Direct Gyotaku Workshops & Events in Northumberland

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 after a short introductory talk and a demo the members of Northern Print were able to print their own gyotaku salmon. Some people also experimented with sea shells, mermaid's purses and feathers (collected when beach combing). Although, the members of Northern Print were all gyotaku 'newbies' everyone created beautiful prints and said that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the process. I had a great time too.

Tearing paper and inking a salmon in the gallery at Northern Print.

Janet E. Davis wrote a really interesting article on her very enjoyable blog, entitled 'A fishy tale or three-the Gyotaku demo'. Take a look at https://janetedavisart.wordpress.com/2016/10/

Busy printing in one of the editioning studios.
Some of the smaller salmon waiting to be cleaned and prepared ready for printing.

 The other gyotaku workshops and events were;

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Olfactory Imprinting - the smelly stuff

Image
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
Read more

First impressions

Image
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
Read more