As I walked into The Little Red Print Shop’s brick and mortar store for the first time, the first thing that caught my eye was the rainbow wall.
(Mary Fehr/Contributed)
Full of the shop’s classic vending machine-sized prints, the wall filled the space with a burst of color—and every mini print artist Jessica Leitch has done, from butterflies and lattes, to classic Birmingham symbols like the Alabama Theatre sign. In a word, the shop, (and especially this wall), is joyful.
Leitch, who started printmaking in the summer of 2024, was simply looking for a new creative outlet. “I had an old carving tool and a very crumbly block—and decided to give it a go,” she said. And while block printing might seem simple, it’s anything but. I had the opportunity to give it a go myself at one of Leitch’s workshops last year—and carving a simple heart took time and patience.
Patience is certainly an attribute of Leitch’s, because she stuck with the craft and eventually turned it into a full-time business. She worked in marketing for over a decade, but has always been a creative at heart.
Now, she’s welcoming a new era in her printmaking business. Last week, she opened her first brick and mortar space: a holiday pop-up that will be open through December 19th in Pepper Place, perfectly-timed for thoughtful, original holiday gifts.
And it’s not only prints she has in the Pepper Place shop. Leitch has expanded her iconic prints into magnets, tote bags, mugs, stickers, and more. Her carvings range from Alabama-themed art, to sports and outdoors, to my favorite: her baking series.
(Mary Fehr/Contributed)
And she’s always creating new ones and coming up with new ideas. When I asked how she decides what to make, I found out that she’s never been short on inspiration. “The list in my notes app is over 200 ideas long,” she said. “Deciding what to carve is often the hardest part. A lot of my prints are made in themed collections, so I spend a lot of time deciding what objects would fit well into those specific collections. They’re often inspired by the seasons, places, activities, and always food.”
Does she have a favorite print herself? “I joke that my newest print is always my favorite, but I always come back to the Rainbow Swiss Chard,” she said. “It’s so colorful and bright and was inspired by a bunch of chard I saw at the Pepper Place Farmers Market a while back.”
Visiting the shop itself felt like a scavenger hunt in the best way. I’ve enjoyed her prints from the vending machines around town for quite some time, and I thought that surely I had seen every print she had made. Even for seasoned print collectors like myself, there is always something delightfully new to discover.
Want to visit her shop in person? Her Pepper Place Holiday Pop-Up Shop is open now through December 19, on Thurs-Fri from 10-5, and Saturdays from 8-3, and is located in the basement of the Dr. Pepper building. You will surely be hit with a burst of joy from the moment you walk in.
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