Our
Story
Mission
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Obee Editions was founded in 2016 by Tamarind Master Printer, Perry Obee. They are currently located near Asheville in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
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Building on the rich cultural heritage of Western North Carolina, Obee Editions brings a new dimension to the region's vibrant arts community. While individual artists have long experimented with printmaking in private studios, Obee Edition's professional collaborative printer makes printmaking accessible to artists of all levels and mediums.
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Our mission is to provide artists of all levels access to the expertise of a professional printer. We foster creative innovation and artistic growth by providing a supportive, collaborative environment where artists can experiment, take risks, and push the boundaries of their work. We believe that printmaking has the power to transform and elevate an artist's vision, and we're committed to making this medium accessible to a diverse range of artists.
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In our studio, artists work one-on-one with a professional collaborative printer, similar to how musicians collaborate with a producer. This partnership allows artists to focus on their creative vision while leveraging the printer's technical expertise. By bridging the gap between artistic concept and technical execution, Obee Editions empowers artists to realize their full creative potential.
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Through select publishing projects, Obee Editions partners with renowned artists from around the world. These collaborations enhance Obee Editions' ability to act as a hub for innovative printmaking. Our visiting artists often share their insights and expertise through public lectures and events.
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We're honored to be a part of this community's ongoing creative evolution, and we look forward to collaborating with artists who share our passion for innovation and artistic growth. Click here to start collaborating.
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​​What is collaborative printmaking?
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Collaborative printmaking is the process of an artist working closely with an experienced master printer to produce original works in printmaking.
Technical Expertise
Many artists, whether familiar with printmaking or not, would like the opportunity to make prints but lack either the technical know-how, or the immense facilities required for such a pursuit. The experience of our professional printer, their knowledge of printmaking techniques, and the fully equipped studio provides opportunities for exploration in printmaking that are otherwise unavailable. Even for artists familiar with printmaking or with a home studio, a master printer can take charge of the technical aspects leaving the artist free to fully pursue their aesthetic aims without being hampered by the labors of printing. Facilities and a lifetime dedicated to making prints of all shapes and sizes makes our professional printer able to help any artist achieve the highest quality of artistic expression in fine print techniques.​​​
Teamwork
However, the true benefit of a collaborative printer goes much beyond just providing technical expertise and access to equipment. Two minds working together on a shared problem leads to something greater than either one could come up with on their own. A dance emerges where artist and printer feed off each other and open new ways of thinking that pushes the work to its highest potential. This relationship is a magical union that often builds and evolves over time. Examples of this are seen in the prints made by Picasso with his printer, Fernand Mourlot; Robert Rauschenberg with Robert Blackburn; or Frank Stella working with Ken Tyler.​​​
Perry Obee, Master Printer
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Perry Obee has been dedicated to printmaking and the graphic arts since 2004 when he took an undergraduate course at Ohio Wesleyan University. He received his BFA in Painting and Printmaking in 2006. For a time he had a life as a painter and received an MFA in painting from Connecticut State University in 2009. He has taught painting, drawing, printmaking, and art history courses at numerous Universities and other institutions including University of North Carolina-Asheville, University of Connecticut, Western Carolina University, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a resident artist in the area of painting at the Vermont Studio Center in 2013.
While in graduate school, Perry met and began working with Master Printer, James Reed. For the next 9 years Perry worked with Jim in his professional collaborative print studio, Milestone Graphics (www.milestonegraphicsfineprints.com), now in New Haven, CT.
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Working in Jim’s shop, Perry learned the technical skills of the medium, the nature of the collaborative relationship between printer and artist, and he learned about the business of running a professional fine art print studio. These experiences gave Perry a passion for teaching and collaborating with artists.
In 2015 Perry moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and set up his own amateur lithography studio. In 2016 he established Obee Editions at his studio in Marshall, NC.
In 2018 Perry was accepted into the prestigious Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, NM and received Tamarind Master Printer certification in 2020. At Tamarind, Perry was given the highest available training in lithography and collaborative printmaking, collaborated with professional artists from all over the world, and is now considered an expert in the field.
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After Tamarind, Perry was a Visiting Lecturer in Printmaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for two academic years. He oversaw the undergraduate and graduate printmaking department during a period of transition. After completing the visiting position in 2022, Perry was eager to return to the Asheville area with his wife, letterpress printer and book artist, Kimberly Obee (www.wishingflowerpress.com), and open his collaborative print studio. They located a building in Black Mountain and have been running their combined studios ever since.
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And in 2021 they welcomed their first child to the family! A little girl who has enriched their lives and given them new drive to set an example and succeed as creative entrepreneurs.