Carving Time with Spafford

When I first started carving for Spafford back in 2023, I don’t think I realized how much those blocks would come to mean to our little studio. It wasn’t just another commission, it felt like the beginning of a creative friendship, something we could groove to, hopefully not one sided 😂

That first Spafford poster was born in the middle of a long Milwaukee winter. We’d just finished a few local prints and were in that quiet moment between projects, when the email came through. Chuck said “wanna create a poster for us? And that was all it took… ideas started flowing!!

I remember getting to the studio that early morning afterwards, just gleaning from head to toe( most likely my pinkie toe, as it’s my favorite). I was making a print for one of my favorite bands… and for a local hometown show and one of my favorite venues… holy crap!! The piece came together like one of their songs: improvisational but intentional. The band’s sound is a mix of jam, jazz, rock, and groove, so the lines in that first block danced too, never sitting still.

When we pulled the first color and hung it up to dry, I stood there for a minute, quiet. That’s when I knew we were on to something.

Each Spafford print since then has carried a bit of that same energy…. alive, kinetic, slightly unpredictable. That’s what I love about printmaking: the process mirrors the band’s music. There’s structure, yes, but the real magic lives in the unexpected moments…the happy accidents that make each print unique. Quick story… our Vandercook press came from Bob Ross’s hometown… hence the happy accidents above 😂

If you’ve ever watched Spafford play live, you know it’s not just a concert, it’s an experience built in real time. One note turns into a riff, a riff turns into a jam, and before you know it, they’ve built an entire universe right in front of you. That’s printmaking, too.

Every block I carve starts with a sketch, but once the gouges hit the linoleum, things take their own direction. Just like Spafford never plays a song quite the same way twice, no two prints ever come out exactly identical. The ink spreads differently, the pressure shifts, and somehow, that tiny imperfection becomes the thing that makes it beautiful.

Over the past few years, we’ve carved scenes inspired by Spafford’s music…angelic women, crossword puzzles, cowboy aliens, space themed prints, all woven together with a sense of mystery and exploration. It’s the kind of imagery that asks a viewer to look twice and maybe find something new every time. That’s how their music feels to me. You think you know where it’s going, then it bends, stretches, and lands somewhere unexpected but somehow perfect.

Dani always says our Spafford posters are the ones that “feel like movement.” Maybe that’s because we both find a rhythm in the making of them. I’ll be carving the outlines while she’s mixing that perfect transparent orange or layering in the grey that gives it that earthy tone we love. The studio is filled with music, usually Spafford, sometimes Phish, other times The Crystal Method…and before long, we’re lost in it, two artists jamming in our own way.

That’s the part most people don’t see. Each print is its own little performance. The press becomes an instrument, the block a stage, and the final print…that’s the encore.

Looking back now, I can see how much Spafford and Gilfalo Art Design have both grown since that first 2023 print. They’ve continued to tour, evolve, and push boundaries, while we’ve been busy carving our own little corner of the printmaking world here in Milwaukee, a shop filled with brayers, carving tools, and ink-stained rags that tell a story of their own.

Working with a band like Spafford has been more than a client relationship; it’s been a collaboration rooted in mutual respect for the craft. They pour themselves into the music; we carve ourselves into the linoleum. Both are acts of patience and passion. Both are hand-made, honest, and fleeting….no two moments ever the same.

As they continue to move forward, so do we. The prints get bolder, the ideas wilder. Each poster becomes a chance to push our boundaries a little more…to experiment with layers, textures, and that fine line between chaos and control. Just like their live sets, we want each piece to carry a sense of discovery.

Sometimes I think about that first pull again, that moment the ink met the paper and I stood there in silence. That feeling hasn’t gone away. Every Spafford print since has carried that same pulse, that same reminder of why we do this. To make something by hand. To tell stories through texture. To celebrate music and community through art that you can feel, literally, in the raised ink of a linocut.

And maybe that’s what this whole journey’s been about. Carving, printing, pressing, repeating…Finding the jam in the repetition. And every once in a while, stepping back to realize: we’re part of a bigger song.

— Chris from Gilfalo Art Design