Suezan Aikins (1952– ) and Sam Rogers (1952– ) live and work by the sea in Nova Scotia. A retrospective of their atmospheric original woodblock prints has toured Japan and, most recently, Germany, where the 25th anniversary of their unique collaboration was celebrated. www.suezan-aikins.com
Walter Bachinski (1939– ) attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and received a Master’s degree in printmaking at the University of Iowa in 1967. He taught drawing and printmaking at the University of Guelph and has exhibited widely since the early 70s. In 1966, with Janis Butler, he established Shanty Bay Press to publish books in the livre d’artiste tradition.
Peter Barron (1943– ) studied printmaking and drawing at the Ontario College of Art. He received his BA (fine art) from the University of Guelph in 1974. Since then he has worked as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and teacher.
Leonard Baskin (1922–2000) studied at Yale University from 1941 to 1943 and received his BA at the New School for Social Research in 1949. Baskin also studied art in Paris and Florence. In 1953 he began teaching printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1974.
Wesley W. Bates (1952– ) was born in Yukon and raised in southwestern Saskatchewan. He moved to Hamilton in 1977 after leaving Mount Allison University. Bates pursued a career as a painter and printmaker and took up wood engraving in 1981. He established West Meadow Press in 1983.
William Blake (1757–1827), English poet, painter and engraver, was born in London, England. He attended school only long enough to learn to read and write. Blake’s father recognized his son’s talent for drawing and apprenticed him to an engraver. He married Catherine Boucher, who helped make his unique books by coloring his prints and bookbinding their small editions.
Gerard Brender à Brandis (1942– ) was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to Canada in 1947. He holds a BA in fine arts history from McMaster University. From 1969 to 1985 he published handmade books under the imprint of the Brandstead Press, and, since moving to Stratford, Ontario continues producing one-of-a-kind books and limited editions as well as single-leaf wood engravings and linocuts.
Simon Brett (1943– ) went to St. Martin’s School of Art, where he learned wood engraving from Clifford Webb. Until 1980 his work as a wood engraver was largely ephemeral, but since then he has illustrated several books and published many of them under the Paulinus Press imprint.
www.merivaleeditions.com/merivaleprints/brett_beast.html
Deborah Mae Broad (1955– ) is a professor of printmaking at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. She received her MFA in printmaking in 1980 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. www.deborahmaebroad.com
Janice Carbert (1959– ) holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and has lived and worked in Toronto since 1985. She was a founding member of the Red Head Gallery and has had exhibitions at Open Studio (Toronto) and Lyndia Terre Gallery (Alton). She is represented by Open Studio. www.openstudio.on.ca
Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945) was a prominent landscape artist and was an original member of Canada’s Group of Seven. He was born in Orillia, Ontario. He studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and later taught there from 1932 to 1945. His printing press is still used in the college’s printmaking studio.
Osvaldo Castillo (1978– ) is a Montreal-based print media artist. His narrative focuses on the social, cultural and political landscape of El Salvador’s history filtered through personal memory and dreams.
www.artroot.com/artists/osvaldo/gallery1/pages/slide-4_jpg.htm
Guy Debenham (1923–2002 ) was born in 1923 in Scarborough, England. After qualifying as a surgeon, he immigrated to Canada where he practiced for over 30 years. His love of wood engraving was encouraged by his correspondence with Reynolds Stone, George Mackley and T.S. Lawrence and Sons. He is known for his bookplates and his many engravings of the Canadian landscape.
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker born in Nuremberg. He worked with Michael Wolgemut, who introduced him to woodcut and provided him with commercial work for his woodcut illustrations. He is one of the most important woodcut artists and his work continues to inspire artists today.
Stephen Fakiyesi (1969– ) was born in Nigeria and immigrated to Canada in 1975. He received an MFA from the University of California in Los Angeles. He lives in Toronto.
Elizabeth Forrest (1947– ) was born in Vancouver. She studied art at the Ontario College of Art, where she subsequently worked as an instructor in the printmaking department. She has exhibited nationally in both public and private galleries. In 1988, she traveled to Japan to study Japanese woodblock printmaking, later exhibiting her work in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. www.elizabethforrest.ca/
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was one of the most prominent French painters of the Post Impressionist period. In 1891 he left France for the South Pacific and Tahiti, where he was inspired to make woodcuts.
