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Drive by Press

I went to a truely awesome printing event by "The Drive By Press". First there was a lecture at the university, given by Ryan O’Malley and Nick Alley. They talked about the purpose of Drive by Press, a mobile tour that drives around the country educating students, and the public, about printmaking. They showed historical and contemporary examples of printmaking and discussed the adventures of their trip.


Then we had an opportunity to visit their large print collection, donated by many artists across the country. Many different techniques and styles were represented.


The final part of the day was a printmaking demo. From the back of the truck a small etching press, dozens of wood cuts and some T-shirts were pulled out. People were invited to chose a shirt and and an art block and help arrange and print a wearable piece of art. The matrix was carved from MDF board, which the guys said "was as easy to cut as butter". Despite the thickness and varience in block sizes, the press churned out many prints without issues.





Despite the freezing weather, many shirts were printed and we got to see some nifty work with a brayer. I wish I had thought to take my printing apron to get a cool DPA logo print (Dirty Printmakers of America), but alas I did not. I did get a couple of t-shirts printed though.


I wish them the best of luck for their journey around the West Coast.





http://drivebypress.com/

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