Translated as ‘wood block printing,’ mokuhanga is a technique for creating hand-carved, hand-pulled woodblock relief prints, using water soluble inks and printed by hand with a barren. As no press is required and the pigments are non-toxic, its appeal extends beyond the classroom to the home studio and travel. Developed during Japan’s Edo art period, and widely disseminated through the ‘Ukiyo-e’ print, mokuhanga is again experiencing an international resurgence given its flexibility and sustainability.
This workshop explores the basics methods and materials of this water-based printmaking technique including: woodblock carving; water-based inking and hand printing. It is designed for both the novice with little or no printmaking experience, and the more experienced printmaker wishing for an introduction to this specific process. Participants will practice the technique and complete a print of their own design.
Hailing from the Lake Wobegon region of the Upper Mid-west, with an MFA in printmaking from the University of Notre Dame, K is a Utah-based artist, working primarily in print, book-arts and sculpture. Since appointed in 2001, she has taught at Weber State University, Ogden, UT, where she currently directs and instructs printmaking. Her work has been widely exhibited- regionally, nationally, and internationally. Introduced to this process at the International Mokuhanga Conference 2017, she has studied with recognized mokuhanga print artists in the States, with her training highlighted by a five-week artist residency, summer of 2024, at the renown “MI-Lab” [Mokuhanga Innovation Lab] in Echizen, Japan.
