Last week at University, we had a demo from the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints. They print with the traditional edo ukiyo-e techniques, materials and even make a point of always working on tatami.

Here you can see the process of traditional japanese woodblock printing.

The colours are mixed from pigments and water, and for the finishing touch they coated the non-printed area in lacquer.

On October 5th I started my term as a research student at Tokyo University of the Arts. It feels great to be back in the studio after a 6 month hiatus, but it's taking a bit of time to get used to the role of full-time student again. I am currently experimenting with ball ground plates, and just started test printing last week.

The studio at the university is not spacious, however, everyone is very good at sharing the space there is.

Here are a few images of to get an idea. I have a personal desk, there is one offset press, 9 direct presses and some stones that generally remain untouched due to lack of space.

This year, I have been participating in a few print biennales.

I won one of the purchase prizes for the Ottawa School of Art's Third Bi-annual International Miniature Print Exhibition for the linocut Spaghetti. It was held back in April/May and you can see all the works here

Next up is the 9th Lessedra World print Annual (so not really a biennale) in Bulgaria from June 9th until August 28th. If you check out this page from the website you can read the artists' bio/cv and see some of the works. You can also see that i wasn't expecting the photograph used in the application to be displayed on the internet :)

Lastly is Bimpe 6, The Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition, Vancouver. The show will be starting in September with further information posted on the website

This past Thursday I met my future printmaking professor and got a tour of the University.

Tokyo University of the Arts is located in Ueno Park, a great location considering the park is home to 5 art museums, a science and nature museum and a zoo. I couldn't ask for anything better.

The printmaking facilities a

re relatively spacious. There are lots of litho stones available, but it sounds like most students work with ball-grain plates (there is not much space for drawing on the stones in the studio). I will definitely take the opportunity to learn about working with ball-grain plates.

There is also a copper intaglio studio, a woodcut studio and a silkscreen studio.

I expressed my interest in trying out traditonal Japanese water-based woodcut, and it sounds like there will be a 2 week course offered when I arrive in October.

I am feeling much more excited after visiting the school as much of my time recently has been sucked up by japanese textbooks and not with art which is what initially I came for.

from the previous visit to ueno, Tokyo National Museum

Japan

It has been almost 3 weeks since I have landed in Japan.

I arrived in Tokyo just in time for seeing the cherry blossoms 桜 in full bloom.

I am currently studying Japanese at Saitama University, to prepare for Tokyo University of the Arts where all the courses will be taught in Japanese.

To get acquainted with the Japanese art scene, I will be going to a new gallery/museum every Thursday (more often if I don't have too much homework)

Last week was the Saitama Museum of Modern Art and today I went to The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 東京国立近代美術館.

Going to Japan

Hooray!

I will be receiving a MEXT Research Student Scholarship!

The award is from the 文部科学省 (Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology) to study for 2 years at a Japanese University.

I will be leaving for Tokyo on April 1, spending the first 6 months at Saitama University studying Japanese.

After finishing the program at Saitama, I will start studying printmaking at Tokyo University of the Arts.