For many artists, an art career takes many twists and turns—an adventure shaped by different mediums, jobs, and ways of sustaining creative work while at the same time, educating oneself with the histories of your chosen path.
Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.
Artists works follow after the note if available. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted. Dimensions are given if known. Print publishers are given if known.
Charles Spitzack - website, Instagram
Seattle Print Arts - is a printmaking association based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It maintains a membership and is dedicated to the exchange of knowledge related to various printmaking practices. More info can be found, here.
High Point Center for Printmaking -is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is dedicated to increasing the understanding of printmaking and operates a co-op, gallery, and educational programs. More info can be found, here.
Cornish College of the Arts - is an independent art college located in Seattle, Washington, United States. Its programs emphasize experimentation and critical thinking. More info can be found, here.
Mokuhanga (木版画) - is a Japanese word meaning "wood" and "print." Traditionally, it refers to a relief printing method using woodblocks, water, natural handmade papers, and water-based pigments. With the rise of the sōsaku hanga (creative print) movement in the early to mid 20th century, mokuhanga expanded to include works made with Western oil pigments as well.
Today, mokuhanga can be difficult to define, as many artists experiment with new approaches while others remain dedicated to traditional water-based methods. This balance between innovation and tradition shows that mokuhanga is limitless, continually evolving while still grounded in its past.
sōsaku-hanga - or creative prints, is a style of printmaking which is predominantly, although not exclusively, prints made by one person. It started in the early twentieth century in Japan, in the same period as the shin-hanga movement. The artist designs, carves, and prints their own works. The designs, especially in the early days, may seem rudimentary but the creation of self-made prints was a breakthrough for printmakers moving away from where only a select group of carvers, printers and publishers created woodblock prints.
Stephen Hazel (1934-20120 - was a painter and printmaker based in the Pacific Northwest. He created works on paper, and educated upon the subject. More info can be found, here.
Beautiful Display 10: Beauties of Chinatown (1977) 24" x 17 11/16"
Katheleen Rabel - is an American printmaker, painter and sculptor. More info can be found, here.
Penedo Alto (sōsaku hanga) 50″ x 39″
Hideo Hagiwara (1913-2007) - was a mokuhanga printmaker who came of age during the sōsaku hanga period of the mid 20th Century in Japan. He studied printmaking with Un'ichi Hiratsuka (1896-1997). Hagiwara made prints that were expressive of the self and abstract. He taught at Oregon State University in 1967.
Lady No. 6 (1975) 24.75" x 18.25"
kentō - is the registration system used by printmakers in order to line up the colour woodblocks with your key block, or outline block, carved first.
floating kentō - is like the traditional kentō registration technique but is carved on an "L" shaped piece of wood, and not onto the wood block.
monotype print - is a unique print created from an image painted or drawn on a smooth surface, such as glass or metal, and then transferred to paper. Unlike most printmaking methods, where multiple copies of the same image can be produced, a monotype typically has a single, one-of-a-kind image. It's called a "mono" type because it is not part of an edition like traditional prints (e.g., lithographs, etchings), where you can make multiple copies.
Mike Lyon - is an American artist. His medium has varied throughout his career such as "square tiles," or "pixels," through to making mokuhanga, monoprinting, and machine-assisted etching, drawing and mezzotint. Mike Lyon also has a large woodblock print collection which he has curated for the public, here. More information about his work can be found, here. Mike's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.
Grass 4 (2010) 77" x 22"
Naoko Matsubara - is a Japanese/Canadian contemporary artist, and sculptor, who lives and works in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. She has focused much of her artistic life on making mokuhanga and has gained critical acclaim for it. Naoko Matsubara's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.
Conducting (2004) 22.05" × 15.59"
Katsutoshi Yuasa - is a Japanese contemporary artist, and sculptor, who works predominantly in mokuhanga. He has produced an incredible mount of work. Katsu's interview with the Unfinished Print can be found, here.
On The Dawn of Night and Fog (2025) 39.37" in × 78.74"
Antonio Frasconi (1919-2013) - was a Urugyuan printmaker who lived and worked in the United States. He cerated coloured woodcuts and was an educator and author. Frasconi's themes could be political in nature. More info can be found, here.
Cows (1955) 7 1/2" x 12 15/16"
