I was delighted when I was awarded a Professional Development bursary to help me attend The Lake Kawaguchi Artist-in-Residence. I had been wanting to explore Japanese water-based woodblock (mokuhanga) for some time, for many reasons – my attraction to the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi, my interest in Japan and its close ties with nature and traditional and enduring use of natural materials, the low-tech qualities of this art form, to name a few. As a stained glass artist (but also a qualified medical herbalist with a passion for nature), as much as I loved stained glass, I had been feeling increasingly uncomfortable using so many toxic substances and using so much industrial ‘kit’. I became drawn to mokuhanga, liking the practice of immersing oneself in something to really learn it, combined with the inability to get a rigorous training in the uk, I applied and was awarded a place on the basic training course in autumn 2016. So, I committed to a 5-week residency in rural Japan! I blogged about my time there.
