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Pigeon House Mountain
copyright Tom Kristensen, 2005

Tom Kristensen, born 1962, is a young artist from Australia who works in the tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking. On this page, he writes about his latest print from the series "36 Views of Green Island ".

Here is the original text written by Tom Kristensen. Text and images are copyright protected and may not be used or distributed for other than private use without the prior consignment of the author/artist.

36 Views of Green Island

"These 36 views are presented in the Sosaku Hanga tradition: self-carved and hand printed, using Japanese tools, Japanese mulberry washi and traditional pigment colours. Each print is made from 4 to 6 blocks and printed in an edition of 25 copies."

Pigeon House Mountain - No. 9

"This view is from the tip of the island looking back over the granite boulders to the ridgelines of the mainland. On the far horizon is Pigeon House Mountain, named by Captain Cook. Perhaps its aboriginal name, Didhol, being the word for the female breast, is more straightforward.

In this print I have used a few different printing techniques. Most blocks were printed using gentle pressure of the baren to create a soft gomazuri. In the sky I have made a two-tone futa-iro bokashi. In the foreground I have used a stencil to create areas of shadow. A stiff brush is rubbed over wire mesh to spray a fine mist of ink. This method is known as kirifuki. I have also used a metallic powder to create silver highlights.

Rather than printing these areas with a woodblock, I have used another stencil and dabbed on the powder mixed with gum-arabic glue. This method is known as kappazuri. It is normal to sand the woodblock to a mirror-smooth sheen so as to make impressions that leave no trace of woodgrain. Where the grain is allowed to remain and printed as normal the result is a gentle grain pattern known as kimetsubushi. I have used this effect in the blue block of the middle distance. In the adjoining yellow block, where the grain has been scoured away, the effect is to create more abstract patterns known as mokumezuri."

Tom Kristensen
April 2005

More about Tom Kristensen

The artist was first discovered by Eric van den Ing, co-author of a classic ukiyo-e book "Beauty and Violence" and owner of Saru Gallery. After Eric van den Ing had placed Tom's woodblock prints on his online gallery, a few days later a collector had bought the whole set. Mr. van den Ing seems to have a "magic hand" for new artists. He was the first to introduce Paul Binnie in 2000 to a larger online community of friends of Japanese prints.

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