April Vollmer

These classes are all in Mokuhanga, Japanese waterbased woodblock printmaking. This is the same technique used to print ukiyoe “prints of the floating world” during the Edo period. Classes include an overview of the history, and focus on the creation of an edition of a multiple color print. For more information, or to enroll in a class, contact me. Upcoming and past classes are listed. 2002-2007 classes

July 15 to 19, 2013

This intensive week long class begins following Santa Fe’s famous International Folk Art Market, July 12, 13 and 14  (www.folkartmarket.org), so come a little early to enjoy this world renowned festival. The class takes place in Santa Fe at the studios of MakingArtSafely, devoted to promoting environmentally friendly printmaking techniques. Making Art Safely Mokuhanga class

This class is an opportunity to explore the water-based Japanese woodblock technique called moku hanga in Japanese. It is the same technique used to print the classic ukiyo-e prints of Hokusai and Utamaro, and evolved in Japan during the Edo period from Chinese precedents and has many unique qualities.  Shading and other amazing effects are achievable due to the very different approach to printing a block from Eurocentric techniques.

Each participant will create an edition of multi-colored prints on handmade paper to learn about this flexible, non-toxic method. Each day a different aspect of Japanese woodblock will be presented, including tools and sharpening, the kento registration system, pigments and ink, printing with a baren, Japanese paper, and specialized printing techniques such as goma and bokashi. While a knowledge of printmaking basics will be helpful, this class should be rewarding to beginners as well as more advanced printmakers.

www.makingartsafely.com

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Blossom Festival
Saturday, April 27 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and Sunday, April 28 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Welcome spring at the Botanic Garden, enjoy the spring flowers, the Japanese arts and crafts, and come see a demonstration of mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock printmaking at the Steinhardt Conservatory.

Since 1998 these yearly demonstrations have been an opportunity for the public to gain an understanding of the technical skill that goes into traditional Japanese printing, mokuhanga. It is a water-based woodblock method printed by hand, moku means wood, and hanga can be roughly translated as printmaking. It is the technique that was used to make the famous ukiy0-e “prints of the floating world.” Developed during the Edo period 1603 to 1868, this woodblock technique was used to print everything from books to advertisements, including the prints of Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro. The artists supplied the drawings and a group of expert craftsmen, organized by a publisher, cut the blocks and printed the color blocks one at a time to create these wonderful Japanese prints.

For more information visit the Garden’s website here.

Delirious Birds and Bees, 2007, 26 x 26 inches mokuhanga woodblock

2011-04-30-SakuraBBG

Mokuhanga Japanese Woodblock with April Vollmer
Wednesday, June 5 & June 12, 10am – 4pm

Fees: M: $300, NM: $325. Materials Fee: $40
This two-day workshop is an introduction to traditional Japanese woodblock printing for contemporary artists. Each student will cut and print an edition of color prints to learn about this non-toxic technique. Mokuhanga provides precise registration and great control over color and a connection to an important chapter in the history of printmaking. Each class will begin with a discussion of a different aspect of Japanese woodblock. All levels welcome.

Japanese Waterbase PRINTING ONLY DAY with April Vollmer
Wednesday, June 19, 10am – 4pm
Fees: M: $ 190. , NM: $205. Materials Fee: $30
This class will focus on getting a good print from your blocks using waterbased media applied with Japanese printing brushes and printed with a baren. Blocks created for the technique with kento registration marks cut into the block will work best. Blocks of other wood are welcome.

for more information and to register please visit: www.printnj.org/

Printmaking Center of New Jersey
440 River Rd
Branchburg, NJ 08876
Email: director@printnj.org
Phone: (908) 725-2110

July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21 (skip a week) and final class September 4, 2013

Six Wednesday evenings

While a familiarity with woodblock  will be useful, all levels welcome. We will create and print a small edition of waterbased woodblock prints with the Japanese technique of printing with a baren.

Lower East Side Printshop

306 West 37th St, 6th Floor, New York, NY

212-673-5390

www.printshop.org

May 18 & 19, 2013

Mokuhaga: Japanese Waterbase Woodcut

This is an intensive weekend workshop that covers the basics of this traditional Japanese printmaking technique. Moku means wood and hanga can be translated as printmaking. It is the same water based technique used to create the famous ukiyo-e prints of 18^th century Japan. Mokuhanga differs from western woodblock in that it is printed with watercolor and gouache, so no toxic solvents are used; it is printed with a hand held baren rather than a press; and it employs the accurate kento registration system, cut directly into the block. A final significant characteristic is the use of washi, handmade Japanese kozo fiber paper, especially suited for this kind of printing. The class will begin with a short discussion of the history of Japanese woodblock, and will include hands-on demonstrations of registration, cutting, and printing. Participants will create a small edition of multi-colored prints during the class.

The $30 fee includes blocks, color, Japanese paper, and the loan of cutting and printing tools for class.

