Phylecia Sutherland - Handmade Papermaker, Letterpress Printer & Calligrapher

Phylecia is an American girl hailing from a small town in the deep south who met a Yorkshire boy and followed him over the ocean. They put down roots, have two wonderful boys and live in their cozy home with a crazy labrador and two very tolerant cats. She describes herself as an old soul who loves the simple life, listening to Classic FM, pottering around in her garden and baking in her Aga (only because “my husband is the best and will clean up after me”). Phylecia loves spending time with friends and family and always around a table full of food or a fire. “Letterpress is a lot of physical hard work and takes a lot of learning. I still learn something every time I print. The machines are old and sometimes we don’t get along but, in the end, the hard work pays off because what you are left with is a beautiful print that you want to run your fingers across. To be a part of such an old craft and bring such beauty to people today is something I am so blessed to be a part of.” Phylecia’s episode “I loved the cadavers” In this episode it feels like we cover every subject possible with Phylecia, from ADHD, creativity, running a business as a creative soul, selling to the general public and much, much more. Phylecia shares about growing up in the USA in Florida and Georgia, then meeting her husband-to-be and moving to the UK, where she knew she wanted to run her own business, just not knowing in what. She started off creating letterpress wedding stationery until a family illness caused her to rethink her chosen path and she started making beautiful, textured handmade paper. Phylecia’s love of both creativity as well as science and maths, meant she was the perfect person to delve into the science behind papermaking, allowing her to ‘chase unicorns in paper making’ by creating a consistent weight and surface on a handmade paper. We also hear about the difficulties of raising a family and running a business, all the while trying to avoid being ‘half-assed Mom and half-assed business owner’. And of course, as in so many previous episodes, we touch upon Imposter Syndrome too Phylecia leads us fabulously through the entire process of making paper by hand, with a fabulous show that explains the term ‘deckle edge’. Do power through the poor sound at the beginning - it does improve! Definitely an episode not to miss.