Milepost 23

When Mark Smith and I started our business partnership as Flatbed Press twenty-three years ago, I don't think either of us anticipated what our efforts were going to bring.  The time we have worked together has been rich with relationships with our artists and we take great pride in the work that we have been able to help them create as fine art prints.  As it worked out, Mark has been the front guy...the guy with the great eye and a unique ability to put into words those intangible ideas and feelings related to the work.  He has also been as one of our artists described the "principal" of Flatbed, sometimes called "head-honcho."  Primarily he has had an uncanny way of navigating our Flatbed ship through a lot of uncertain times.  He has a cool head, great eye, and a generous heart.  I am honored to have been his business partner.

Katherine

After twenty-three years at Flatbed and forty years in Austin, I've done about all the damage I can do here.  Last year, my family and I relocated to Fort Worth, where I began work as a guest curator at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.  I was honored with the inaugural printmaking residency at Tarrant Co. College-South.  I have been at Flatbed only on the weekends.  This summer, I'm planning an even bigger move to Indianpolis, Indiana.  There, I will join my wife the Rev. Janet Maykus, who is the new executive vice president for operations in the offices of the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ.  Flatbed has been my life for over two decades; working with Katherine Brimberry and our printers and all the artists and our collectors has been more rewarding than I could ever say. My heart will always be in Austin, but I am excited about contributing to the print world in the midwest.  I'll be taking with me a little Texas soil.

                 Mark