Hand-Pulled Prints By Post

Meet Michaela Calloway, the printmaker sharing original art through Dykonic Print Club, one monthly envelope at a time.

Michaela Calloway has been making art her whole life and began selling it professionally at the start of this year. She works across mediums with a particular love of printmaking, and she started creating while still in a full-time corporate role.

Her favorite part of selling art is meeting the people at markets and events who connect with her work. She wanted to reach that community more widely, so she built a monthly club that offers her art at a more accessible price than she can at markets.

Each month is a chance for subscribers to share the same artwork and feel connected to others enjoying it too.

Michaela Calloway spoke with Letter Clubs about roller derby, printmaking, and building a community through monthly art.

Letter Clubs: Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. What were you doing before you started your letter club?

Michaela Calloway: I've been making art my whole life, and I started selling my art professionally at the beginning of this year. I dabble in lots of different mediums and I have a particular interest in different printmaking techniques. I started making art while I was employed full time in a corporate role, and I am currently temporarily full time while I decide the next steps for my career. Outside of art I love roller derby, reading, cooking, and watching queer cinema.

LC: What inspired you to start your letter club? Walk us through your founding story.

MC: My favorite part of making and selling art is when I get to meet other lesbians and sapphics at markets and events. They are always excited to find art that represents their identity and lived experience, and I'm thrilled to engage with other queers who love my work. The issue is, you don't get the highest turnout of queer folks at events that aren't explicitly queer. I wanted to connect with other lesbians on a larger scale and offer monthly art at a more accessible price than I offer at markets. I'm really just here for the gay girls (and gnc lesbians <3)!

LC: What makes your club special and unique compared to other mail clubs?

MC: My club prioritizes art, lesbians, creative wellness, and queer joy. Often lesbians can be treated as an afterthought even within the queer community. Here they are the priority.

LC: How has running the club been going so far? What have been some highlights?

MC: Running my mail club has been awesome so far! I really like the monthly cycle as it keeps me accountable to creating art and posting on my socials consistently. I have a tendency towards feast or famine when it comes to creating new designs. Now I have a deadline with consequences, but instead of it looming, it feels really energizing.

LC: What has surprised you most about running a letter club?

MC: There are so many details to consider. I thought I had a very strong idea of what it was going to take to get my club launched, but there was still more than anticipated. I think the biggest thing is quality control. I already had a process for prints and stickers, but even the weight/thickness of the letter paper matters when it comes to delivering a great final product. I had to do more trial and error than anticipated, but I'm very happy with the processes I have in place now.

LC: What is your dream or vision for where you'd like to take your club in the future?

MC: I want to keep growing a community of queer women and nonbinary folks who love art amd love being queer. I think in times when our rights are under attack and the future is uncertain the worst feeling to sit with is the feeling of being alone. I want my subscribers to get a tiny dose of queer joy in the mail every month and know other queers are engaging with the same art. I think that shared experience with people you've never met can be a really beautiful thing, especially when you have shared experiences in common,

LC: Besides your own, what's your favorite mail or letter club out there and why?

MC: I really like Arts By Trinity's Architecture Mail Club, I think her illustration style is very beautiful, and I love that she's been able to build a community around one of her passions.

LC: If you could have any celebrity or public figure become a member of your club, who would it be and why?

MC: Definitely Kate Moennig. She is an absolute icon and it would be the highlight of my art career if she knew I was alive.

LC: What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own letter club?

MC: I think aside from all the technical and process advice I could give I would say you really need to define your why. Building a mail club can be incredibly slow going and discouraging, and if you don't have a driving motivation you can fall back on you'll get burnt out very quickly.

LC: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers about your club or your journey?

MC: I think the only other thing I would say is that I love how the snail mail community brings people together in a very analog and unplugged way. I look forward to continuing to contribute to such an amazing space!

Thank you to Michaela Calloway for sharing their story. Check out Dykonic Print Club, which we're proud to feature on Letterclubs.com.