FK chats to husband and wife team Jason & Celisa, of Gold Coast based label Printergalatic!

Tell us a bit about Printergalactic and what we can expect to discover?
Printergalactic was born through a shared love of printmaking and the handmade aesthetic. We create original and unique, limited edition, hand pulled screen prints that can be hung in any room of your home – from baby’s nursery to the man-cave. Our work is fun, bright, colourful and evokes a feeling of nostalgia.
Vintage caravans, tin toy ray guns and rocket ships, Hummel figurines, cuckoo clocks and flamingos are all featured in our work. Our personal love of vintage ephemera is reflected and gives our prints their distinct style.

Who are the team behind Printergalactic and what are their roles?
Printergalactic are husband and wife team, Jason & Celisa Urech. We are both creative types with backgrounds in music and design. We collaborate together on each part of the process, from initial creation of prints through to sales and admin. What usually starts as a vague concept for a print is then revised and talked over until we have a clear idea for a new series. Jason then draws, scans, illustrates and creates the imagery. After a suitable medium has been sourced, it’s off to the studio where we prepare screens and get printing!  After the prints are signed, dated and numbered, we then photograph them for the website and promotion. Celisa runs an up to date facebook page letting people know of our progress and when the new prints will drop. Then it’s back to the drawing board for the next series!

What inspires your work? and what keeps you motivated creatively?
All of our prints take inspiration from by-gone eras. Our use of bold lines and bright colours is a nod to old school tattoo artists such as Sailor Jerry. The text we use in many of our prints comes from traditional nursery rhymes, films and comic books – Rolf Harris’ poetry has even featured.
Our own home is filled with vintage bits and bobs which vibe us up day to day. Gran’s hand knitted doilies and our personal collection of tin toys are some of our favourite items to work with. “Mr Printergalactic” our largest tin robot, inspired our name, logo and business cards!

What do you love about living on the Gold Coast?
What’s not to love?  When the weather’s good it’s great. You can travel from sandy beaches to hinterland rainforest in half an hour. We both grew up here and couldn’t think of a better place to raise our kids. People from Melbourne and Sydney often say that the Gold Coast is a cultural wasteland. They are wrong. The arts scene is young, but thriving here on the GC. There are arts hubs popping up everywhere, you just have to dig a little deeper!

What challenges have you faced starting your own label, and what are some things you love about it?
The biggest challenge we have faced since starting Printergalactic is finding balance. We both have full time jobs, two children and a crazy Staffy hound. Keeping Printergalactic thriving and working well with our lifestyle is tricky but incredibly worthwhile. Our house is often over-run with archival paper, ink and frames. Introducing our children to the joy of creating handmade, imaginative work rewards us and motivates us to keep going. Also, knowing that your prints are hung in homes around the world is pretty cool too!

What can we expect to see from Printergalactic coming up?
We are very excited to be launching two new series; ‘On Vacation’, which features vintage caravans, Mr Whippy and Kombi’s, as well as our new comic book prints. We will also be presenting a new line of Printergalactic ‘lol cards’. We were thrilled to be exhibiting our work at Finders Keepers among so many highly regarded designers and artisans.

www.printergalactic.com.au