Molly Hashimoto

More North Cascades Printmaking Flora

Print by Mara Adelman

Today I'm sharing more of the wonderful prints created by students in the workshop I taught last weekend at the North Cascades Institute.

Print by Lindsey Frallic

These focus once again on plant and vegetable life!

 

 

 

Prints by Brooke Larrabee

 

 

 

Prints by Allison Dennis

Printmaking in the North Cascades with Friends

This weekend I taught a class for the North Cascades Institute on printmaking without a press. We used easy-to-carve materials, lovely papers, inks in black and white and all colors, and also employed watercolor to tint the prints. It was an extremely congenial group of artists, causing me to reflect once more on what a democratic and collective enterprise printmaking is. There is something about it that fosters friendship. I can just compare it to painting plein air watercolors: there  we often seek out our own quiet path, in order to work undisturbed, and have no one block our view. If we paint the same view, comparisons are inevitable. In printmaking, we need access to brayers, inks and paper, and all of it is shared. Everyone in this workshop had very unique and distinct ideas--all of them brilliant--there was no chance of anyone feeling somehow less skilled or talented--it was all about the ideas! Here's our classroom with several artists at work.

Up in the mountains the inspiration really abounds--I love looking out the window and seeing the conifers, mists, and Pyramid and Colonial Peak.
If I ever feel tired, just walking out the door to see what's blooming nearby refreshes me.
Pictured left is a beautiful native shrub: a red-branched ceonothus.

Below are more prints, and I'll be writing more about our weekend and our art in coming days.

Western Junco: Relief Print

Western Junco & Hydrangea

I recently completed this relief print, and thought it would be fun to share what inspired it.  I spend alot of time observing birds, both in natural areas and in my garden and try to have my camera ready when I see something interesting. Western juncos nest in my yard and are present year-round, so they aren't at all rare, but one time early last summer I saw one hopping around in a big hydrangea bush.  There was something very striking about the contrast of its brown plumage and the rich green leaves and the blues and violets of the flowering shrub. The junco had fluffed himself out that particular cold wet morning, so didn't look typical of the species, thus I opened my bird guidebooks to find the general characteristics.  I am really fond of Roger Tory Peterson's illustrations. I think they are especially beautiful, so I use him most of the time. I don't slavishly copy--that wouldn't be right, but I do like to make sure I am drawing certain things correctly, like feather arrangement, and coloration, bill type, and general proportions.

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Printmaking in the North Cascades

Seward Park Audubon Exhibit of Prints

Two weeks remain for the exhibit at Seward Park Audubon Center. I am showing several of the relief prints, 4 of which also appear in Pomegranate Communication's boxed set of notecards--included is this print of a cedar waxwing that I saw at the Magnuson Park Wetlands. I'm also showing several watercolors of wild places I have traveled to, a solar plate intaglio print of an American Dipper, and an egg tempera diptych of a cedar waxwing and Western tanager. I'll be teaching a relief printmaking workshop at the North Cascades Institute in May; the enrollment is going well and the workshop is close to full, so if you're interested, sign up now!

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Printmaking in the North Cascades

Student Art Exhibit in Seattle

Zabriskie Point, watercolor by Barbara Henon

Several of my students are exhibiting their work tomorrow night and throughout the month of April at Frame It, Ltd. gallery's beautiful new space across from Northgate Mall (address is 10712 5th AV NE). We'll all be there from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Please come and join us for wine and refreshments.

North & Middle Sister, watercolor by John Tubbs

These paintings are only 2 of several beautiful works on exhibit and for sale at the show, so please come to see the full range of talent on display there!

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Gallery of Students' Art

Landscape Watercolors: Students' Work

Artists of Nature

Woodblock print by Walter J. Phillips, collection of Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Last week I spent several days enjoying the art and natural beauty of British Columbia, traveling to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to see an impressive collection of Emily Carr paintings. I also knew the museum had a huge group of color woodblock prints by Walter J. Phillips, and I arranged to meet their chief curator, Michelle Jacques, to see some of the prints firsthand. She and her staff brought out several boxes of his prints to show me; I am so grateful for the time they spent helping me. Many of the prints can be seen online, but there are certain features in woodblock prints that really can't be appreciated except in person. Siwash House Posts, seen left, is a good example. Phillips carved this one with the woodgrain on the block positioned vertically, so that the posts would look exactly like wood, without him  having to carve additional blocks to create the look of the grain.(Unfortunately you can't really see that in this digital image).  Phillips and Carr were both very interested in the native cultures of British Columbia and it was very instructive to see their work on this subject together at the museum.

