The Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes

Art of the Sleeping Bear Dunes: A Fine Art Publication and Exhibition

Artists have been drawn to the beauty and ever-changing landscape of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for years.  Leelanau Press, a non-profit publisher whose mission is to publish work of regional writers and artists, in conjunction with the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan, invited artists to submit work in a juried fine art competition with the promise of the publication of a color, large format, hardcover book and an exhibition at the Dennos Museum Center in October 2013 - January 2014. 

I am honored to find that 'Glow' was accepted into this exhibition.

Glow

Tokyo Exhibition 1/18-1.31

Please enjoy the photos of the Exhibition of the Six - 2012 Mokuhanga Innovative Residents.
Wish I could have been there for this exhibition.  There were over 120 attendees.
The exhibit now moves to Kawaguchi, location of the Residency, for the local community to enjoy and find out more about the program.

Paths We Travel

I find it so interesting the paths we travel.  It was never even in my thoughts that at some point in my life I would travel to Japan and live at Mt. Fuji.  Never!

So imagine my surprise when I was recently moving and found this watercolor painting I did when I was 16 years old.

And then compare with my recent woodblock print from my Residency at Mt. Fuji this fall.

Washi (Paper) Testing

I think one of the hardest things for a mokuhanga artist is finding the right paper.  Especially Japanese paper.  There are so many different weights, sizes, paper makers.  And we all like different characteristics in a paper.  I personally don't like a white white paper and prefer more natural color.  I also like a thicker paper.

The opportunity to test different papers while at MI-Lab was something we all wanted to do.  We didn't realize how difficult it would be to get at Kawaguchi-ko.  If there were suppliers there, or even any art suppliers there, we never found them.  Everything came from either Tokyo or somewhere else.  And that all takes time.  Given that knowledge before hand I know we would have purchased paper in Tokyo to take with us to Kawaguchi-ko.

As someone used to the western "fast-food-get-it-now" culture it was hard to wait. Frustrating!  But we finally got paper from different sources and were able to test them.

Below are 4 prints all on different papers - 3 handmade Japanese and one machine made Korean.

  You can see how they each reacted differently to the same process.  The bottom right is "my" usual paper, Kihada.  It took the brown very deeply but not the blue or red.  The one above it is a Korean machine made paper that is absolutely dead.  There is no texture and the colors all are very flat.  The other two are from Kochi. The top one is a natural, almost brown paper and the bottom one is white.  Quite a difference!

These were just 4 of the papers.  We tested many more and most of us brought several of our favorites home to play with some more. 

Artist in Residence - Mt. Fuji

Earlier this summer I found out I had been chosen to be one of 6 international artists in residence at
Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory at Mt. Fuji, Japan for 5 weeks - October 7 - November 10, 2012.  The others were Tomasz Kawalczyk, Poland; Eva Pietzcker, Germany; Mara Cozzolino, Italy; Paul Furneaux, Scotland and Yoonmi Nam, Korea/USA.

We stayed in Tokyo for 5 days and had an exhibition in Tokyo at CfSHE Gallery for 10 days. 
This is the poster of the exhibition.

Setting up the exhibition under the watchful eye of Program Director, Keiko Kadota.

I was fortunate to have friends in Japan that were able to attend the opening reception.  Pictured with me and my prints are Ann Larabee from Lansing, MI, who is teaching in Tokyo; Tomoko Hirao and Takayuki Fukuyama from Shiga; and not pictured, the photographer of this picture, Phil Ono.

After being in Tokyo for 5 days we moved to the residence location at Fujikawaguchi-ko.  More about this in the next post.

Inspired by Japan Presentation

I had the privilege today to present the complete portfolio of prints that Baren Forum members made last year as a fundraiser after the devastating earthquake and tsunami to the Consul General of Japan in Detroit, Kuninori Matsuda.

What Are You Doing??

I've been getting that question a lot lately.  Trust me, I AM working!  I set aside this year and part of next to create a new body of work.  No shows, no competitions - just work.  I am happy with my progress.  For the most part I have been in the studio every day this summer and it has been wonderful.  There is no pressure or deadlines.  There is nothing that has to go in to a gallery right away.
These days we can instantly upload our images for the world to see it is "normal" to do that.  Not posting seems abnormal.  I have had to restrain myself.
Our fast food world expects everything right now.  But, I want there to be some mystery.  Some anticipation.
I am still doing my traditional style of prints but I am experimenting a bit as well.
I hope you will be pleased when it is all done.