David Bull ~ Everything you do is Art

"I am an English-born Canadian, a resident of Tokyo, and make my living as a woodblock printmaker."~David Bull

Here is a little exerpt from his about page. I was giddy by the end of it. If only more artists shared his viewpoint, the word would be a more art-filled place!

"I try and work to the same ideals. I have been successfully making a living by my printmaking for many years now by following these precepts:

• The only reason for the existence of a print is its intrinsic beauty. I am not the slightest bit concerned with big-name recognition of the designer.
• The only value a print carries is its value as an object of beauty. Considerations such as how much it will appreciate in financial value over the years are of no interest to me. If you are looking for an investment, you've come to the wrong place ...
• I feel that as very few people in our age have any understanding at all of what a woodblock print is, and of how beautiful it can be, I have a responsibility to educate them in these things.
• I refuse to make 'wallpaper', and thus will not sell 'single' prints for people to take home, hang on their wall, and then ignore for the next ten years ... To this end, I only sell prints by subscription, grouped in sets and stored inside slipcases - to be kept on a bookshelf and only taken out for viewing when the mood strikes ...
• I think prints should be priced as reasonably as possible. By 'reasonable' I mean that collecting prints should be an activity that any normal member of society can engage in, and not just the wealthy. It should not be an elite activity. (To be specific, let me add that my current 'Mystique' prints are only $35(US) each, even those with complicated overprintings and 15+ colours ...)
• I believe that the whole and only purpose of printmaking is the creation of multiples, and the dissemination of the message to as wide an audience as possible. Any attempt to limit production artificially, either to maintain a false and dishonest high price for the product, or to avoid hard work by the craftsman, is utterly against the concept of a print. I make no limited editions, I never deface my blocks, and my prints have never, and will never, carry edition numbers."

I found this video captivating. All the brushes and tools are so wonderful, well worn and clearly well known by David. Wood block printing is something that I have never looked into at length before, and stumbled upon David by accident while looking for a recipe for rice glue. The recipes he has posted in his woodblock encyclopedia made the most sense to me, I chose one used for traditional art mediums and not for craft projects, and gave it a whirl. {The glue worked great, but that is a post for another day!} I actually spent quite a while reading through the whole process of how he built his wood block studio yesterday. It was really quite interesting, if you like snooping on other peoples' projects, you can read about  it here.

Making mashed sweet potatoes and packing the house, Alice