Gyotaku for Families: Japanese Fishprinting Workshop with Sue Fierston

Before cameras, Japanese fishermen applied ink to fish and pressing it to paper to document a big catch when they were out at sea, and then rinsed the fish in the water so it could be eaten. The result is a gyotaku, a term derived from the Japanese words for fish (gyo) and print (taku).

Sue Fierston will lead a workshop for families in this ancient artform. We will be using real and plastic fish. People will leave the workshop with 4-6 fish prints on a variety of paper sizes.  Participants should wear old clothes or bring an apron and an old bath towel.  NOTE: The room will smell of fish by the end of the class.

TERMS and CONDITIONS: For purposes of this class,  ticket includes one adult and one child aged 8 and up. One additional child may be added as a guest for an additional charge. Because materials are prepared for each participant, cancellations with refund minus the cost of the materials ($15) will be applied if cancelled within 7 days of the course. Cancellations not accepted within a week of the course date.

INSTRUCTOR: INSTRUCTOR: Sue Fierston is a printmaker and current president of the international Nature Printing Society,  a worldwide group of artists who are dedicated to nature printing in all forms. NPS members print real fish and leaves as well as tree bark and spiderwebs.  Sue holds nature printmaking workshops in the spring and fall at the Smithsonian Associates and now for the Natural History Society of Maryland. When she’s not teaching, she’s painting a series of antique microscopes for a show in October 2023 at the National Institutes of Health. Her prints and paintings can be seen at: suefierston.com and on Instagram at: @suefierston_leaves_three_ways.

In June 2020, Swinging Bridge Press published Sue Firestone’s book Into the Woods: Families Making Art With Nature.