Books:
Japonisme
Comes to America, The Japanese Impact on the Graphic Arts,
1876-1925, Julia Meech, Gabriel Weisberg, Harry Abrams, Inc.,
New York, 1990.
Japanese Print-making, Toshi Yoshida and Rei Yuki,
Charles Tuttle Co., Rutland, VT, 1966.
Technique
of the Colour Woodcut,Walter
Phillips, Brown-Robertson, 1926.
The
Japanese Print, Frank Lloyd Wright, Horizon Press,
New York, 1967.
Japanese
Wood-Block Printing - Hiroshi Yoshida, Tokyo 1939
Colour
Woodcuts - John Platt, London 1948
Web
Sites:
The
Verne Gallery, 2207 Murray Hill Rd., Cleveland, Ohio.
Representing Japanese artists and artists who have studied in
Japan, both old and new.
David
Bull, a Canadian hanga print-maker living and working
in Tokyo....there are literally hours of reading, looking, and
exploring opportunities in this site. Parts I have most enjoyed
include "The Romance of the Woodblock Print", and
descriptions of visits by Mr. Bull to the Brush-maker, the Paper-maker,
the Publisher, etc... (go to the "Newsletter", then
click on "Index" to find).
The
Baren Encyclopedia for Woodblock Printmaking, an on-line
resource for technical information about hanga printmaking,
set up and maintained by Dave Bull. Includes excerpts from some
of the few reference books on the subject written in English
(classics that are not easy to find). Material is organized
by topic, so this is a handy way to get a quick look-see on
particular issues of interest.
Maria Arango showcasing original woodcut prints in limited editions. Features are the award winning Out of the Wood series, fascinating figurative images inspired by the grain of the woodblock, and colorful representational desert scenes and flora.
April
Vollmer, a hanga printmaker in NYC who has studied
with Bill Paden.
Hanga.com, shin-hanga prints, some contemporary
work.
*Walter
Phillips, Printmaker. Web site
authored by Roger Boulet. Lots
of woodblock print images.
Roycroft
Rennaissance Home Page, Arts
& Crafts movement related to work of E. Hubbard and The
Roycroft Press.
About
Ooloo Press:
I took on the name ooloo for my business when it
became evident "Washburn Hill Woodworking" didn't really
describe what I was up to. Ooloo is the name used by previous
owners Kendrick and Eleanor Putnam for where we live. The story
I remember is that for them "ooloo" meant "the
place". Eleanor was from Australia. Doesn't ooloo sound like
an aboriginal word?
"Ulu" is also a term for an Eskimo knife.
As my work is all about cutting and carving wood to be used in
printing it seems an apt name for a printmaking business.
Evidently ooloo also means owl in hindi. Patrick
Perceval (Westport, County Mayo, Ireland) shared the following
with me: "my grandfather R D Perceval was in India 1880-1898
as a railway engineer and liking owls he signed his paintings
and sketches ooloo." That's neat !
(I also like the fact the word is a palindrome,
related to the 'mirror image' aspect of printing.)
About
Matt Brown:
1958: Born in Boston, Mass.
1981: Graduated magna cum
laude., Harvard College.
1981-1995: worked as carpenter,
cabinet-maker, and builder, mostly self-employed as "Washburn
Hill Woodworking".
1990: Married Elizabeth
Page.
1992: Birth of son Nathaniel.
1993: Began making color
prints using Japanese methods.
1995: Became state-juried
member of the League of NH Craftsmen.
1997: Birth of son Asher.
Cover illustrations for a set of six booklets about the Ct.
River.
1998: Illustrations for
Walter Wetherell's book: "North of Now"
1998 - 2007: exhibited prints at various locations
including: Concord Art Association, Concord, MA; Coolidge Center
for the Arts, Portsmouth, NH; Wenniger Gallery, Rockland, MA;
Red Roof Gallery, Enfield, NH
2005: Cover illustration for the CT. River Watershed
Council's book about the Connecticut River titled "Proud
to Live Here"
All of which doesn't in
a way describe too much. When I think of "my resume", years in the building trade seems like a void: nothing to
put down for schooling, publications, awards, shows. Yet
inside my print-making career seems very much a fruit of those years.
Learning to work with wood, to measure, to line things up and
judge by eye; to assess a design problem, develop solutions
with a client, visualize spatially, draw up plans, and follow
the myriad steps to help plans gain physical life: was this
not an apprenticeship of a sort? Learning to interact with tools,
materials, methods, and other craftsmen in a developed and directed
way: was this not training for visual expression? Now my materials
are wooden blocks and paper, lines, shapes and colors, but it
still feels like the same process of visualizing something,
analyzing it into parts and then getting out tools and proceeding to give it real form and color.
And what to add? That I
am a beekeeper, happy to be back in honey after finding
mite-resistant bees? That my print-making avocation, which ten
years ago put an end to my career as a carpenter, with its challenges and successes, threatens
to end my career as a hobby farmer? That the fences need mending,
the sheep are no doubt hoping for new pastures, and that already my
older son Nathaniel has become the principal farmer growing the carrots and potatoes, putting in the tractor hours making
hay, plowing the garden in the Spring and the driveway in the Winter; that my younger son is already handy with the sailboat, taking over the helm while Dad makes sketches out on the lake (our newest big adventure is a Cape Dory Typhoon we keep moored up on Lake Champlain).
Here is a picture of everyone from 1998:
 Feb'98 |
Needless to say things are a bit different now. Nathaniel
has just begun high school, and Asher is a fifth grader already!
Isn't your life as well an adventure of transformation and change?
And, from a recent skiing trip up in the White Mountains . . .
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