"桜 sa*ku*ra" is a print inspired by an old design for cherry blossoms that I made back in the early 2010s as an idea for a linocut print that never quite worked out the way that I envisioned it. I recently came across the original drawing while doing some reorganizing in my studio, and knew that as a fledgling mokuhanga artist, I would be able to make something that more fully aligned with my original vision. I wanted to achieve a softer, watercolor effect rather than my usual linework style prints, so I made a sumi painting to base the print off of, and I'm quite pleased with the painterly quality I was able to achieve in the final print!
"桜 sa*ku*ra" is a five impression print using four hand-carved shina blocks (one block was used twice during printing). The paper I used is handmade Echizen Kozo from Japan, and the inks were mixed by me using Holbein Pigment Paste. Each print is a labor of love, from design conception to carving the blocks to mixing the inks to dampening the paper to printing by hand. Because each print is made by hand, there will be very slight variations between each one, making each print its own unique piece.
