Tanuki is Honored to Receive International Award

AIMPE jurors in the selection process

Earlier this month, Tanuki’s print “Cole Mountain, VA” was awarded the Minoru Fujimori Prize for the 5th Annual AIMPE ’21 Exhibition held in The Hall Awa Japanese Handmade Paper, Yoshinogawa City, Japan. Over 2,000 prints throughout the world were considered.. The prize carries an additional award of 30,000 yen.

Thank you, Awagami Washi and the Fujimori Family!

The Fujimori Prize is dedicated to 6th generation, Minoru Fujimori who took over the family business in 1945 determined to continue washi papermaking despite post-WWII difficulties. In 1970, Minoru-san was designated as an ‘Intangible Cultural Property of Tokushima’ in recognition of his skills. In 1976, Awagami washi was designated as a ‘Traditional Craft Industry’ and in 1986, Minoru Fujimori was further honored as Master Craftsman and awarded the ‘Sixth Class Order of Merit, Sacred Treasure’ by the Emperor. Currently his son, Yoichi and family continue the papermaking tradition as their ancestors did before them. In an effort to preserve the craft and pass washi papermaking onto the next generation, the family has established a network of international partners that offer Awagami papers to worldwide artists.

Additional images (in order): Minoru Fujimori, Awa Hall of Papermaking, “Cole Mt., VA”

 

 

Printing in Japan 日本での印刷: Part 1

Hagia Sophia (now the Ayasofya MĂźzesi) in Istanbul’s Old City

It has been nearly a month since I was in Japan for 30 days from May 9> June 10, 2017. After allowing myself to ‘digest’ everything, I have concluded that it was, simply, the ideal adventure in terms of learning through experiencing and doing. I did allow some time for frivolities, but for the most part, it was self-imposed work: printing, prepping tools and material, teaching a little, and further unfolding the ‘onion’ that is Japanese mokuhanga. Here’s a bit of what I’d like to share.


A Note of Appreciation: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mokuhankan, the University of North Georgia’s Department of Art and College of Arts and Letters, and my wife, Margaret, for sponsoring my trip.

First Stop: Istanbul

My 44-hour flight with Turkish Airlines had a 10-hour layover at AttatĂźrk Airport which allowed me to get into the old town of Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia interior

One of my ‘bucket-list’ items since the early 80s was to see the Hagia Sophia– a center of Roman Byzantium built in 522CE under the emperor Justinian and converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in the mid-1400s. It felt relatively airy, yet chunky as one would imagine with construction of the time. Representational mosaics of Jesus and Mary, along with seraphim were left. Another surprise was that cats were allowed to roam free inside.

I found it pretty easy to get around Istanbul and would recommend that, despite media paranoia, get on a train, tram, or bus and enjoy the friendly folks and fascinating history.

Turkish catiphate


Becoming Re-acquainted with Japan

Elementary school kids with enviable leather backpacks.

On the second leg of my trip, I arrived at Narita airport and made my way to the apartment in Taito (in the s.w. corner of the once-famous Yoshiwara red-light district).

I really enjoyed waking up to the daily life of the neighborhood where grannies swept storefronts, people stepping around pet turtles, and very young kids walking or riding their bikes on sidewalks by themselves without any apparent worries (or negative consequences).

Pet turtles.
Mokuhankan in Asakusa, Tokyo

I eagerly walked the 8 blocks south to Asakusa via the Sensō-ji temple complex, to Mokuhankan– a print studio run by long-time printer, David Bull who has been living in the Tokyo area for over 30 years. He was just as friendly and energetic as I remembered and I felt as if the 15 years since I had worked with him at his home in Ome was a week ago. FYI, from 1996, Dave became the largest conduit of information for westerners trying to learn Japanese-style woodblock printmaking and was responsible for me to turn from being a commercial illustrator to going to grad school and devoting my career to teaching and practicing printmaking.

Since last time we met, he has been quite busy building upon his vision of being a major woodblock publisher- and by all accounts- he’s succeeded with Mokuhankan!

My head swum while he gave me a tour of the compact, but well-run facilities. I was introduced to the staff- here’s a picture of the print showroom with Mr. Toshikazu Doi who is a major shin-hanga print collector who also works part-time during retirement from Asahi Beer Co.

Doi-san manning the shop

As you can see in the picture to the right, the studio’s street-front entrance leads upstairs to the print showroom on the second floor where “print parties” (hands-on educational introductions to the printing process) are held for a small fee.

The third floor is set up for production and, as promised, was one out of four printing benches that had been reserved for me for the month (note: the picture below was taken after I had a chance to mess things up or to “customize” my workspace).

Initially, it felt a bit weird to ‘fill’ a space, but as each printer came and introduced themselves and started working, I felt a little bit like a part of a print factory. I had brought enough printing equipment and pre-carved blocks to start which worked quite well in retrospect.

As you might expect, the regular staff was also a bit apprehensive (who is this new guy?, what does he want?, etc.), but, after a while, we found creative ways to goof off, we transcended language barriers with humor, and let ourselves get to know each other.

My little corner of heaven

I am ‘OK’ as a printer, but I do know my place. Everyone showed me a lot of respect through helping me see the subtleties of printing. Along with previous experiences, I did also gain a bit of understanding how people learn. In late Sept., I have been asked to present a talk at the International Mokuhanga Conference in Honolulu concerning Environmental and Social issues and I plan to talk about the introduction of the apprenticeship model in higher education later…

Anyway, everyone associated with the print studio (staff, academic visitors, public) was exceedingly nice and personable and I do miss being a part of the scene. I also certainly received a lot from everyone there and I do hope that I added to Mokuhankan in some measure.


NEXT: More about Printing in Japan 日本での印刷: Part 2


Tanuki Prints @ the SGCI Open Portfolio this Saturday!

A past SGCI open portfolio session- lots of fun!

I am going to be showing my work at the SGCI Conference in Atlanta this Saturday (3/18) in the Ellington Ballroom in the Loews Hotel during the third open portfolio sessions. Frankly, it’s my favorite part of the conference.

I hope to see you there. I will be selling my prints- either way, say you saw this entry and get your free Tanuki sticker! Session 1.

SGCI Printmaking Conference Preview

Yours truly in front of my etching “Armored Transport” at Gallery 72

Since I live about 1.5 hours outside of Atlanta, I had no excuse to not attend the Southern Graphics International Printmaking Conference from 3/15>3/18. I have two etching pieces in the Terminus UGA show and will participate in the open portfolio in the Loew’s Hotel on Saturday (come by if you’re there).

The UGA show is particularly strange to me personally since it’s now called “Gallery 72” which is the same Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s newsroom building that I worked in as an illustrator for nearly 10 years from 1987>1996. The same layout, a bit changed. Weird, but glad it’s been re-purposed.

Anyway, this exhibit’s reception is Friday, March 17 from 6-9pm.

Click here for directions to Gallery 72