Spotlight on South Pasadena Artist, Annika Buxman

Annika Buxman sits on her hands and knees, diligently scrubbing the floor of her new South Pasadena letterpress studio. Her handmade kneepads are made of used dog toys taped over her jeans.

“I’m trying to finish these floors–a week ago they were a hideous pink color,” she says. “Now, they’re gray, but I want it to have more of a warm tone.” She wipes the sweat off her brow and shrugs.

Buxman, a South Pasadena resident, is getting ready to open her new storefront, DeMilo Design Studio and Letterpress, at the live/work units, located at 1401 Mission Street.

“This place will be part studio, part museum, part store, and a place to learn about fair trade and participate in the lives of these women,” Buxman said.

Buxman’s intricate eco-line of products, Sustain & Heal, is made in conjunction with a group of female artisans in Bangladesh. Buxman visited their fair trade workshops during a trip to the South Asian country in 2009.

“I just fell in love with these women during my trip,” said Buxman. “These women need help too. They want to work, that is the first thing they said, ‘Send us business because we want work.’”

The female workers create the handmade marble sheets and jute paper that Buxman uses for wedding and bar mitzvah invitations, personalized stationery, gifts and holiday cards. All products from Buxman’s Sustain and Heal line are printed on 100 percent post-consumer waste recycled and certified fair trade papers from Bangladesh.

“Women in our culture are standing on the shoulders of giants, and we have all these feminists that have paved the way, like Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt,” said Buxman. “The women in these countries don’t have that. I think it’s a really valuable opportunity to participate in their creativity and entrepreneurial efforts.”

Buxman didn’t always conduct business in an environmentally friendly manner. When she opened her first studio in Old Town Pasadena after graduating from Art Center College of Design, she was too busy trying to pay off student loans to worry about the environment.

“When I first started, I was just trying to make money. I cleaned my letterpresses with paint thinner," Buxman said. "Eventually, I started thinking 'I can’t be doing this.' Here I am riding my bike to work because I want to be green and I’m using all these chemicals,” she continued. “I switched from oil-based to soy-based cleaners. I switched to recycled papers. That’s always the number one goal now.”

After closing her Old Town studio and working from home, Buxman decided to open a storefront in South Pasadena in order shine a spotlight on the art of letterpress.

“For letterpress to get the attention that it needs, it needs a public space like this that’s open for people to come in and cruise through. There are a couple printers in South Pasadena but they have private studios,” said Buxman. “The whole letterpress process is fun to watch. It’s really interesting to see these old machines running.”

Buxman encourages people to stop by her studio to learn more about the letterpress process and fair trade.

“Working out of my house, I had very few customers. I would hope that every day one or two people would come through the studio, whether they’re interested in seeing how the presses work or if they’re willing to buy,” Buxman said. “We’ll have a couple of presses out and maybe someone walking by will see me running it and want to come in and talk about letterpress.”

While Buxman is passionate about her line of fair traide and eco-friendly products, she encourages her patrons to purchase her designs because of the art and not the cause.

“What I tell people is, buy it first because you like the design. Don’t buy it because you’re a bleeding heart or you’re trying to be green,” said Buxman. “You have to like it, so that’s my responsibility to design something that you like. Buy it second because you’re helping people and it’s helping the environment.”

DeMilo Design Studio & Letterpress is tentatively scheduled to open Thursday, March 17 in the Mission Commons building, 1401 Mission Street, South Pasadena.

Click here to read Annika Buxman's blog, Sustain & Heal and click here for her blog entries from Bangladesh. Also, view Buxman's photo slideshow tour of fair trade artisans in Bangladesh.