Category Archives: Printmaking

Yasuko Aoyama

November 25, 2019 12:03 AM \

Yasuko Aoyama is a printmaker based in Sendai City, Japan She is the creator of these large format eraser stamp prints. The artist has been drawing since she was a child but realized she could express her favorite colors, textures, lines and shapes by carving on an eraser.  On an interview in Global Fashion Street she say this about her source of inspiration:

“I often draw things that I think are beautiful in what I see every day. Sometimes I draw it as it is and sometimes I replace certain things that I feel can emphasize the beauty of the concept. Recently, I drew an octopus that appeared in my dream.  I also try to make pictures that I can imagine from literary works and music that I come across.”

You can follow the artist on her Tumblr website and on Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Yasuko Aoyama.

Posted in: Japan, Printmaking \ Tagged: ,

Rod Nelson

November 8, 2019 12:03 AM \
Rod Nelson is a self-taught master printmaker based in Gloucestershire, UK.  We are so admiring his recent woodblock prints of waterfalls that we just had to post his work.  More can be said about him but we prefer to hear words from the artist himself: 

“I have, for my whole life, worked with wood and that has undoubtedly helped me with some aspects of woodblock printmaking. Although I have been making woodcuts for many years now, I am still continually excited by the potential of this ancient medium. Woodcut makes images that simply can not be made in any other way. It sits on the boundary between art and craft – and anyone making woodcuts will quickly experience the delights and terrors of both.”  – Interview from Print Day in May

More of his work can be found on his website and on Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Rod Nelson.
Posted in: Printmaking \ Tagged:

Kiyoshi Saito (1907 – 1997)

August 26, 2019 12:03 AM \
Kiyoshi Saito is a master Japanese printmaker and one of the first member in the sosaku hanga art movement.  Their action advocated principles of art that is “self-drawn”, “self-carved” and “self-printed” creating art for art’s sake. He worked as a sign painter apprentice but in 1932 moved to Tokyo to study art.  He developed a style of woodblock prints with a diminished color palette and simplified forms.  It is his compositions and aesthetic simplicity that attracted us to his work.

Images:  Courtesy of various sources.
Posted in: Japan, Minimalist, Printmaking \ Tagged: , ,
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