Solitude, Naoko Matsubara, 1971

Resources

To purchase prints by George A. Walker (and meet the artist), visit his workshop in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood. Walker’s artwork is also on display at Open Studio, a rambling old warehouse of studios and galleries, and he is a frequent artist-in-residence at Kleinburg’s McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Among his numerous shows this year, he’ll have a booth at April’s Wayzgoose Book Arts Fair and next fall, he’ll take part in the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) Book Arts Fair.

George A. Walker studio (call for address and appointment, 416-469-3711, www.bitingdogpress.com

McMichael Canadian Art Collection 10365 Islington Ave., Kleinburg, Ont., 1-888-213-1121, www.mcmichael.com

OCAD Book Arts Fair 100 McCaul St. (Great Hall), Toronto, 416-977-6000, ext. 268, www.ocad.on.ca

Open Studio 401 Richmond St. W., #104, Toronto, www.401richmond.net

Wayzgoose Book Arts Fair, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, 18 Carnegie Lane, Grimsby, Ont., 905-945-3246, www.town.grimsby.on.ca

Abbozzo Gallery in Oakville, Ont., represents Naoko Matsubara in Canada and exhibits her work. Matsubara’s latest commission will debut at the Royal Ontario Museum’s new Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan this fall. To learn more about the artist, pick up Tree Spirit: The Woodcuts of Naoko Matsubara (University of Toronto Press), which accompanied a 2003 exhibit at the ROM.

Abbozzo Gallery 179 Lakeshore Rd. E., 1-866-844-4481, www.abbozzogallery.com

Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto,416-586-5549, www.rom.on.ca

Visit Suezan Aikins’ and Sam Rogers’ website to learn more about their art and view their online gallery.

902-852-3154, www.suezan-aikins.com

Wesley Bates works on commission for small presses like Bird & Bull and Gaspereau out of a store-cum-studio in Clifford, Ont. Bates says the chances are good he’ll be in if you want to drop, by but recommends you call first. In May, he’ll take part in a group exhibition of artists’ books at the Art Exchange in London, Ontario.

The Art Exchange 247 Wortley Rd., London, 519-434-0000, www.theartexchange.ca

Wesley Bates 15 Elora St. N., Clifford, Ont., 519-327-8529

Remember those potato prints you made way back in kindergarten? Read up on making a good impression the old-fashioned way with these books and websites dedicated to the woodcut.

George A. Walker ’s The Woodcut Artist’s Handbook: Techniques and Tools for Relief Printmaking (Firefly) has detailed instructions, history and even a pep talk for the neophyte: “Relief printing is not a complex, intimidating art” is the reassuring message.

If experiencing printmaking from an armchair is more your style, then you might like Michael Winter’s bestseller The Big Why (House of Anansi Press), a memoir-style novel about the woodcut illustrator of Moby Dick.

Many of the titles published by Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Press – which prints and binds its books in-house – feature the woodcut prints of artists like Wesley Bates. Its website also takes a look at how a book goes from manuscript to market.

www.gaspereau.com

Ironically, printmakers have found a new audience online. Browse the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild’s electronic gallery and learn about workshops and exhibitions.

www.cbbag.ca 

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