VIDEO: Have Printing Press, Will Travel

This summer, Portland, Ore. artist Kyle Durrie is touring the country  in her mobile printing van giving demonstrations on the craft of — and giving participants a chance to try their hand at printing their own creations.

On the afternoon of July 9, Durrie parked her 1982 Chevy Step Van outside the San Francisco Center for the Book in the city's Portrero Hill neighborhood. Passersby were invited to climb inside for an informal lesson and an opportunity to print a simple piece under Durrie's guidance.

Durrie, who runs her own letterpress and design company called Power and Light Press, said she came up with the idea for the mobile letterpress printing tour when thinking about a way to combine two of her favorite things — printing and road trips.

She first solicited donations from friends and family to raise money for the tour. Though her efforts were successful, the total amount wasn't enough cover all costs. Her project (titled "Moveable Type: Cross Country Adventures in Printing") really took off after receiving $17,010 in funds from 350 backers on Kickstarter.

Durrie used the funds in part to purchase and fix up her van — a compact yet thoroughly functional vehicle which has enough room to house two printing presses, two work counters, storage space, and a bunk to sleep in at night. The van can fit about a dozen people.

Half Moon Bay Patch stopped by the van to report on the unique event. Click on the media box to the right to view the video.

The Moveable Type tour will wrap up in January 2012.

Keep up with Durrie as she blogs about her adventures on the Moveable Type website.

To receive news feeds about Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated Coastside between Montara and Pescadero, visit Half Moon Bay Patch on Facebook and "like" us here. Follow us on Twitter here.

Download the movie