Woodblock print by Walter J. Phillips, collection of Greater Victoria Art Gallery

I especially admired the prints where the Japanese woodblock print tradition was most evident: to the right is Deer on Hillside. I love the amount of negative space in this print. In the coming days I will write more about the wonderful art I saw in Vancouver.

Printmaking in the North Cascades

Tiger Lily at Goodell Creek by Molly Hashimoto

On May 17th, I will be heading up to the North Cascades Institute's Enviornmental Learning Center on Diablo Lake to teach a 3 day workshop on printmaking, using fun techniques--everything is done by hand, no press neccessary. I recently completed this print, inspired by a rich array of plant life that I saw at Goodell Creek just outside of Newhalem, Washington last June. My landscape watercolor class and I had traveled up there to see the gorgeous hybrid lupines planted alongside highway 20 in full bloom, but while there I found this tiger lily treasure hiding among some bracken ferns. When I'm in the mountains there is always something that fascinates me--not just the grand views, but the magnificent trees and flowers too.  In the printmaking class this year, I'll be sharing ideas for all the different elements of the mountain world: the flora and fauna and landscapes.  Register now and receive an early bird discount! You can see several of the prints I've done using these techniques at the Seward Park Audubon Center through the end of April.

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Bird Prints & Notecards at Seward Park Audubon

Invitation: Reception at Seward Park Audubon Center

Invitation: Reception at Seward Park Audubon Center

The Seward Park Audubon Center is hosting a reception from 5 to 7pm on March 7, 2013 for an exhibit of my prints and watercolors. Come for refreshments and to meet the folks at the Center;  learn about their mission and visit their shop which offers all kinds of nature-related goods for sale, including some of my cards published by Pomegranate Communications. I'll be there for the opening, and look forward to sharing some of my inspirations, bird adventures, printmaking techniques, and information on outdoor classes I'll be teaching. I will hope to meet some of you there! The address is 5902 Lake Washington Boulevard South.

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Cedar Waxwing Relief Print

Bird Prints & Notecards at Seward Park Audubon

Cedar Waxwing Relief Print

Cedar Waxwing print, Molly Hashimoto

The boxed set of notecards recently published by Pomegranate Communications includes this print of a cedar waxwing that I saw down at the Magnuson Park Wetlands, a recently re-created wetland on Lake Washington. The bird was resting in one of the numerous cottonwood saplings that have grown up along ponds there. As an artist I am drawn to the colorful species, and waxwings are one of the most beautiful. Their colors are bright, but not overwhelmingly tropically so!  I am currently exhibiting this print and the others in the boxed set at the Seward Park Audubon Center through April 2013. We'll be celebrating with an evening opening on March 7 from 5 to 7.  More details will follow.

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Bird Prints & Notecards at Seward Park Audubon

Bird Prints & Notecards at Seward Park Audubon

Bird Boxed Notecards Front Cover

This week Pomegranate Communications published a boxed set of my bird relief prints, including the California quail, Anna's hummingbirds, woodpecker and cedar waxwing. The Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center is exhibiting all of them plus a few more prints and several paintings from now through March 16th. I am honored to be offering them to the public there, as the Center's mission is to educate people of all ages about birds, wildlife and the natural world. This weekend they are presenting an evening class called "Owl Prowl" which sounds really fun!! 

Birds Boxed Notecards Back Cover

To the right is the back cover of the box where each of the bird designs is displayed. I saw all of the birds in Washington, but in my design, I adapted the California quail to a California habitat complete with foothills covered in California poppies. I encountered the woodpecker on Diablo Lake on the grounds of the North Cascades Institute's Environmental Learning Center, and saw the cedar waxwing down at the Magnuson Park Wetlands. I witnessed this rare meeting of a hummingbird pair in my backyard, where I've planted croscosmia to invite their presence. 

On May 17-19, 2013 I will be teaching a weekend workshop on relief printmaking, using the techniques I employed for these card designs, at the North Cascades Institute's Environmental Learning Center. Dogwoods and wildflowers will be in bloom, the peaks will be snowy and inspiration will abound! Registration begins in February online or by phone.

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Birds in Winter: Magnuson Park