 300gsm ($525)

Shared Studio Items:

-Work tables

-HP Deskjet 4152e wireless color Inkjet printer

-Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner (17 x 22”)

-USPS mail scale

-Shipping label printer

So what is a Kluge anyway?

Kluge is a platen printing press. These machines are amazing works of engineering and, along with C&P's, used to be the standard printing presses in the letterpress industry. Everything from books to newspapers, signs, and product labels were printed on these machines. Nowadays, the industry has mostly switched to digital printing, but smaller independent shops, like ours, use the old equipment to print custom letterpress items.

Heavy machinery, our Kluge press weighs over 2,000 lbs! What makes this press great is that it automatically feeds the paper during printing using a series of air hoses. This allows the press to print on its own and at a much quicker rate than if the paper was to be fed by hand by the press(wo)man.

Kluge is also very versatile. Not only can it print inked forms, but it can be set to die-cut and foil stamp with different attachments, which will significantly expand the offerings of Wishing Flower.

(Learn more about Brandtjen & Kluge on their Website )

What is a Chandler & Price?

A Chandler & Price, or C&P for short, is a platen printing press. These are American-made, and it is said that in their hay day every town in America with a newspaper had one, if not several, of these presses.

In general, C&P's and platen presses are ideal for printing things like stationery, business cards and invitations. They run much quicker than other hand presses and can be finely adjusted to attain just the right amount of ink coverage and impression on the page.

(Above, C&P Old Style press, image courtesy of letterpresscommons.com)

More about us:

Kimberly Obee

I am a printmaker, book artist, and illustrator. I’ve lived in many different places over the years, from the pine forests of New England to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, the high desert of New Mexico, and the rolling farmlands of Iowa. Each place brings new inspiration to my work through its varying landscapes and the plants that grow there. All of my work begins in my sketchbook. It is my most important tool as an artist. I’m rarely seen without a pencil and sketchbook in hand, and I savor the spontaneous moments of stopping to sit and do a quick Plein-air drawing of the landscapes around me. I’m particularly drawn to the beauty of overlooked landscapes and wildflowers. I’m nothing more than a hobbyist botanist who has continued to foster a love for wildflowers and weeds since childhood. Botanicals continue to be a strong theme throughout my print and bookwork. When I’m not talking about how great dandelions are, you can probably find me examining roadside weeds, tending to my house plants, and perfecting my scone recipe.

Perry Obee

When I started out in art school, I had no idea what printmaking was. In fact, when the tour guide showed me the “printmaking studio,” I naively asked, “Is this where the school newspaper is printed?”! But after my first class, I fell in love with the process of making an image through the (literally) backward way of thinking printmaking demands. Every print is a puzzle, and each new project provides a unique set of problems to figure out. As I progressed as an artist, I discovered that collaboration is where I find the most fulfilling creative process, much more than a solitary artistic practice. My passion is for solving problems in partnership with another artist. I am genuinely engaged when, working alongside another artist, we get to discover together a new way to approach a problem. Each artist gives me a new challenge that energizes me and keeps me focused, much more than working alone in a studio.

As a printer, I bring technical expertise in printmaking, allowing me to share knowledge and opportunities with artists they may not have encountered before. But more than that, the creative process of collaboration allows for work to be made that couldn’t exist without this relationship. Some call it a dance between the artist and the printer. As we like to say, "teamwork makes the dream work!"

Thank you so much for donating to this fundraiser and helping us get one step closer to achieving our dream!