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t’s a story that begins back in 1964 with a heartfelt gift from a mother to her son that introduced him to the world of hand printing. That son is Bill Muller, for whom art, design and handmade crafts has been a part of his life ever since. And the gift was The Ideal Toy Company’s home printing press, called The Big Press, that was seen in Popular Mechanics magazine. It was a plastic toy press, approximately 11” x 19” x 10” that came with all the accessories from ink to assorted blocks of type. “I was six at the time and remember printing a family newsletter that I would share among them, as well as making some holiday cards,” Muller said. He took that love of the toy printing press to high school in California where he did page layout with hot type for the school’s letterpress printed newspaper. Out of college, Muller worked for the Valley Advocate in the late ’70s where he operated stat cameras and photo typesetting equipment and did oldfashioned paste up. Life happens and for the past 36 years Muller has been owner of Guild Art Supply. The store stocks a diverse selection of oil, acrylic and watercolor paints, as well as items ranging from drafting supplies, crafting goods, printmaking materials, crafts for kids, and an array of fine and decorative papers. “We have a well-stocked fun inventory and artists who have found us are extremely happy, and 95 percent who visit us leave with what they wanted,” Muller said. He noted that COVID-19, which has caused the shutdown of some manufacturers in the United States and abroad, has led to some shortages of art supplies. Despite the pandemic, Muller said his sale of art supplies both online and in the store has continued. “What we’ve found, for example, is that many folks who haven’t picked up the brush in years are now returning to painting and other forms of art such as calligraphy during the pandemic. We also saw plenty of sales to students this summer who were taking online pre-college art courses ranging from painting to architecture. And, right now we are preparing art supply packets for elementary and other students not returning to the classroom, so that they can participate in art
! KEITH O’CONNOR NATE BLAIS
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