Printmaking at Waza - Keep Your Fingers Behind the Blade

Sutro tower hiding behind fog, vintage
muni and the TransAmerica building

I was invited back to Waza, Heroku's developer gathering, to hold a printmaking workshop.  So what does printmaking have to do with development?  The name of the event "waza" is the Japanese word for "art and technique." Heroku's event was a celebration of the art of software development.  I think one of the key take-aways was for developers to understand that what they do really is a craft.

Like developers, artisans hone their craft in parallel ways.  Printmakers make sure they keep their tools sharp and experiment with multiple (and new) tools to find the best ones for the job.  Collaboration with others helps to evolve the craft.  I was definitely surprised by the diversity of approaches.

I was really excited that a lot of attendees wanted to make a linocut.  There were many crafting stations at Waza including quilting, origami and bookbinding and it was great that people tried something they don't normally do.  I wish I could have tried some of those other crafts too!

The best compliment I received was when people said it was a lot harder than it looked.  Initially it may seem that way but once you have a basic understanding of how to use the proper tools it will get a lot easier!