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Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...
Posted by Dave Bull on October 20, 2011 [Permalink]
In complete contrast to the struggles that I have been having with the 'outside' staff working on Mokuhankan projects, I can report that the 'insiders' are coming along very well!
We passed a small (and un-noticed) milestone yesterday afternoon - the first work done by one of the new printers has made its way into the Mokuhankan catalogue. A couple of weeks back, when Tsushima-san was working on the Koryusai Peony print, we thought this might happen with that one, but her final prints still weren't quite good enough to sell. We're going to come back to that one a bit later, but the oncoming Gift Print season has made us put it aside for now.
And yes, it is with the Gift Prints that Tsushima-san has joined the 'productive' team here. She and I did a run of the Hokusai 'Floating Carp' print yesterday and today, and out of the 52 sheets we had in the batch ... we have 52 that are good enough to go out, a ratio I can live with!
She cut and prepped the paper (including moistening it), I printed the key block, she did a couple of the colours, and I then finished the batch off in the evening after she had left. Today, she mounted them all on card stock, and we've put them into the drawer to wait for the wrapping stage later (which we'll do after a bunch of the other prints are also ready ...)
I myself am now doing the first batch of 50 of this year's upcoming new Gift Print (which will be unveiled when the page goes live around the end of the month), and next week we'll do another 50 or so of these together, along with some more batches of the other prints in the 'series'. Once we have enough stock on hand of them all to see us through November/December, she'll return to her practice routines (and I'll finally be able to get going on my own next print!)
As you can imagine, she's pretty pleased to be able to actually start contributing to the running of this place. And I too am of course happy to have the money start - just a little bit - to flow the other way. I think in years to come, she'll be a very good asset ...
As for Ishigami-san, having started a couple of months later, she is still not quite ready for prime time. Here are the two of them beavering away the other day (Tsushima-san is sitting at my own work station, as I have yet to build a second work place for these women):
What kind of stuff is Ishigami-san working on?
Well, I'm not supposed to show you. Not that we here have anything to hide; it's just that she is using some blocks that I carved many years ago for kids to use at a Culture Day event, and they involve copyright material that I have no permission to use. Perhaps you will recognize some of these characters ... Here are four samples of the prints she has made these past couple of weeks (including while I was away ...)
She's doing pretty well; it's too bad we'll never be able to sell these!
Added by: Dave on October 20, 2011, 9:08 pm
It occurs to me that there may be people reading these posts who aren't clear on the background to this 'cooperative' work environment ...
There are two 'organizations' here:
- the Seseragi Studio, which is the name under which I (Dave Bull) issue my own prints. These are created entirely by myself (both carving and printing), do not use any other person's labour at all, are issued only on a subscription basis in sets, and which all carry my signature and the studio seal (an embossed baren mark). The two ladies seen in the post above have nothing to do with these prints.
- Mokuhankan, started about five years ago, is the 'brand' I use for prints made in 'cooperation'. These are individually issued prints (no subscriptions - so far), which are made both by myself and by craftsmen working under my direction. Small-size Mokuhankan prints (including our Gift Prints) have no stamps or seals to indicate who created them, but larger ones are all embossed with the names of the carver/printer, as well as with the Mokuhankan seal (the three characters Moku Han Kan).
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