10 am – 4 pm
Room V2008
Cabrillo College Extension Classes

2012 Spring Series: Special Workshops
Poetic Pastimes: Japan and the Art of Leisure Exhibition inspired programs
Mokuhanga, Japanese Water Base Woodcut with April Vollmer
all levels
Saturday & Sunday, April 21 & 22, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Member: $162, Non-member: $180, Materials: $20

call 973-596-6607 or register on-line for 10% Members discount
Newark Museum
49 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102-3176
website: newarkmuseum.org

contact: Stephen McKenzie, Manager; Sue Smith, Administrative Assistant

Weekend Class for Mother’s Day, May 7 and 8, 2011

Center for Contemporary Printmaking
299 West Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06850-4002
(203) 899-7999
Center for Contemporary Printmaking Website
Moku means wood, and hanga can be translated as printmaking. Both these classes will introduce contemporary artists to traditional Japanese woodblock printing, the same technique used by the Ukiyo-e artists of the 18th century. Moku hanga provides precise registration and great control over color and a connection to one of the most important chapters in the history of printmaking. Participants will cut and print a small edition of prints to learn about this nontoxic technique. We will cut blocks during the first half of class and print during the second half. Each class will begin with a discussion of a different aspect of Japanese woodblock, including tools, sharpening, printing techniques, and paper. All levels.

Also at CCP, this year’s October 2011 Monothon was a great success!

Photos of MONOTHON 2010

2011 Center for Contemporary Printmaking CLASS PHOTOS

August 6 & 7, 2011: MECA, Maine College of Art
weekend summer class in Portland, ME
MECA

2010-07-20-MECA Mokuhanga 2010

July 11 to 15, 2011
SUMMER Weeklong Intensive a Great Success!
Frogman’s Press & Gallery sponsored workshop at
Warren M. Lee Center for Fine Arts at the University of South Dakota
Vermillion, South Dakota
Frogmans Print and Paper Workshops

MOKU HANGA, JAPANESE WOODCUT		APRIL VOLLMER
This class is an introduction to traditional Japanese woodblock printing for contemporary artists. Hanga woodcut is the water-based woodcut technique that evolved in Japan during the Edo period. Moku means wood and hanga can be translated as printmaking. The technique offers precise registration, bright, lightfast color, and requires no press or solvents. This workshop includes an historical overview of Japanese woodblock, and focuses on ways this technique can be useful to artists by helping them design, cut and print an edition of their own. The workshop includes the use and maintenance of Japanese cutting tools, the kento registration system, printing with a baren, the use of water-based pigments, and a discussion of washi, handmade Japanese paper.		April Vollmer earned her MFA in printmaking from Hunter College in 1983, and learned Japanese woodblock after she established her own studio in lower Manhattan. She traveled to Japan in the fall of 2004 to work with the Nagasawa Art Park woodcut program and she has taught workshops at Japan Society, the Lower East Side Printshop, Pyramid Atlantic, the Women’s Studio Workshop, Dieu Donne Papermill and many other locations. Each year Vollmer demonstrates Japanese woodblock at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Blossom Festival. In 2007 she had a major exhibition at the Steinhardt Gallery there. In 2008 she traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, for an exhibition of her woodcuts at the Faculty of Fine Arts. Her work has been published in journals including Science, Printmaking Today and Contemporary Impressions. For more information please visit www.aprilvollmer.com.

Frogman Workshop 2011

2011-07-13-Frogman bowling

Photos of Classes 2002 to 2007
Overview www.aprilvollmer.com/workshops
Lower East Side Printshop, 2010 picasaweb.google.com/aprilvollmer/
Anderson Ranch Class, 2007 www.aprilvollmer.com/anderson07/
Frogman’s Print and Paper Workshops, Vermillion, SD, 2007 www.aprilvollmer.com/gomissouri
Frogman’s Print and Paper Workshops Dress Code, Vermillion, SD www.aprilvollmer.com/tees
Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2006 www.aprilvollmer.com/kala2006
New Hope for Art, 2006 www.aprilvollmer.com/newhope06/
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri, NY, 2006 www.aprilvollmer.com/bbg06
Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, CA, 2005 www.aprilvollmer.com/cabrillo05 NOT
Art Center at Old Church, 2005 www.aprilvollmer.com/oldchurchhanga
Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, CA, 2005 www.aprilvollmer.com/cabrillo05
MakingArtSafely, Santa Fe, NM, 2005 www.aprilvollmer.com/IAIA05/
Frogman’s Print and Paper Workshops, Vermillion, SD, 2004 www.aprilvollmer.com/frogman04/
Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, 2004 www.aprilvollmer.com/wsw04/
MakingArtSafely, Santa Fe, NM, 2004 www.aprilvollmer.com/santafe/
Brookyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri, 2004 www.aprilvollmer.com/sakura04/
Brookyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri, 2003 www.aprilvollmer.com/bbg/
Druckstelle Workshop, Berlin, Germany, 2003 www.aprilvollmer.com/berlin/
Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2003 www.aprilvollmer.com/kala/
Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2002 www.aprilvollmer.com/kalaclass/