Biography
Frank Trueba is a California-based printmaker and decorative paper artist who has been active in the print community for nearly two decades, with mokuhanga as a central element of his practice. He is a founding member of Printmakers at the Tannery (PATT), a printmaking cooperative, and contributed to the establishment of Open Ground Studios in Seaside, California, helping to build collaborative studio infrastructure for the regional printmaking community.
Trueba's mokuhanga practice embraces the environmentally friendly nature of the traditional Japanese technique, which uses only natural materials: wood blocks, water-based pigments, washi paper, and the baren for hand printing without the need for a printing press. He also creates decorative papers using traditional paste paper methods, complementing his woodblock printing with a broader engagement in the material culture of handmade printmaking.
He is a member of the California Society of Printmakers and the International Mokuhanga Association, serving on the IMA's International Advisory Board. Through his board service and his teaching of mokuhanga workshops at venues including Printmakers at the Tannery, Trueba contributes to the organizational and educational infrastructure that sustains mokuhanga practice in North America.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
Frequently Asked Questions
Frank Trueba is a California-based printmaker and decorative paper artist who has been active in the print community for nearly two decades, with mokuhanga as a central element of his practice. He is a founding member of Printmakers at the Tannery (PATT), a printmaking cooperative, and contributed to the establishment of Open Ground Studios in Seaside, California, helping to build collaborative studio infrastructure for the regional printmaking community.
Frank Trueba's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Frank Trueba is a contemporary printmaker working in the mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock) tradition. Their work contributes to the living tradition of Japanese woodblock printing. Prices for contemporary mokuhanga prints range from $100 for smaller works to $1,500 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $180–$600 range. The global mokuhanga community has been growing, with increasing exhibition opportunities and collector interest. Contemporary mokuhanga represents an affordable entry point for collectors.