Tacoma Wayzgoose Printmaking and Book Art Fair 2024
As a printmaker, I’ve always had Tacoma’s annual Wayzgoose festival on my radar. My first time attending, just a few years out of my college printmaking program, was back in 2014. But life started happening, I fell away from my art practice, I got busy, had a kid, and never made it back to another Wayzgoose event. Then, at the end of 2023 I started slowly returning to my art making practice and made a promise to myself to fully give myself over to my art making, and to actually apply for art opportunities— especially local ones.
The first thing I did was apply for Wayzgoose, to be one of the steamroller print artists. When I got the email that they accepted me, I had to read the email like 10 times to make sure I read it right. I was so excited prior to even getting that email that I made a mini version of my steamroller print as a proof of concept.
Wayzgoose is such a perfect event that represents so much about what I love about Tacoma. It’s interactive by design and as a printmaker, I love that it gives a community hands-on introduction to printmaking as an art form. I was only introduced to printmaking in college and once I discovered it, I fell wholly in love and ended up focusing my BA in Art on Printmaking. So for other folks to have this event to potentially discover the magic of printmaking without having to go to a whole 4 year art program, is really incredible.
And beyond that, there’s such a beautiful, thriving community of letterpress and printmaking artists here in Tacoma. I love that this longstanding event celebrates that community every year. And I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get to be a part of it again next year!
If you’re interested in purchasing one of my Wayzgoose prints, you can shop the full size limited edition steamroller relief print, the giclée reproduction, and the mini relief print below!
Lino relief prints created during the 2024 Wayzgoose Steamroller Print event in Tacoma. Each print was pressed using a 1.5 ton steamroller. See the entire process here!
The Wayzgoose theme this year was Sweet and Salty. There are so many ways in which Tacoma is both Sweet and Salty. Her people are the salt of the earth. She's nestled within the salty waters of the Puget Sound. Folks here feel a little salty about Tacoma changing— "Keep Tacoma Feared" is the refrain to maintain a Tacoma that’s an underdog, a sweet secret that only her residents could truly appreciate.
For those of us who call Tacoma "home," it's a sweet place filled with a vibrant creative community, balanced against the contrast of a salt-of-the-earth blue collar community often symbolized by our bustling seaport.
That's what this piece represents. Gritty Tacoma, sweet and salty, arts and labor, a little rough around the edges, but a sweet treasure we call home.
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Due to the nature of printing outdoors, on the ground, with a steam roller, there are variations and slight imperfections from print to print. Prints 2 and 3 have some slight smudging (shown in the images).
Prints ship rolled in a cardboard tube.
Paper size: 30.5 x 44 in
Print size: 24 x 36 in
Hand pressed original linoleum block print.
This ode to the salty and sweet city we call home is a small version of my 2024 Wayzgoose steamroller print, which will be pressed live on May 4th at the Wayzgoose event at Moore Library here in Tacoma! Grab this small version, and come check out the 2ft x 3ft version get printed with a steamroller at the event!
Want a sticker version? Grab a sticker too!
✸ Handprinted on an etching press with archival inks on Legion Stonehenge White 250gsm (100% Cotton Rag, Acid Free)
✸ Linoleum Relief Print
✸ 11×14"
✸ Signed, open edition
✸ Ships flat
Due to the handmade nature of these prints, there is some slight variation between each individual print.
