all about washi

People often ask me questions about the kind of paper I use for my larger sized woodblock prints. In response I find myself going down a detailed conversational path about the wonders of washi, or Japanese handmade paper. There's an informative piece about washi on the website for an amazing looking shop called the Japanese Paper Place in Toronto. I really hope to be able go there some day and look at their collection of paper. So have a read of the washi article and discover how it's made, who uses it and why it's so strong. Even Japanese money (the notes) are made from washi! If you're ever in Kyoto there are washi shops around the centre of the city that you can visit. There's one on old Teramachi Dori and another near the corner of Shijo and Karasuma Dori. The paper in these places is so beautiful it will make you weep!

bookbinding for etsy

If you're into quite nerdy short videos about crafty things like book binding have a look at this cool etsy mini youtube video. Rebecca from moontreepress (her link is on the etsy blog) designed and put together an etsy kit of goodies and the video shows her doing the bookbinding for a notebook design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQV1L7DJYtw

not my usual style

I'm going to tell you a little here about an interview I just did and no, this is not my usual style but I had so much fun answering the questions that I thought I'd share it with a few more people! The lovely Helen of pepperina press writes for a cool blog called 'indie pretty perfect' . Anyway here is the link with the interview if you feel like reading more about my printmaking and creative ponderings.

fragments

The way light moves at certain times of day really interests me. I was on the banks of the muddy Yarra River in the afternoon when I took this photos a few days ago.The light seems to just bounce off these leaves. It was very quiet and the river seemed quite still. It's amazing when you think about big rivers in large cities and how it's still possible to find this kind of tranquility somewhere along their winding paths.