Jim & Judy Vacation - IV

OK--time to move on from this topic; but thought I would end with a few more ways that 'nature' can be 'printed'. Some are quite easy--and fun to incorporate into various uses. (The first pictures are of a journal I made; we printed the pictures using different approaches & then compiled the journals. Pretty fun--& now I know some better uses for my brayer!)

One of the great benefits from the time with this group was getting a chance to experiment with a variety of inks, paints, papers, techniques, supplies--MUCH greater than you would every do alone. Gives you much better direction for what you might purchase, what you prefer to use, etc.
The other benefit is now having a network of resource people that you can ask questions, compare notes, look for classes, etc. Next year will be on the east coast but we might return in two years to the workshop slated to be on the Oregon coast. (These guys travel! They've had meetings in France, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada, etc. We thought we were lucky finding them on the west coast this year--turns out on the continent was lucky!).

The last four pictures are more of the 'show & tell' session including block prints, irridescent ink prints, & silver casted jewelry.

Jim & Judy Vacation III - Gyotaku

If anyone had said I would be stuffing absorbent material into the many varied orifices of a fish within the first two hours of my first class, I might have had a bit more hesitation about signing up! But the 'nurse-y' side of me decided it was not that much different from many lab/work situations so I waded on in!
One of the Santa Barbara folks is a marine biology professor at one of the universities & has a special diving permit that allows (careful) collection of some exotic species. There were coolers of fish & seaweed that provided many oohs & aahs to the experienced folks as they had the opportunity to work with rare & difficult specimens. For my part, a less challenging rock fish was plenty daunting enough (as noted by the fact that someone needed to TELL me it was a common rock fish!--and a good choice for a beginner!).
Preparing your fish for printing really is a serious process (several hours)--but once it's done, the fish can be printed over & over--so we could then trade specimens around & learn more. Some tell tales of freezing & thawing really special specimans over & over--these folks are pretty much NOT the homemaker types, with a freezer full of preserves & spcial pastries!
Here's my story: first you wash your fish--use dish detergent, taking care not to compromise scales, etc. Dry carefully, and then really dry with a careful alcohol bath--suddenly the topography of the fish comes into clear relief. There is some difference of opinion about how the mounting should portray the fish (i.e. fins out for identification, or fins against the body that usually reside there for swimming...definitely something better discussed over happy hour than in class!) but all agree that mounting is key; we used foil-covered insulation sheets--forming a 'cradle' for the body & then platforms to arrange & pin fins, tails. Noses (yes--they have two each), gills & 'poop holes' all need to be stuffed, sometimes repeatedly, as no organic 'material' (yes, that would be snot & poop!) can reside on the print for archival purposes. If you have breakout--there are emergency measures with peroxide to be taken! So the 'stuffed', pinned fish is ready for the final drying phase: blow dryers for as long as it takes. NOW you can start. There are also differences in opinion as to type of inks & use of only black vs. colors; we used permanent oil-based inks, thinned with poppy seed oil, with a variety of colors--and used the 'direct' method. Direct method: ink the specimen and turn the paper front side down on the fish. Indirect method: paper (or cloth) front side up on the specimen and ink or paint is applied, picking up the relief of the object beneath. (Jim did some seahorses & an octupus by the indirect method--see the pictures further down.) The more you ink the fish, the richer the prints become.

Eyes do not really come through in either method--and there are clear opinions re: adding in the eyes after the fact--as the 'soul of the fish' is missing until the eye is added (in the end I was surprised there wasn't a class only on that--as there are many approaches, it turns out!). So here are two prints after eyes have been added. Not bad for first try, first day--but clearly a beginner. Experienced printers then go the next step--adding additional fish, seaweed, background papers that emulate water, etc. (Examples at the end.) Final step is adding the chop (red stamp); most experienced printers have developed their own as a signature; my print has a generic chop that means gyotaku. Mineo, the Japanese expert that comes regularly, is known worldwide for his skills as a nature printer--so he gets called to print anything rare & exotic that appears. This summer he did an 88 ft print of a giant squid; he's also done orcas, whale flukes, horses, etc.
Probably more than you EVER cared to know about the how-to's but this is NOT your elementary school fish print t-shirt; I truly have a great appreciation now for some of the wonderful prints I've seen without recognizing the skill involved.

