Leaping Salmon

During my residency I was able to provide a number of participatory Direct  Gyotaku  workshops   and events for people of all ages. The first was held at Northern Print, a fantastic printmaking studio and gallery based in the  Ouseburn Valley, only a few minutes away from Newcastle's city centre.  www.northernprint.org.uk Northern Print is the lead organisation behind the International Print Biennale which began in 2009 and is now the largest printmaking festival in the UK. Some direct gyotaku salmon prints drying at Northern Print. Originally, the plan was to give a talk about gyotaku and a demonstration of the direct gyotaku technique called  chokusetsu-ho in Japanese. However, having attended similar printmaking talks and demonstrations I've always felt rather disappointed when there wasn't the opportunity to 'have a go' oneself. I believe that a practical experience helps a person to fully understand  the process and/or foster an interest in it. So

Every aspect of salmon's lives are influenced by olfaction, for example; reproduction, feeding, avoiding predators and migration. Hormonal and environmental factors work together to influence olfactory imprinting. This is a highly specialised form of unconditional learning acquired early in life and then used later in a specific context such as migration. When in the ocean Atlantic salmon detect magnetic fields to aid migration and once they are closer to their natal river olfactory imprinting helps them to navigate upstream to spawn. They can literally "smell home".  Therefore, aroma and very specific aromas will form an integral part of my work. I already own a Dale Air vortex unit which I've used in previous exhibitions to fill the space with the smell of the sea.   www.daleair.com   Below are just a few of my olfactory experiences of Northumberland. The distinctive smell of damp and mossy stone at Black Middens Bastle. To reacquaint myself with ideas a

My first glimpse of the North Tyne river was at Corbridge. I was not only impressed by the view of bridge and the sunlight shimmering on the water but also by the strong aroma of Himalayan balsam, ( Impatiens glandulifera),  which instantly brought back happy childhood memories of our garden and conservatory where my father grew an array of 'exotic' plants. I later found out that the majority of these plants were either invasive such as the Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica),  highly poisonous like the Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) and Angel trumpet (Brugmansai suaveolens), or had abrasive leaves, for example the Giant Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata), even the common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)  was spinescent.  Although the Himalayan balsam is an impressive plant with pink blossom and exploding seed pods which seems like an attractive addition to the native vegetation it's considered an invasive species weed. The plants leads to the erosion

Workshops and events for the project are listed on the reverse of this postcard. This postcard was produced from a detail of a print entitled Bailas, t he Portuguese word for Spotted sea bass, Dicentrarchus punctatus. The print was   created   using the Hawaiian   gyotaku  technique and collaged onto a canvas which had been coated in black acrylic, silver metal leaf and UV gloss varnish.

I was absolutely delighted to be invited as the gyotaku artist in residence for the Leaping Salmon project which was developed in partnership with Queen's Hall Arts, Northern Print, the Environment Agency and Northumberland National Parks as part of the 2016 International Print Biennale organised by Northern Print and generously sponsored by Northumbrian Water. During a two week period in October 2016, I was able to provide participatory workshops for people of all ages in various venues across Northumberland and to develop my own research and prints as the basis for a new body of work which will be presented in my first professional solo exhibition in the UK at Queen's Hall Arts, Hexham, Northumberland. (7th of October until the 25th of November, 2017). I sincerely thank everyone who worked together to realise this project, to all of those who participated in my workshops and to the open and friendly people of Northumberland that I met. I hope that the interest and enthusi