We had the good fortune of connecting with Sabrena Burnett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sabrena, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I grew up in Los Angeles, CA (very close to Venice and I went to Venice High School). Venice in the 90s was a very creative and colorful place. I definitely think it brought my creativity to the surface.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I fell in love with letterpress printing in 2009 after I took an intro to letterpress printing course at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles, CA. I was working a full time job in fashion marketing, but wanted to explore other opportunities and figure out what was next because my career wasn’t fulfilling me. I decided to fully immerse myself into the printing and design world. I took a few more classes at Otis. I signed up for classes and workshops at The Museum of Printing which is also in LA. I made friends with all my printmaking teachers and one of them helped me source Big Red from an old school in Nevada. In the meantime I started dreaming up company names and designs, while still working a full time job in marketing. Finally, all the stars aligned for me and 10 days before I was going to quit to work on Dear Lola full time, I was laid off from my job. So I went to work full time, set up a shop on etsy, set up a website and started working! I’ll never forget the excitement (and fear!) over my first few orders. It definitely is not the easy road being a business owner, but I love it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love the South Bay, specifically Hermosa Beach. We would hang at the beach, go to yoga, take runs on the strand, eat at The Source, coffee at Boy and the Bear.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All the people that have saved these massive printing machines from schools and junkyards and have kept the art of letterpress printing alive. And my teachers at Otis College of Art & Design and the Carson Printing Museum. I wouldn’t have been able to dive deep into this craft without them.

Website: www.dearlolaletterpress.com

Instagram: @dearlolaletterpress

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dearlolaletterpress

Image Credits
Kelly Sweda Photography

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.