In Case Your Didn't Know...

...People make "really big prints" with steamrollers. 

I don't know where else they do it, but folks on the east side of Wisconsin have been doing it for about 10 years. Artists, from experienced printmakers to neophytes and students, create a 36" x 72" (or so) carved piece out of wood and bring it to a two-day event.

Many of them also bring a team of helpers. Community members help move things around and do a lot of other logistical work. 

The cuts are laid into a template made of plywood, with a full sheet of plywood as a gap in between. They've found through trial and error that you get a better impression when there's a gap between prints.

Each artist brings their own paper, while Really Big Prints supplies the ink, which is specially mixed to maintain (but minimize) drying time exactly.

Keeping the inked cuts free of schumutz (like cottonwood fluff) is a challenge. After inking, the paper is laid on, then covered with protective material.

Finally, the steamroller, driven by an employee of the city of Two Rivers, passes along the boards and the paper is removed to dry on large racks inside the nearby Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum. 

Each year's prints are put on display at the museum for several months in the fall. A copy of each print that has ever been made at Really Big Prints is archived at the museum.