I founded Wishing Flower Press and Bindery in 2021 while completing my MFA in Book Arts at the University of Iowa Center for the Book. After graduating in 2022, I moved from Iowa City to Asheville, North Carolina with my husband and our daughter, who was six months old at the time. We now work together out of a shared studio in Black Mountain, NC. My husband, Perry Obee, founded Obee Editions, focuses on collaborative lithography, while I run my letterpress and book arts practice through Wishing Flower Press and Bindery.
Since my time in Iowa, I’ve continued to grow my stationery line, and my greeting cards and notebooks are now carried by shops across the country. My favorite work involves collaborating with clients on special projects, including custom letterpress stationery like wedding suites and letterhead, as well as artist books made in close collaboration with writers and visual artists.
Some favorite projects so far include working with a local flute builder to transform a series of poems about his mother’s passing into a beautifully crafted chapbook. The book is entirely letterpress printed and hand bound in an edition of 50. I’ve also made several books that appeared as props in the local indie film The Gardener, released in 2025. In addition, I regularly collaborate with my husband on three-way projects, where he prints lithographs with clients and then I bind them into finished books.
Our studio has gained a lot of momentum through local and regional art fairs and markets. These events allow me to share my love of stationery with the public and connect with clients and shop owners interested in carrying my work or creating custom letterpress or book projects. I often meet artists who have always wanted to make a book but don’t know where to start, that’s where I come in. I help clients shape their ideas, whether it be manuscripts or images, into book forms that suit their content. Then comes the fun part for me, organizing and planning the material sourcing, printing, binding and finishing work that goes into the actual production of the book. I’ve always loved the step-by-step nature of printing and bookbinding. And while I’ve made my own books in the past, I especially enjoy working with others. Their ideas and content are often very different from my own, which keeps the work fresh and continually pushes me to think outside the box.
This year I’ve gotten so busy (while also welcoming our second daughter to the family this past spring!) that I’ve taken on several interns, who come to the shop a couple days a week and help me fulfill product for Wishing Flower or help me bind some of the larger book editions I’ve done this year.
