Artwork by Ray Hudson

Nathan Jackson, the master Tlingit carver, came to Unalaska in 1973. His trip was sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. He gave a class on jewelry making and one on woodblock printing. We carved on mahogany plywood and printed with brayers. I enjoyed the class immensely because I was able to make something that was, for me, visually pleasing without knowing how to draw! What could be better!

A few years later, Dale DeArmond visited Unalaska and gave a class that I took. Her woodcuts are among the most cherished in Alaska. In 1990 I studied for six weeks with Lu Fang at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Peoples Republic of China. This provided information on an entirely new technique using watercolors and dampened paper.

I don’t produce much. I enjoy thinking about how to solve technical problems in a wood cut. I love the carving and the experimentation that accompanies initial printing. I enjoy printing three or four prints. But to compete an edition of even twenty exhausts my patience. I’d rather be on to something new.