Welcome to the Small Print Collection from the Seseragi Studio! Over the course of the past year (2005) I issued my Hanga Treasure Chest, and that collection of 24 small prints was very well received by my collectors. To do such an intensive project again - and so soon - is just not possible this year, so I am creating this smaller collection of 10 prints instead.

There was no specific 'theme' to that previous collection, but there is for this one. The ten images are those that I created for the greeting cards that I sent out to collectors and friends at the turn of each year from 1990 to 1999.

As I have written elsewhere, I myself don't subscribe to the common habit of using astrological symbols for my designs, so there is nothing to tie each image to any particular year. And although there may be prints in this set which reflect a 'wintry' season, most of them are neutral in concept; when you receive them as this coming year passes, if a snow scene happens to arrive at your door in August, please just enjoy the unexpected 'cool' feeling!

At the time that this particular image was created, I was just coming to the end of the first year of work on my 10-year project to reproduce the Hyakunin Isshu designs of Katsukawa Shunsho. So I chose a theme related to that poetry - the game of karuta.

I sketched a few of the cards as though they had been slapped into the air during a vigorous round of the game. I particularly enjoyed cutting the tatami mat design, and if you take the print near a window, you will see the realistic embossing that resulted.

Thank you for choosing to collect this set of little prints this year, and I hope you enjoy the collection! See you next month!

David
Monday, March 6, 2006

(Here's the print in context in the Small Print Collection.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

TOKYO (UP News) - Attention returned again today to the unanswered questions surrounding the affairs of Woodblock.com, Tokyo-based supplier of woodblock prints, as unidentified sources within the company leaked information on the company's reaction to the SEC investigation begun earlier in the week.

"The SEC has misunderstood these market actions" the source said, referring to last week's sudden increase in the number of investors seeking to acquire shares in the company. "Woodblock.com is not a typical company, but one that has a very special relationship with its clients. When these people heard the warning given earlier about the possibility of job loss - even though only a remote possibility - they rallied to the cause. This is the source of the market activity, and not any particular inside knowledge of our upcoming re-organization." he stressed.

The SEC remained unconviced by the company's denials, pointing out that offers to invest had come from "very closely related" groups. "Are we to believe that individuals in these related companies have no inside information on Woodblock.com's plans for expansion?" he questioned. "Our investigators have been in touch with people at the parent company, but they deny any knowledge whatsoever of the expansion plan. This seems hardly credible." he added.

The unidentified source at Woodblock.com also made statements clarifying the timing of the upcoming re-organization. "Based on a mis-reading of previous communications, some market players have come to expect an announcement on February 26th. Our new systems will not be in place by that date. We have called for a lot of overtime from everybody in the company - top to bottom - as we prepare our product launch, but management is committed to having all the bugs worked out before we 'go live'" the source confided. "And besides," he added with a smile, "February 26th is a Sunday, and our team is busy with other projects on Sunday ... once a week on _every_ Sunday!"

Posted by Dave Bull at 09:00 AM | Comments (2)

NEW YORK (UP News) - Wall Street was abuzz with rumour again this afternoon, as markets around the world reacted to the news that the SEC has begun investigations into possible cases of insider trading, stemming from a series of 'buy' orders placed against shares of Woodblock.com, global leader in woodblock printmaking. The agent in charge of the preliminary probe met with reporters this morning, and briefed them on what is known to date. "We have identified a few anomalies in recent trading. The market at the moment is not happy with this company, and the shares are following a downward trend. Now we know contrarian behaviour when we see it, but we also know insider trading when we see it, and what we are seeing here follows that pattern. A few individuals are seeking to make heavy purchases of the company shares, and we can only assume that they are doing so on the basis of inside knowledge not available to other investors."

Company officials responded to news of the investigation with a terse statement reiterating their previous comment that the major announcement expected later in the month would be of great interest to potential customers. The statement did however, contain new information to the effect that the organization "has been greatly encouraged by the support shown by interested parties", although no specifics were given.

The SEC spokesman later provided additional details on the ongoing investigation, hinting that 'related' companies were possibly involved. He added, "Top company officials of Woodblock.com have made statements that resulted in an immediate drop in share prices. If these depressed shares are being scooped up at a bargain price by persons with inside knowledge of the pending re-organization plan, this is cause for grave concern to regulators."

Posted by Dave Bull at 08:42 AM | Comments (1)

TOKYO (UP News) - Speaking this morning in a hastily-arranged conference call with analysts from top brokerage houses, Woodblock.com Chief Financial Officer David Bull said that the markets had over-reacted to the company's announcement yesterday of their upcoming re-organization.