Eric Gill (1882–1940), sculptor and master of wood engraving and woodcut printing, was also a famous designer of typefaces. Born in Brighton, England, he served his apprenticeship to an architect in London until he met Edward Johnston, who introduced him to the Arts and Crafts movement. He authored books on social reform and the importance of the working man. Gill Sans is his most famous typeface.
Holly Greenberg (1967– ) received her BFA in studio arts from the University of Michigan (1989) and her MFA in printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1994). She is an assistant professor of printmaking at Syracuse University, New York. She has twice received the Frans Masereel Fellowship for printmaking.
Julius Griffith (1912–1997) was born in Vancouver. He studied art at the Slade School and the Royal College of Art in England and with Fred Varley of Canada's Group of Seven. In 1940 he was a sublieutenant in the British Navy stationed in Russia. He met his wife Lialia in England and, after the war, they settled in Canada. Some of my fondest memories are of visits to their home, chatting about art over afternoon tea.
Fred Hagan (1918–2004) was born in Toronto and studied art at the Ontario College of Art. Under the tutelage of Franklin Carmichael, Hagan developed his interest in printmaking and painting. He became well known for his prints and paintings depicting social injustice and the complexities of the human condition.
Jim Horton (1947– ) printmaker, wood engraver, with four decades of teaching art. He is an avid student of historical engraving and letterpress processes. Jim is a member of the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN).
Paul Hunter (1965– ) and Leah Springate (1966– ) are a
husband and wife artist/writer team from Toronto. They run Mammoth Hall Press. Their handprinted books and art are highly prized among collectors.
http://www.geocities.ws/mammoth_hall_common/mhc_home.htm
Christopher Hutsul (1977– ) is a Toronto-based artist, illustrator and writer. After studying printmaking at the Ontario College of Art and Design, he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator and later became a staff writer at the Toronto Star. He continues to depict urban settings through relief printing. www.hutsul.com
Brian Kelley (1946– ) studied art in New York, graduating from Pratt Institute in 1968. He traveled to Europe and North Africa before emigrating to Canada in 1970. In 1980 he went to Japan to study woodcut printing under Toshi Yoshida. In 1990 Kelley traveled to China with an exhibition of Canadian prints from Open Studio artists. In 1997 he was a guest artist at Cape Dorset on Baffin Island.
Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) was born in Königsberg and studied art at the School for Women Artists in Berlin. She married a physician who practised in one of the poorer districts of Berlin, where she witnessed much suffering. They lost their son in World War I. Her work centered around the suffering of the lower classes, and she developed strong socialist ideals that emerged in her printmaking.
Lisa Levitt (1953– 2009) graduated with a Fine Arts diploma from Fanshawe College, London, Ontario in 1973. She made her living as a graphic designer before returning to printmaking full-time in 1996. She has exhibited internationally from Lima, Peru, to Kochi, Japan, and
currently makes her home in Toronto.
Margaret Lock (1950– ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and graduated with an honors BFA from McMaster University in 1972. She and her husband Fred founded Locks’ Press in 1979. Most of the books, pamphlets and broadsides published by the press are illustrated with Margaret’s woodcuts.
Frans Masereel (1889–1972) was born in Belgium. Although he came from an upper-class family he had strong socialist views, which he expressed in his woodcut novels. When World War I broke out he fled to Geneva, where he met many left-wing artists and writers who would become his lifelong friends. His illustrations for the pacifist magazines Les Tablettes and La Feuille established his international reputation.
Naoko Matsubara (1937– ) is one of the foremost woodcut artists in the world. She grew up in Kyoto, where her father was a Shinto priest. After graduating from Kyoto City College of Fine Arts, she was a Fulbright Scholar at Carnegie Institute of Technology and later studied at the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in public and private collections throughout the world. She works and lives in Oakville, Ontario.
Michael McCurdy (1942– ) attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He graduated from Tufts University in Massachusetts. He has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Concord Academy and Wellesley College Library’s Book Arts Program. He has exhibited internationally and has over 200 book illustrations to his credit.
www.bcn.net/~mmccurdy
Sharon Merkur (1932–2002) was born in Toronto, and graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1973, where she studied with Fred Hagan. In 1991 she had a solo exhibition at the Bar Am Museum in Israel. She is best remembered for her vivid woodcut impressions of
the landscapes of Israel.
William Morris (1834–1896) was born in England to a wealthy family. He studied at Oxford, where he became interested in art and socialism. He founded the famous Kelmscott Press in 1890. He loved the care taken in the making of 15th-century books and wanted to revive the tradition in his own publications.
