Fall Mokuhanga Workshops in Vermont

August 28, 2025

I am very excited about the mokuhanga workshops that I am teaching this fall, and growing the community of artists in Vermont who practice mokuhanga. This is a nature-based art form that is gentle to both your health and the environment- and so suited to our values in Vermont.

VERMONT MOKUHANGA 2025

(Japanese Woodblock Printing)

All workshops are appropriate for beginners and more advanced students.

Introduction to Mokuhanga: Monoprinting on Carved Silhouettes

Middlebury Studio School
63 Maple St #8A, Middlebury, VT 05753

Dates: Saturday, October 4 & Sunday, October 5, 2025
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Audience: Adults/Teens 16+ • All levels • Materials included

Explore the expressive possibilities of mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock printing) in this welcoming workshop. Participants will combine carved silhouette blocks with an uncarved block used for monoprint textures and color fields. This approach encourages experimentation while grounding participants in traditional technique.

Artist and instructor Patty Hudak will guide you step by step, sharing her training in Japan and her passion for this sustainable, nature-based art form. Using Japanese washi paper, water-based pigments, starch glue, and handheld barens, you’ll learn to carve, print, and layer images by hand. We will also discuss the history and significance of mokuhanga in Japanese art, and how this meditative process can become part of your creative practice.

Mokuhanga: Two-Color Printing with Kento Registration

new new art studio
4 Howard Street, Suite I-17, Burlington, VT 05401

Dates: Saturday, October 18 & Sunday, October 19, 2025
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Audience: Beginners welcome • All materials provided

This workshop focuses on the fundamentals of color printing with mokuhanga. Participants will explore the Japanese kento registration system to align two-color images with precision. All prints are hand-printed without a press, using materials that are gentle on the environment.

Patty Hudak, trained in Japan, will introduce traditional carving and printing techniques using handmade brushes, washi, rice glue, gouache, and a handheld baren. We will also study the history of color in Japanese prints and discuss mokuhanga’s potential for contemporary artists.

Mokuhanga: Principles of Japanese Design

Two Rivers Printmaking Studio
Tip Top Building, 85 North Main Street, Suite 160, White River Junction, VT

Dates: Saturday, November 1 & Sunday, November 2, 2025
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Audience: All levels welcome

This two-day workshop introduces mokuhanga through the lens of Japanese composition and design. We will begin with black-and-white paper cutouts to explore shape, proportion, asymmetry, and the use of empty space. These designs will then be developed into carved woodblocks and printed with layered colors, soft gradations (bokashi), and monoprinting.

Emphasis will be placed on the subtle use of color to convey mood and atmosphere.

Mokuhanga Basics: Everything You Need to Know

Southern Vermont Arts Center
860 SVAC Drive, West Road, Manchester, VT 05254

Dates: Saturday, November 22 & Sunday, November 23, 2025
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Audience: Beginners & continuing students • All specialized tools/materials provided

This hands-on workshop introduces the fundamentals of mokuhanga. Participants will learn to carve with traditional knives, use kento registration for alignment, and print in layers with brushes and rice paste. Each student will design, carve, and print a small edition of two-color prints.

The emphasis will be on mokuhanga’s meditative, tactile process and its ecological approach using non-toxic, sustainable materials.

Mokuhanga: New Year’s Card Workshop

Shelburne Craft School
Shelburne, VT

Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Audience: All levels • Materials included

In Japan, it is traditional to send nengajo, beautifully designed New Year’s cards, to friends and family as a gesture of gratitude and good wishes. In this one-day workshop, participants will design and hand-print their own mokuhanga New Year’s card.

Guided by Patty Hudak, trained at the Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory and with Master Carver Motoharu Asaka, students will practice traditional carving and printing techniques using handmade brushes, washi paper, starch glue, Holbein gouache, and a bamboo baren.