I was lucky enough to be able to go to Roadworks yesterday, a steamroller printing festival held each year by the San Francisco Center for the Book. It’s basically a wonderfully nerdy block party, lined with bookmakers, printmakers, and letterpress companies, but the star is the steamroller. Four artists created 3×3-foot lino cuts which used the steamroller to press the print. If you were there all day, you would see all twelve prints being made! It was a wonderful event, with artists deep in discussion, kids and grandmothers dancing, local food vendors, and cheers as the steamroller made its mark. The SFCB had demo stations so people could pull a (small) print themselves and try out the various letterpresses. (If you live in San Francisco, they hold classes in printing and letterpress year round.) Viva printmaking!
ADVERTISEMENT