In what amounted to an exercise in damage control, he regretted that the market had focussed on a single aspect of the announcement - the warning that up to one job may possibly be lost this year - while for the most part ignoring the positive aspects - the fact that the company will be moving forward and expanding markets.

"When Chief Executive Officer David Bull spoke yesterday, he had expected that his announcement would simply signal to the market that Woodblock.com was moving into new markets, and was ready to take on new challenges. 2006 is going to be a challenging year for all of us here, but we have no doubt at all that we are ready for those challenges", he emphasized.

Marketing Manager David Bull stepped forward to speak about the upcoming re-organization. "We have been aware for many years that there is a very large segment of the print market that we have been unable to reach. It has always required a considerable investment on the part of the customer to become a collector of Woodblock.com prints, and unfortunately, this has had the effect of shutting many people off from discovering the beauty of these objects", he said.

When the analysts asked if this meant that the long-standing Woodblock.com policy of never selling single prints from their sets was about to change, CEO David Bull supplied the answer. "We have absolutely no plans to change our policies on subscriptions at all. Prints from our established sets will not be sold individually, period." He then chided analysts for overlooking a little-noticed detail of last December's announcement of products for the upcoming year's work. "Study that announcement carefully - we have projected 10 days a month for work on the scroll project and about one week a month for printing on the Small Print Collection. Do the math; you will see that our labour force is being very under-utilized on those projects. But rather than resort to layoffs, we have decided to expand our business in a new direction, in order to keep our plant working at full capacity."

Company executives then closed the call, asking that markets "show some patience while we get this thing up and running". Analysts were not convinced however, and will require more information from the organization before they can again place Woodblock.com on their 'buy' lists.

Posted by Dave Bull at 01:18 AM | Comments (1)

TOKYO (UP News) - Woodblock.com sent a mixed message to the markets today, with its announcement of a business re-organization plan that will be unveiled later this month, while simultaneously warning of the possibility that up to one job may be lost this year.

The warning of possible job loss came even as the organization reported a preliminary net profit for 2005 of 1.28 million yen (US$10,864), up from the critical figure of .30 million yen the year before. As this figure easily surpassed forecasts, the news of the pending re-organization came as a shock to analysts.

Woodblock.com Chief Executive Officer David Bull said that the new program's primary aim was not to cut jobs, but rather to bring productivity up to international standards, and to increase market share.

Speaking at his Tokyo, Ome headquarters, the 'Seseragi Studio', he did not offer many details, but noted that the organization has an agreement with its labour force that prevents outright layoffs. "We have a collective agreement, and it is not our intention to quit that agreement", he said.

Printer David Bull, head negotiator for the organization's labour force, said that the workers were for the moment, taking a 'wait and see' attitude towards the upcoming re-organization. "The management should understand that we have complete solidarity; every worker here is of the same opinion, that no job should be lost. We are willing to accept some re-writing of job descriptions, but will not accept any new policy that would result in any decrease in the quality of work we are doing."

Financial markets had closed by the time of the announcement, but it is not expected that trading will be severely impacted when they open in the morning.

One analyst from a major brokerage, speaking on condition he not be identified, speculated on the reasons for the re-organization announcement. "We've been watching Woodblock.com carefully for a couple of years now. Since they invested their entire cash reserve on the purchase of the new workshop building five years ago, they have been in a somewhat precarious position. Back in December, at the time of the announcement of the product line for 2006, a number of analysts speculated that the new products - although very attractive to a number of potential buyers - did not have a wide appeal, and that the order book would suffer. The announcement today of a re-organization would seem to confirm that speculation."

"As to just what the organization has in mind, we'll have to wait until they announce the details." He added, "They really don't have much 'wiggle room'; their labour force is working at full capacity, their major P/R event for the year - the annual exhibition - is over, and they are committed to completing the prints they announced for 2006. On top of this, their cash reserve is completely depleted. Frankly speaking, we can't imagine just how they are going to dig themselves out of this hole."

But another analyst wasn't ready to count the company out. "We've seen them come back before; look how quickly their sales rebounded when they produced that wonderful 'Hanga Treasure Chest'. They have one very undervalued asset - their highly-skilled and well-motivated labour force. As long as they don't lose sight of their core mission - to produce world-class woodblock prints, they should pull through."

The company wasn't certain of the precise timing of the upcoming re-organization announcement. "All in good time" CEO David Bull said, "We've got to have everything in place ready to go before we pull back the curtains. But we can promise one thing - fans of good woodblock prints won't be disappointed!"

Posted by Dave Bull at 01:38 PM | Comments (3)