Barry Moser (1940– ) is a master wood engraver. He was educated at the University of Tennessee and the University of Massachusetts. He has designed and illustrated over 250 books. As well as being one of the best wood engravers in North America, he is considered one of the finest book designers. He teaches in the faculty of art at Smith College,
Massachusetts.
David Moyer (1952– ) received a BFA in Ceramic Sculpture from the University of Delaware and became interested in printmaking. Since 1988, Moyer and his partner Gretchen have been publishing their art under the name Red Howler Press.
www.forumbookart.com/vorzugs/vorpag/vor6N
Lisa Neighbour (1957– ) attended the Ontario College of Art, where she studied printmaking and graduated in 1981. In 2004 she showed her work at Katherine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto, and in 2005 had a showing at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, France .
Nigel Nolan (1980– ) is a visual artist working predominantly in large-scale relief printing, drawing and installation. He lives in Toronto. www.nigelnolan.com
Mary Paisley (1945–1994) was born in Nashville, Tennessee. A socially and politically engaged artist whose work addressed the interrelationship between history and memory, she experimented with batik, relief printing, intaglio, installations, drawing, acrylic and oil painting, lithography and handbound artist's books.
Olga Philip (1939– ) was born in Simcoe, Ontario, and studied under Fred Hagan at the Ontario College of Art. After graduation she focused on relief printing and papermaking. Her relief printing is featured in many anthologies.
Chet Phillips (1956– ) presents his slightly off-center view of the world through his digital illustration. In 1979, he ventured into the world of commercial illustration. His traditional tools were replaced by a computer in the early 90s. The software Painter™ became his primary tool for creating digital woodcuts and scratchboard for advertising, design, publishing and corporate clients. www.chetart.com
José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) was born in Mexico and is one of the most influential Mexican graphic artists of the 20th century. His engravings were published in Mexico City newspapers, where they reached a wide audience. Although he died poor and largely unrecognized, his political, social and moral themes using skeletons as metaphors are highly prized today for their expressive style and wit.
muertos.palomar.edu/posdad.htm
William Rueter (1940– ) was born in Kitchener, Ontario, and studied at the City Literary Institute, London, England, and the Ontario College of Art. He is a private printer, hand-binder and printmaker living in Dundas, Ontario. His work has been shown throughout North America and in Japan. He has taught graphic design in Canada, Barbados and the Philippines.
Ralph Steadman (1936– ) started as a cartoonist and diversified into many fields. He has illustrated such classics as Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island. His own books include the lives of Freud and da Vinci. With American writer Hunter S. Thompson he collaborated in the birth of gonzo journalism with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He is a printmaker whose works include a series of etchings on writers from William Shakespeare to William Burroughs. www.ralphsteadman.com
Alan Stein (1951– ) is a painter, printer and wood engraver. He established the Church Street Press in 1988 and designs, hand-prints and illustrates his own limited-edition books. He has exhibited his watercolors and drawings widely and is represented in Toronto by the Roberts Gallery. www.robertsgallery.net
Jeannie Thib (1955– ) was born in North Bay, Ontario, and received a BFA from York University, Toronto. She has exhibited widely across Canada and created permanent public artworks for places including the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto and the Esplanade in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She is represented by Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto. www.ccca.ca
Adam Thyssen (1978– ) was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, and received a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design. His work can be found in collections around the world, including the National Library in Ottawa.
Frederica Tomas (1962– ) was born in Toronto. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she focused on printmaking. After graduation she started Utility Grade to distribute her handmade prints and limited-edition books. Her work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as many private and corporate collections around the world.
George Walker (1960– ) was born in Brantford, Ontario, and graduated with honors from the Ontario College of Art, and later earned an MA in Communication and Culture from York University and Ryerson Universtiy. He is currently an associate professor of printmaking at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) in 2002 in recognition of his achievements in the book arts.
www.george-walker.com
Lynd Ward (1905–1985) was born in Chicago and studied art at Columbia University in New York. He left the United States to study art at the Leipzig Academy for Graphic Arts where he learned wood engraving from Hans Alexander Mueller. The work of Frans Masereel and Otto Nuckel inspired his interest in the wordless novel. His most famous wordless novels are Gods’ Man and Madman’s Drum.
Jim Westergard (1939– ) received his MFA from Utah State University. He moved to Canada in 1975 and taught printmaking at Red Deer College until his retirement in 1999. His wood engravings are celebrated internationally for their whimsical noir character.
www.telusplanet.net/public/jimwest