she is a rainbow liz clagett spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art

The title pairs a Rolling Stones song reference (She's a Rainbow, 1967) with a named individual, Liz Clagett, suggesting a portrait or tribute print. Portraiture in mokuhanga historically draws on the bijin-ga and yakusha-e (actor portrait) traditions, though contemporary American practitioners have largely set aside those formal conventions in favor of personal, vernacular portraiture. Spitzack's print likely uses bands or fields of color — quite literally a rainbow — as either background or as integrated formal elements that abstract the figure. Mokuhanga is well-suited to flat, saturated color registered cleanly across multiple impressions, and bokashi gradients can blend hues seamlessly for rainbow effects. The water-based pigments on washi yield a luminosity different from screenprinting's hard surface, giving such color work a soft, breathing quality. Within Spitzack's broader output, prints that name specific individuals signal a personal register alongside his observational and environmental work. Such named portraits root the printmaking practice in a community of friends and collaborators.