Wayzgoose: part 2

So, before I got started, I wanted to make a correction to the last post, what I kept calling a bulldozer is a steam roller, like you see in cartoons flattening the poor characters shadows of their former selves. I don't know why I kept calling it a bulldozer. Temporary insanity? The second thing that I wanted to say was that the first post was the one post that was affected by the Google issues & I still haven't been able to fix it without deleting virtually everything, this is why there are duplicate shots & why, if you visited during various points in time during the whole Google thing you would have seen a post with varying numbers of photos. Check out the post on Unanimous Craft, for the way it should look.
As I mentioned in the first post, Wayzgoose was an event that was all about paper, printing & community, with a variety of local teams getting together to create amazing steam roller prints, but there was more & this post is all about the more.
Inside were all the vendors, local & semi local presses, demonstrating their wares & a variety of presses (I so want one now, if you know of any going for cheap, let me know!), platens & type, letterpress & photo printing, many of which you could try out yourself. At the Springtide Press booth, as at several other booths, you were able to print out your own card on a little antique platen style press (did I mention that I want one of these?). You basically create the pressure needed to make the print, by hand, with the help of the machine's gears. At one of the booths, Notta Pixie Press a whimsical press, filled with funny & slightly risque items, I purchased a tiny note book with a imprinted image of a 50's housewife next to what looks like a hot water heater, like something from a vintage ad. I fell for a little tiki god at one of the other booths selling old type & even though I don't have a press (yet ;) I had to take it home with me:

The place was packed & hard to maneuver, but it was fascinating & everywhere you looked there was something interesting to see, even if it was stacks of old books. Near the front of King's books were the Fez group, otherwise known as CLAW, with their comic folding demonstration, posters, t-shirts & even a comic book style film guide. The author tried to stump me with "Deadman," kind of a journey through the land of the dead, not really Western, not at all horror flick, starring Johnny Depp, among others & produced by Quentin Tarantino, but I'm one of the few who have actually seen it. I even have a copy around here, somewhere (It's a really interesting film, if you haven't seen it, you should check it out. There's a lot of swearing & violence, so it is not for children, just as a warning). His "Johnny Darko" review t-shirt is awesome, I wish that I had gotten one.
Also, near the front of the store was Mitzi Lindgren who teaches bookbinding techniques locally, she had a class scheduled for 6/4 at King's Books & I'm hoping she'll have another soon, as I missed this one.
Outside, were more demonstrations: some demos of how the linoleum blocks are carved & how ink is rolled on to the plate:

Small & large rollers were used to place ink onto the plates

ink

& a fun paper making booth:

Paper drying rack

clothespins for the rack

removing the mold

paper slush

Placing the mold in the slush

There were plants available for sale, a produce booth & just for fun, a bit of juggling. All in all a pretty fun day. I hope they have more events there real soon :) SAM

Sunday at the Wayzgoose

Recently I went to the most interesting event I've seen in a while: Wayzgoose, an event hosted by King's Books &  held in downtown Tacoma, all about paper & printing.  How exciting can paper & printing be, you ask. Well, when the printing press is a bulldozer, it can be pretty interesting.

The "press" in action: a bulldozer is used as a giant press & is rolled over a hand carved linoleum block, covered with ink. Paper is carefully placed on the block & a piece of wood covers everything, before the bulldozer is set in motion. The trick is to make sure that nothing moves or there will be smearing & the print will be ruined, so people stand along the edges of the wood, moving out of the way when the bulldozer nears. The driver needs to be very careful to drive over everything straight, for the same reason.

Inking the plate: There were a number of plates, each carved by a team, in their own design & then hand inked. The  prints were raffled off (sure wish I had one)

 

Placing the paper: This had to be done very carefully to prevent smudges & fingerprints

Waiting for the press: A group standing on the edges of the wood, to prevent slippage & keep everything straight

Finished print: The wood cover is carefully removed & the paper picked up to reveal the finished print. This one said "Tacoma
Neither Beer nor Bears
 

 
Finished print: This one is of Tacoma's famous Ivan the gorilla, who spent most of his life as an attraction in the B & I shopping center, a beloved but controversial piece of Tacoma's history. The print is displayed here, in the window of King's Books.

There was more to the event: paper making, letter presses, paper makers, printer makers, a fez or two & even a tiny tiki god, but I'll save that for a part two...SAM