Apr 9, 2022
Lynita Shimizu's prints are ambitious, colourful; and most importantly, bring the viewer into their fantastic world.
On this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with mokuhanga printmaker Lyniyta Shimizu, about her history as a mokuhanga working printmaker, her teachers from Japan as well as her experiences in that country. Lynita speaks on her varied print subjects, her materials and her mokuhanga process.
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Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.
Lynita Shimizu - website, Instagram, New Leaf Gallery video.
Chinese University Hong Kong - is a public research university based in Hong Kong, and established in 1963. more, info here.
JET Programme - a teaching programme created in 1978, which is sponsored by the Japanese government, and various Japanese ministries. This organization brings people from around the world to teach English to Japanese students in grade school, junior high, and high schools throughout the country. More info, here.
nengajo - (年賀状) what began as a way for Japanese nobility to communicate with faraway friends and family during the New Year festive period, has become a way for all people to send New Year greetings to their own friends and family. More info, here.
Books Kinokuniya - is a Japanese chain of bookstores located throughout every Prefecture in Japan and around the world. More info, here.
Tomikichiro Tokuriki (1902-1999) - was a woodblock printmaker based in Kyōto, Japan. His prints were considered sōsaku hanga (creative prints), and shin-hanga prints (new prints). More info, here.
David Stones - was a student of Tokuriki in Japan. His woodblock prints are bright in colour and have traditional Japanese themes. His website has more information, as well as this really well produced video that came out late last year.
Margaret Stein Nakamura - is a designer and illustrator who studied three years under Tomikichiro Tokuriki in the 1970’s. Her Tumblr of her projects can be found, here.
sizing/dosa - is a liquid form (prepared) animal glue which is brushed onto your washi, hanji, or other natural papers to stiffen the paper and prepare it for keeping the colour in your woodblock print. It has come to pass that size tends to be acidic and will break down the print over time. It’s a bit of a double edged sword. Recipes for size can be found, here.
Yoshisuke Funasaka - is a woodblock printmaker in the sōsaku hanga style of printmaking. His work revolved around colour, fruit, and abstract shapes. More info, here.
Sho Kidokoro (1934-1988) - was a woodblock printmaker from Tōkyō, Japan. His prints were colourful, abstract, and he too focused on fruit, such as apples and pears.
reduction printing - is a method of printing where one block is used and is subsequently carved little by little and printed every time, until there is nothing left to carve. Cameron Bailey’s recent prints are in this style.
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.
Annie Bissett - is a woodblock printmaker based in the United States. Her work focuses on themes of sexuality, magic, politics, and nature. Her work can be found, here. Her interview with The Unfisnihed Print can be found, here.
Artelino - is an online woodblock print repository run by Dieter Wanczura. It is a website that educates about woodblock prints, as well as sells and buys. More info, here.
Hankyu-Ōsaka-Umeda Station - is a train station located in the city of Ōsaka, Japan. It is a major transit hub which connects Ōsaka City, to Kobe, Kyōto, Nara, as well as the rest of Japan. In my opinion it’s one of the busiest stations in the country. More info, here.
kabuki theatre - is a traditional Japanese theatre begun in Kyōto in the 17th Century. It has always been considered, much like Japanese woodblock prints, as a lower form of art in Japan. Over time kabuki theatre has developed into a very sanitized theatre run by the Shōchiku Entertainment Company. For more information about its rich history please check out Kabuki21.com. I wrote (write) a blog about kabuki called Kabuki Live, and that can be found, here.
Kabuki-za - is a kabuki focused theatre located in Tōkyō, Japan. It has been at the same spot in the Ginza, in different constructions, since 1889. More info can be found, here.
Linda J. Beeman - is a mokuhanga printmaker based in Michigan. Considered an environmental artist, Linda’s subjects are of the environment through landscape representation. More info, here.
luan wood - is a type of hardwood native to the Philippines and other parts of South East Asia. More info can be found, here.
magnolia wood - a straight grained hard wood located in North America and Asia. more info, here.
katsura wood - is a straight grain hard wood from China and Japan. It is pretty good for fine line cutting in mokuhanga and is cheaper than cherry wood. More info can be found, here.
Sennelier pigments - created by Gustave Sennelier in Paris, 1887, Sennelier has become a seller of pigments of all types. 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.
tokonoma - is an ascribed area in a Japanese home which is used as a way to make visitors and guests appreciate the home they are visiting, even more. It usually displays scrolls or other forms of art, flowers, or other ephemera connected to those living in the home, the seasons, or general likes. More info, here.
yamaka paper - is a type of fusuma paper, soft and textured and quite thick, around 40g-60g
New Leaf Gallery - is a brick and mortar, relief print focused gallery located in Keane, New Hampshire. It was created by Taryn Fisher and Matt Brown. more info, here.
Matt Brown - is a mokuhanga printmaker based in Lyme, New Hampshire. He has been making woodblock prints for over thirty years. Matt’s interview with the Unfinished Print can be found, here. His website can be found, here.
Kunisada/Kuniyoshi Exhibit - was an art exhibition held at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston from August 11 - December 10, 2017. There was also an excellent catalogue printed for this show and would add to any woodblock print fan’s library. more info, here.
manga - is a style of comical imagery that started in and around the 19th Century in Japan. Hokusai’s manga has made a resurgence as of late and has inspired artists of all types, around the world. Other artists who made manga in Japan and are worth a look at are, Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), Naoko Takeuchi, and Eiichirō Oda, amongst many others. More info, here, and here.
Sumi-Fusion - was the theme of the 2021 International Mokuhanga Conference where entries, into the juried exhibition, created works that used sumi ink in their mokuhanga. More info, here.
opening and closing credit music - Time's Up (Instrumental) by O.C (2022)
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