Gyotaku impression taken from the surface of an Anglesey Crab

Gyotaku impression taken from the surface of an Anglesey CrabCrab is quite a difficult specimen to print from. Like a lobster it's much more 3 dimensional than a fish so there is a lot of work to do making things don't slip and slide around. This crab is printed on Chinese Mulberry Paper, is approximately A3 in size. After printing, the paper is then mounted using the traditional wet mounting technique of Uruachi. For this I make a flour based glue and use this to bond the print to a second sheet of paper. This

The one that wasn't moving

Printed using lightfast

each fish is printed individually

The print is approx 21cmx21cm and framed measures approx 36cmx36cm

The Japanese name for this process is Urauchi which I believe means gluing backing paper to artwork

The print is 69

Perhaps one of the most fiddly little things I've ever worked with is this lovely little prawn

That said I had the size very much in mind as I composed this series of works

The oven glove is part of a range I've designed which includes this oven glove

To create this design

Once the work is made it must by flattened using the Urauchi process

I have a policy of trying to work as sustainably as I possibly can so it's important to me to care for the specimens and keep working with them time after time rather than just diposing of them