In an age of smartphones, e-readers and computers, printing presses are fast becoming obsolete. But one Columbia Falls artist is bringing an old printing art to the valley.

Graphic artist Janina Hobday offers letterpress printing through her company, Birch Creek Designs. Letterpress is a technique of relief printing using a printing press.

Hobday said she is excited to bring the technique to the valley.

“I love letterpress,” she said. “I think it is so beautiful. The fact that it’s tactile, that the image is always in the paper, alway mystified me.”

Several of Hobday’s letterpress prints and more will be on display this month at The Purple Pomegranate in Whitefish. Hobday will also show several digital printed materials and screen prints.

While she is relatively new to the world of art exhibits, Hobday has long been an artist. 

“I’m one of those people who’ve just always been an artist,” she said. “I’ve been making things since I was little.”

Despite her passion for art, Hobday didn’t study the subject when she went to college. Instead, she got a bachelor’s degree in forestry.

After graduating, Hobday went to work for an aircraft company in Idaho. There she found a new opportunity to tap into her artistic roots.

“I started working within the [computer-aided design] program to do projects that I wanted to do for the company,” she said. “At one point, I designed a metal sculpture for them. It’s in their building now. It tells the history of the company.”

After that experience, Hobday realized she couldn’t ignore her inner artist any longer. She and her husband, Brian, moved to Columbia Falls, and Hobday started taking classes at Flathead Valley Community College. In two years, she’d earned her graphic design degree.

While in school, Hobday launched Birch Creek Designs.

“I did a lot of graphic design projects to start with,” she said. “But I always had my own artwork going on thie side. I am fully an artist, and I always have to be making something.”

To help get her business off the ground, Hobday attended FVCC’s Montana Artrepreneurship Program, a course that prepares artists for the marketplace. Through the program, she met other artists and gained opportunities to take part in several art shows.

Then, last winter, Hobday achieved a new dream. While talking with other artists on an online forum, she found an ad from Chicago for a letterpress.

“I’d wanted one for a long time, because they are just amazing pieces of machinery,” she said.

“They don’t make them anymore. They are hard to find. I figured in Northwest Montana, I would never have an opportunity to have one, and even if I did find one, I would have to get it shipped.”

Hobday couldn’t stop thinking about the letterpress, so the next day she emailed the seller.

“He gave me a price. I knew at that point I had to make it work out, because it was within my budget, even shipping it out here,” she said.

Shipping was made easier thanks to Hobday’s uncle, who lives in Chicago and runs a machine shop. He picked up the 2,800-pound machine, crated it and shipped it to his niece.

“I’ve been cleaning it all winter and learning how to work it,” Hobday said. “Now I have Birch Creek Designs entering a new path: letterpress printing.”

 Meet Hobday tonight during Whitefish Gallery Nights, which takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. at Whitefish’s downtown art galleries. The Purple Pomegranate is located at 222 Central Ave.

For more information about the show, visit www.purplepomegranate.com. For more information about Hobday’s artwork, visit www.birchcreekdesigns.com.

Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.