BARBARA EKEDAHL
Woodblock Prints, Watercolors, Drawings
I’ve drawn and painted since childhood and it is during the past decade that printmaking has become my primary focus, using the Japanese woodblock printing technique known as moku hanga, the Japanese term for wood print. I use traditional Japanese-made tools which consist of knives, brushes and inks and watercolors. The most noticeable difference between printing in this method and other printmaking disciplines lies in the use of a hand-held baren or disk of natural bamboo fiber instead of a mechanical press. The baren is circular in shape and the size of my hand and it is the pressure I exert on it which makes the impression of the carved and inked block on the paper. This method allows for both strong and faint impressions as desired. Although I occasionally print multi-color pieces, I have mostly chosen to print in one color on a background of archival reproductions of different types of maps. Old or foreign maps are especially color and pattern rich and it is for this reason I choose them. Commissioned pieces on specific maps are a possibility; contact me for more information.
About Barbara
Barbara Ekedahl lives and works in the hill town of Lincoln, Vermont. Having drawn and painted throughout childhood, she attended college as a fine arts major. She has studied drawing, watercolor and printmaking with various New England artists for over 15 years. It is in recent years that woodblock printmaking using traditional Japanese tools and methods has become her primary focus. Barbara enjoys life in a rural town and is inspired by the mountains, forest and natural world and its changes. She is a member of the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Hand Crafters and the Vermont Book Arts Guild and exhibits her work in select juried galleries and exhibitions in Vermont.
You can contact Barbara at: Barbara@barbaraekedahl.com
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