wooden case for the woodblock print series

Note: this page was prepared in 2012, at the time the series was getting underway. The first eight prints were issued basically as planned - but at increasingly longer intervals, as I became rather 'side-tracked' with the initiation of my Mokuhankan print publishing venture (becoming a publisher, hiring young people to train as carvers and printers, and then opening a shop in Asakusa in Tokyo). Eight prints were sent to subscribers ... and I'm not able to accurately see when the next one might be ready ...

Dave at work in the Seseragi Studio

'The Arts of Japan' is the third in the 'Hanga Treasure Chest' print series from woodblock printmaker David Bull, following on from the production of the original Treasure Chest in 2005 and the 'Mystique of the Japanese Print' in 2010~2012.

"During the course of the previous 'Mystique' series, we turned the Japanese traditional print to use in an investigation of its own history. This time, we are going to look around at the wider field of Japanese arts in general. And what a wonderfully wide field it is; there are few cultures on this planet that can boast of such a long and rich creative heritage! The people of these islands have been drawing ... carving ... painting ... cutting ... casting ... weaving ... and using any number of other techniques for creating beautiful objects for well over a thousand years, and the legacy of these centuries of activity is now so vast that it is difficult to know where to start! But start I will, and in each of the prints in this series I will provide an introduction to one particular theme - bringing you a woodblock print that illustrates it in some interesting way. Major fields such as pottery, sculpture, bonsai, architecture, flower arranging, and painting will of course be represented, but I intend to poke around in quiet corners too, to bring you some restrained surprises."

Dave working on one of his prints

Presentation

Continuing from the previous Mystique series, these prints too will be in the traditional ko-ban size (13.5 x 20 cm - about 5 x 7 1/2 inches). Just as with all my print series, I am neither announcing nor displaying images of the prints that will be appearing in the set (most of them are indeed, yet to be decided). It's all part of the game - enjoying the surprise when you open the package and see for the first time the print that will be sharing your desk space for the next month. If that sounds just a bit too 'uncertain' for you, then please browse through some of my Surimono Albums, or indeed, the previous Mystique series; those should give you a pretty good idea of the sort of thing you can expect to see.

Storage / Display

A beautiful wooden storage case - with display panel - is shipped together with the first print. After years of frustrating experiences with outside workshops, I am building the case for this series right here in my own workshop. This photo shows the first of the cases as it came off our 'production line' ...

The prints themselves are mounted on acid-free mat board, and each one is wrapped in a folder which carries a descriptive story. These of course fit into the tray of the storage case.

The display stand has an acrylic cover to protect the prints, and these components also tuck away for storage when the display is not in use. As each new print arrives through the course of the project, you put it up on the stand, and slide the previous one into storage inside the case.

'The Arts of Japan': an overview of the prints created to date ...