Oct 17, 2022
In this world of mokuhanga, there are artists
whose passion and dedication to the art form comes not only from
their work, but from how they see the medium itself. Linda J Beeman
is a Michigan based mokuhanga printmaker who desires
to explore nature, its conservation, its power through colour, its
meaning, and aesthetic. Linda's work takes the viewer to an
existing place, which when allowed in, soothes and calms, enveloped
by the sacred.
On this episode of The Unfinished Print I speak with Linda J.
Beeman about her world, natural and artistic, how she got involved
with mokuhanga, how she views her audience, her style. We
discuss her time at MI Lab, and her love of artist-in-residence
programs in the United States. Linda also speak on her process, her
tools, and why mokuhanga is such a big part of her
life.
Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own
mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints Twitter
@unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com
Artists works follow after the note about them.
Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on
the highlighted word or phrase.
Artists works follow
after the note.
Linda J. Beeman - website,
Instagram,
Facebook.
Aurora Borealis (2022)
Dundas Valley School of
Art - is a multi disciplinary art school located in
Dundas, Ontario, Canada, which is a suburb of Hamilton. Founded in
1964 by Marion Farnan and Emily Dutton, the DVSA has evolved into a
modern, and chic art space, providing accessible and affordable art
education for all.
Tuula Moilanen - is a Finnish mokuhanga
printmaker and painter based in Finland. She lived and studied in
Kyōto from 1989-2012,
where she learned her
printmaking at Kyōto Seika University and from printmaker Akira
Kurosaki (1937-2019). Her work can be found,
here.
Urban Holiday (2016)
David Bull's “Baren Forum” -
was an early
mokuhanga forum for printmakers
which can still be found,
here. It’s chock full
of information for printmakers of all levels.
Mary
Brodbeck - is a mokuhanga printmaker, based in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. She has been producing mokuhanga for nearly 25
years. Her work refelcts nature, and the power it
contains.
Remnants
kentō - is the registration system used by
printmakers in order to line up the colour woodblocks with
your
key block, or
outline block, carved
first.
hanshita - is a thin sheet of gampi paper
that is pasted, reverse side, on a piece of wood. This is a guide,
carved onto the block and is generally used for the key block and
subsequent colour blocks. Methods such as acetate with water based
pigment, can also be used rather than the thin gampi paper, which
can cause misregistration if not pasted correctly.
Petrified Forest National Park - is a
national park located in northeastern Arizona, on what is called
the Colorado Plateau. The Plateau connects the American States of
Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Petrified Forest National
Park is famous for early traces of human civilization through
archeology and fossils, as well as an abundance of nature and
natural formations. More info can be found,
here, and
here.
The Great Lakes - are a series of lakes
which are connecte to one another. They are located in North
America. The lakes are; Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Erie,
Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron. The lakes connect to the Atlantic
Ocean, and through various rivers and other
tributaries.
MI Lab - is a mokuhanga residency
located in Kawaguchi-ko, near Mount Fuji. More info can be
found,
here.
Keiko Kadota (1942-2017) - was the
director of Nagasawa Art Park at Awaji City from 1997-2011, and
then of MI Lab at Lake Kawaguchi from 2011 until her
passing.
shin hanga - is a style of Japanese
woodblock printmaking which began during the end of the Ukiyo-e
period of Japanese printmaking, in the early 20th Century. Focusing
on the foreign demand for “traditional” Japanese imagery and motifs
such as castles, bridges, famous landscapes, bamboo forests, to
name just a few. Shin hanga was born in 1915 by Watanabe
Shōzaburō (1885-1962) when he found Austrian artist Frtiz
Capelari (1884-1950) and commissioned Capelari to design some
prints for Watanabe's feldgling printing house . From there
shin-hanga evolved into its own distinct “new” style of Japanese
woodblock printing. It lasted as this distinct style until its
innevitable decline after the Second World War (1939-1945).
sōsaku-hanga - or creative prints, is a
style of printmaking which is predominantly, although not
exclusively, prints made by one person. It started in the early
twentieth century in Japan, in the same period as the shin-hanga
movement. The artist designs, carves, and prints their own works.
The designs, especially in the early days, may seem rudimentary but
the creation of self made prints was a breakthrough for printmakers
beginning to move away from where only a select group of carvers,
printers and publishers created woodblock prints.
