And with this - a slightly 'edited' design from Shibata Zeshin that I sent out in 2012 to our friends and collectors - we need to end this collection of New Year prints from 'woodblock.com'.

I have continued to be involved with creating/carving/printing such a design every year since then, but they have not been my 'personal' work. It was during 2011 that I made the decision to widen my sphere of activity, and hired the first trainees to learn about traditional woodblock printmaking. And although I carved the block set for this one, much of the printing was done by the first couple of ladies I hired that year.

The Mokuhankan workshop had come alive. It was very fragile for that first year, and very nearly closed down ignominiously, but in the spring of 2012, we would receive an email from a designer in the US, young Jed Henry.

We'll get to that story in another part of this website ...