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

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

Friday, March 8, 2013 through Thursday, April 25, 2013
Western Wyoming Community College Art Gallery
2500 College Drive
Rock Springs, Wyoming

March 20-23, 2013 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Hosted by: Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) and Peck School of the Arts (PSOA)

Portfolio Exhibition:

Material Muse: Japanese paper inspiring print

organized by Sigrid Blohm, the Japanese Paper Place

The twelve artists included in this portfolio each work differently, but all have decided to use Japanese paper because its unique characteristics enhance their own prints in some way. In choosing to print on washi – paper made by many caring hands – each artist’s work becomes a merging of creative processes, those of printmaker and papermaker, and the results are richer for it.

Elizabeth D’Agostino, Brian Curling, Catherine Farish, Karen Kunc, Kristen Martincic, Emma Nishimura, Deb Oden, Loree Ovens, Liz Parkinson, Julia Prime, April Vollmer, Erik Waterkotte

Grabado y Edición is a bi-lingual Spanish/English review of new ideas in printmaking. This month’s edition includes my article on the history of mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock printing. It begins with an historical overview of the use of the technique from ukioyo-e prints of the 18th Century through the sosaku individualist printmakers of the early 20th Century and ends with a discussion of the wide range of international contemporary artists who recognize the technique for its flexibility. It is illustrated with woodblock prints by Katie Baldwin, Mike Lyon, Michael Schneider, and myself.

For a pdf of this seven page article: Renaissance

To subscribe to this excellent journal visit:  Subscribe to Grabado y Edición

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

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

My article, Mokuhanga International, has been published in Art in Print. The article is a review of the current state of mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock technique,  in contemporary art outside Japan. It includes a brief overview of the history starting with the famous Edo period ukiy0-e prints, through the eclipse of the technique during the 20th century, and then the current renewal of interest in the technique for creative artists.

A PDF of the article can be seen here:  ArtinPrintVol2MokuhangaInternationalArticle

The updated version is on line at:  Art In Print Mokuhanga International on line

Please support this informative journal of the print world by subscribing, on line or in print, at: Art In Print on line Subscription

This print shows the moths with eyes that I found at the monastery on my last visit.

The International Art Assembly in Visegrad, Republika Srpska, is distinctive for including a group of international printmakers. The residency, held each August, is one of main cultural events for the Visegrad region. A group of established printmakers from around the world are invited for this program to work in a variety of techniques and to demonstrate their approaches to one another and the general public. This printmaking workshop has become a wide-reaching opportunity to exchange ideas and to has grown into a significant contribution to the artistic, cultural and educational stimulation of the region, as it popularizes media and ideas that are new to this part of the world. Local television stations and newspapers record the process through film and interviews that are intended to heighten public awareness. The efforts of the printmakers are deeply appreciated by the people of the region.

In addition to the workshop events, an exhibition of works made during the Assembly is presented in October in the City Gallery, Visegrad, along with a full-color catalogue of participants, their work, and a critical essay. Additional efforts have included traveling exhibitions in galleries in towns throughout Republika Serbska and Serbia and Montenegro.

I am grateful to the organizers for their invitation to Repubika Serpska, Bosnia, which faces such difficult environmental, political and religious issues after the ethnic wars of the 1990s. It was a thought provoking visit, made significant for me by the strong connections I made with my fellow printmakers.

 Photos from Visegrad

Printmaking Participants
Belgium: Dragana Franssen Bojić
Denmark: Inger Lise Rasmussen, Ann-Dorte Nielsen, Bodil Sohn
Serbia: Biljana Vukovic, Ivana Stankovic
USA: April Vollmer, Susan Provost-Dubois

discussion of varieties of baren printing tool

Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, 2012, 10am – 4pm

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