Watanabe Shōzaburō [渡辺 庄三郎] (1885-1962)
- was the catalyst of the new print movement (shin-hanga) in the
Japan of the early 20th Century. He assembled printers, designers,
and carvers to re-create the now dead, ukiyo-e
style, of woodblock prints in Japan. Watanabe also welcomed
"foreign" artists to design prints, such as Charles Bartlett
(1860-1940). His relationship with many of Japan's future woodblock
stars, such as Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), and Hasui Kawase
(1883-1957) established a mokuhanga style that has
been emulated ever since.
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park -
found in Ontanagan, Michigan, USA. This state park has 35,000 acres
of old growth forest, watefalls and abundant nature, on Lake
Superior. The artist in residence perogram information can be
found,
here.
Hawai’i
Volcanoes National Park -is an active volcano site,
and a UNESCO Heirtage Site. With public tours, a rugged landscape
made up of lava rock, as well as incredible biodiversity, the HLNPH
is a wonderful way to visit Hawai’i. Their artist in residence
program can be found,
here.
American
National Parks - are a series of public parks
that are federally run. Since 1916, the National Park Service has
overseen the national parks in the United States.
National Parks Art Foundation - is a
foundatoin that offers artist in residence programs as well as
other artist focused programs within the National Parks Service,
heritage sites, and National monuments. More info can be found,
here.
petroglyphs - are a type of rock art where
the rock is marked by abrasion, carving, or picking. Generally
associated with humans living 10,000-12,000 years ago, and are
found all over the planet except in Antarctica.
Rebecca Salter - is the President of The
Royal Academy of Arts, in London, England. She is also an artist
who has written two books about Japanese woodblock
printing,
Japanese Woodblock Printing (2001),
and
Japanese Popular Prints (2006). She worked
with the Satō Woodblock Print Workshop, documenting their process.
Her interview with The Unfinished Print can be found,
here.
Aurora 1 (2014)
Satō woodblock workshop - is a
traditional Japanese woodblock production house based in Kyōto,
Japan.
Here is
an article from The Journal of Modern Craft with Rebecca
Salter regarding this workshop.
Michigan Artist and Culture Grants - are
grants that are given to the citizens of Michigan who want to
promote the arts within their communities. There are many avenues
for application, so please look into your area of Michigan, perhaps
there will be a grant program for you. Here is a link for the
Michigan
Arts and Council Grants, to get you started.
Winsor & Newton - is a British artist
supply company, started in 1832, which sells artist materials
such as pigments, brushes, paper, etc. More info can be
found,
here.
Paul Furneaux - is a Scottish
mokuhanga
artist based in Edinburgh,
Scotland. He makes abstract mokuhanga, mixed with wood and other
mediums.
Lukas water colours - Lukas is an artist
supply company founded in 1862, in Düsseldorf, Germany. They
produce the Aquarell 1862 Water-colour which Linda describes in her
interview. More info can be found,
here.
Jerry’s Artarama - originally founded in
1968 Long Island, New York, and now based in Raleigh, North
Carolina. Jerry’s Artarama sells various art supplies at reasonable
princes. More info,
here.
Dick Blick Art Supplies - is an art supply
store with various brick and mortar stores throughout the United
States, as well as online. Founded in 1911 by Dick Blick in
Galesburg, Illinois, BLICK, as it’s more commonly known, sells
various types of art supplies, much like Jerry’s Artarama. More
info, here.
shina - is a type of wood used in
mokuhanga. It is part of the linden family of
trees. This wood is produced in various parts of the world, such as
Japan and Russia. Not all shina is created equal so buyer
beware.
Center for
Contemporary Printmaking - founded by Grace and
William Shanly in 1995. Orginally called The Connecticut Graphic
Arts Center, it is a non-profit which, as its aim, is to increase
the publics knowledge of orignal printmaking.
floating kentō - is a removable
registration system attached to the block when printing. As the
kentō isn’t affixed to the block; blotting, and very clean borders
are one of the positives of using this method of registration. It
is an "L" shape.
* Production note - Linda says “last summer,” when
discussing her last workshop. That “summer” was the summer of
2021.
© Popular Wheat Productions
opening and closing musical credit - Spadina Station
logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André
Zadorozny
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podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written
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***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print
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