Monarch Butterflies (Walnut)

Yoshiko Yamamoto established her print-maker career in the early 2000s. A few years ago she sold her collection of mechanical letterpresses and moved with her family to Kamakura, Japan, so she could immerse herself in more traditional, hands-on, and organic block-printing techniques. 

Today Yoshiko prints using water-based ink and baren (a burnishing tool used to transfer the carved image that was inked and then pressed onto the paper). She prints on handmade "Kozo" mulberry paper from Echizen. The paper has amazing durability and an elegant soft surface sheen due to the long, supple, Kozo fibers.