Jim & Judy Vacation - Part II

So what does one DO at the NPS workshop? There were four day-long classes offered each day--so between the two of us, eight classes definitely immersed us in the topic. This group was started in the seventies by a small group of 'science guys': Pennsylvania botanist & California marine biologists. They had also met & explored nature printing craft with two Japanese artisans (one of which still faithfully comes to the annual event--he was such a sweet inspiration!); Japan had almost lost the old art of Gyotaku (fish printing) that was prompted by the desire to document the 'big fish' before being eaten! Gyotaku deserves a post of it's own (coming up) but is not the only type of nature printing.

NPS is still an interesting mix of science & art: the desire to accurately portray a scientific 'specimen' whether plant, shell, fish, octopus, etc.--and conversely appreciate the art form potential in using natural objects via many mediums. A true blending of left brain/right brain--something I've appreciated in my life balance (or lack of) & here's a whole group doing the same! Of note, it's fairly evenly balanced men/women, and the group has many 'couples', either as active participants or faithful support people that come to each workshop. Besides the classes, we had a great outdoor banquet at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History--and later a personal tour of same, both of the public areas, and also the 'collections' side--with an impressive collection of preserved fish specimens (and their parasites) both large & microscopic; also one of the four largest shell collections in the US. We had a special education session on Japanese papers--how they're made & how you know what you're finding, buying (also a nearly lost art). One of the papers I most enjoyed using during the classes actually came from Nepal--brought by one of the instructors. The last night was 'show & tell' night for the 16 classes that had been completed: it was SO interesting to see the variety as well as the beauty & creativity of all in attendance. We were most definitely 'newbies'; but the folks who have years of experience were very helpful & patient with us.

The Jim & Judy Vacation - Part I

Our eight day adventure in California came & went--as most vacations do, much too soon. We had a GREAT time, the weather was wonderful, and we had a great experience at the 2008 NPS workshop.
I thought I'd do a few brief posts & give you a quick glimpse. Suffice it to say, it was a much appreciated (if not overdue!) vacation for the two of us! Here is the first of a few installments about the week spent with the Nature Printing Society--a diverse, interesting, welcoming group. You can skip this & future parts, if 'what I did on my summer vacation' is not that interesting!)

This one is about the environment--both the center where we stayed--as well as the (well moneyed) Santa Barbara area. South of Santa Barbara, in the foothills above Montecito, is the 25 acre site of Casa de Maria. It's got a long history (in west coast terms)--first as a private home/farm for two colorful entrepreneurs, and then a site for the Catholic sisters in the 1940's.

It became a couple retreat site for the (Hollywood) stars in the late 50's/early 60's. The sisters left in the 70's, and the church/ supporters continued the retreat environment theme for both individuals & groups. The orchards are over 100 years old and going strong, along with the gardens, both offering wonderful items for the table each day. On arrival you're greeted by the wise, very old Eucalyptus tree with an old Monkey Puzzle tree nearby. Puget Sounders are always a bit a-gog over hot weather vegetation--although less green, everything seems so exotic: so many palm types, wonderful flowers with brilliant colors--& great smells; even the farmers market seemed exciting!
We spent a week at Casa de Maria with a final night at Carpinteria (little further south) before winging back home. We were truly incognito for the week: no phone, TV, internet, paper, etc. Turned out to be a good week to miss!

Got back to civilization just in time for the Presidential debate (there was a re-entry reality check!).

(In addition to pictures here, I got some great 'road' pix that I'll be adding to my margin picture that changes periodically.)