About Eric Leland and his Manufactory...

I am an illustrator and a letterpress printmaker located in Baltimore, Maryland, although the path that has led me here has had a few twists and turns. After graduating from the College of Design at North Carolina State University, I started off my career as an architect. By the time I achieved licensure, though, I had realized that I was happiest when my work involved pencil and paintbrush. So I started fresh by undertaking the the postgraduate illustration program at Falmouth University, in Cornwall, England. The course there emphasized authorial practice - in a nutshell, taking responsibility for your own career - and I spent a year learning to generate projects from Cornwall’s rich historic industrial landscape. I also saw a lot of rabbits! In 2009 I returned to Baltimore, and in 2012 I jumped at the opportunity to purchase a unique concrete house from 1905 with loads of potential studio space. Since then I have been busy with loads of my own work, select commisioned projects, and, in 2013-14, a yearlong stint teaching part time at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Very much of my current work is self directed. I have no shortage of eccentric ideas and I love to commit them to paper and sell them to unsuspecting patrons at art markets, in stores and though my website and Etsy shop. I have my own small letterpress printing and bookbinding studio. I love to use my antique machinery to create my products, which include books, calendars, greeting cards, poster and prints, and all manner of other ephemera. 

I am also willing to consider commisions when I feel like client and project are a good fit for my interests and abilities. I’ll be featuring some of my past projects on my blog in the coming months. If you have something in mind, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

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