Month: September 2019

Childrens Gyotaku Workshop @Patagonia!!

Immediately after my return from the NOAA ship, was our highly anticipated kids gyotaku workshop at Patagonia HQ in Ventura!!

67 children lined up and waited patiently for their turn to create their own gyotaku print!

Kids make everything better!

(photos: John Troxell & various participants)

Nature Printing Society Workshops 2019!!

Teaching classical gyotaku printing from morning to late afternoon, break for dinner and then printing again till the wee hours of the night. Five intensive days of this years NPS @natureprintingsociety workshop comes to an end. And so does my very eventful two week journey on the Oregon Coast. I’m glowing but am completely exhausted and will only be able to rest at home for a couple days before heading to the Patagonia stores in Chicago and Toronto next week to share our art again to an entirely new audience. All these opportunities are exciting and fun, but it’s all the smiles and laughter that makes it all worth it.

Significant Hospitality Job Locked In!!

For the past eight months, dialogue and negotiations have gone back and forth regarding a very significant hospitality job that was presented to us. I can’t say who the client is or the luxury hotel that it’s for, but I can say how proud and thrilled I am to be amongst an incredible collection of top tier, world renowned artists to beautify the space. My wife and I will be responsible for a 20 foot wall showcasing 27 original gyotaku prints. We start middle of next week.

Patagonia Gyotaku Tour Continues with Chicago!!

Evening demonstration at Patagonia Chicago @patagoniachicago !!
Got a bit emotional as I spoke about Japanese philosophies and aesthetics as it reminded me of my late father. But the evening was wonderful with a respectful audience that I’ve come to expect from the Patagonia tribe. Thank you.

Patagonia Toronto & SoFly Crew Addressing Local Poaching Issue with Gyotaku!!

Patagonia Toronto, in collaboration with @thesoflycrew presented me with the idea of printing one of their local chinook salmon due to an ongoing issue of anglers snagging these fish as they swim up the rivers to reach their spawning beds, cutting their bellies open, and then removing the roe to sell as bait. The carcass is then discarded along the river, in dumpsters and latrines. The argument is made that these fish are going to spawn and die anyway. Which sounds more like a poorly thought out excuse to abuse a system and a species. And so when asked if I would consider printing one of these victimized salmon in hopes of shining a spotlight onto the problem, I immediately agreed. I’ve always wanted to print a king salmon, and I’m pleased that this was my first.

I was pretty nervous and anxious about printing this fish due to all of its open wounds, exposed guts and excessive blood. But to convey what was taken from its lifeless body, I was convinced that we had to do it from a bottom perspective. Our process in approaching different angles is a bit more complicated and requires a lot more time. And to do that in front of an audience was intimidating but once we started, the room faded away and the fish was all we saw.

Reproduction prints of this or the other demo print will be available for purchase to fund the efforts of educating and fighting against the unethical killing of salmon for the illegal resale of its roe. Details to come.

Thank you @patagoniatoronto and @thesoflycrew for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this.