Lynita Shimizu Discovering Moku Hanga Printmaking

People often ask where I find the artists and creative people that I feature on my blog and the honest answer is that I just seem to stumble upon them.

Often when I’m searching for someone (or something totally unrelated to my initial search), I will spot an illustration, photograph, piece of ceramic and that sets me off on an adventure to find out more. I can’t stress enough how important good labelling is for all of your images. It’s the one thing that enables others to help find you and your work.

The most frustrating thing, is to find an amazing artist and then discover that there is no link to their site, or that the illustration is labelled simply ‘Joe Smith’ and that when googled , there are about 120 google searches that display results for ‘Joe Smith artist’ !

At which point I often decide to follow another avenue and the search is forgotten. It was whilst looking for the work of a wood cut illustrator/ printmaker that, by chance, I came across today’s featured artist.

Lynita Shimizu has been creating woodcuts using the Japanese techniques of Moku Hanga since the mid-seventies.

Originally from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, Lynita graduated with a Fine Arts major from Westminster College in 1974.

Following a year at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she moved to Japan to concentrate on woodblock printmaking.

During her four-year stay, she studied in Kyoto with an elderly master of traditional woodblock printmaking, Tomikichiro Tokuriki, and in Tokyo with contemporary printmaker, Yoshisuke Funasaka.

These landscapes are amazing and somehow possess both a 1960’s and completely modern feel to them.

From Japan, Lynita and her husband moved to River Edge, NJ, where they raised three sons.

Today Lynita lives in Pomfret, Connecticut, where in addition to printmaking, she enjoys her favorite activities of gardening, hiking and playing piano. I think her textured, whimsical birds are also fabulous. These Guinea Fowl made me smile immediately.

Lynita describes the process behind creating the right paper to work with. Amazing work don’t you think ?