spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art

A second example of Spitzack's mokuhanga practice, this print reflects the artist's sustained engagement with the cut-block-and-water-pigment process inherited from Edo-period print shops but adapted to contemporary American studio conditions. Each color in a mokuhanga print typically requires a separately carved cherry or shina plywood block, registered to the previous impression by means of kento—L-shaped notches and straight edges cut into the block edge. Spitzack works on washi, into which his pigments are absorbed rather than sitting on the surface as oil-based ink would. The handheld baren, traditionally a coil of bamboo cord wrapped in bamboo leaf, transfers ink from block to paper through pressure modulated by the printer's hand. Spitzack's recognition at the 2024 Echizen conference placed him among an internationally vetted cohort of mokuhanga practitioners, and prints like this one represent the technical foundation on which more ambitious editions are built.