PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Gyotaku is the traditional method of Japanese fish painting, dating from the mid-1800s. This form of nature painting was used by fishermen to record their catches but has also become a form of its own.
Short History
Gyotaku was originally used as a means for Japanese fishermen to record their catches. Traditionally, the print was made with black ink on rice paper.
Current Usage
Gyotaku has developed into a form of fine art. Artists often choose colored acrylic paints instead of ink. A wider variety of papers are also suitable for printing.
Current usage continued...
Instead of using real fish, you can use rubber replicas with tempera paint now. Gyotaku can also serve as a great way of teaching children and adults about fish anatomy.
A guy painting a real fish
Rubber replicas of Gyotaku
A boy in the Natural History Museum learning about the art of Gyotaku
Finished product of the rubber replica fish and tempera paint
Where they are now:
It has long been her passion to share what she knows and love about nature printing, gyotaku, and the sea. After running Orchid Street Studio in Sarasota, Florida for ten years, in 2012 she moved to the small near-coastal town of Toledo, Oregon
Continued...
In Oregon, she set up a similar nature printing studio, Sea Fern Studio. The studio is in an old elementary school, Mary Harrison, and shares the building with another school, The Olalla Center, and the Floweree Community Center.
What Heather hopes:
The goal of this studio is teaching about nature printing; both gyotaku- fish printing, plant printing, and paper making. She hopes to inspire everyone with her love of Gyotaku.
