My fellow artist Margaret Morley and I recently attended the Nature Printing Society's National Conference in Ft. Collins, Colorado. We spent HOURS rubbing fish!
One day was spent in a class based on the direct method. Inks are applied directly to the fish and paper is placed on the fish.
The second day was spent on the basics of the indirect method. After preparing the fish, fabric is carefully placed on the fish. Tampos are used to apply inks--many tampos and many, many, many taps.
The highlight of the trip, the reason we went to Colorado, was two days of study with Japanese gyotaku master Mineo Ryuka Yamamoto of the International Fish Print Studio, Saitama, Japan . I had planned to go to Japan, but the tsunami disrupted that plan. So I was thrilled to find that Mineo Sensai would be in Colorado.
These were intense days with HOURS AND HOURS of tapping tampos on our fishes, but the resulting artwork was unbelievable!
Interested in a workshop? Email Grace at grace.mckee@live.com.
