Japanese Site About Kurumaki Studio The Kurumaki Studio is located near historical Asuka in Nara Prefecture, at the foot of the burial mound of the Empress Saimei. With well over 30 years of history since opening in 1972, the late Kazumasa Nakagawa and many other well-known artists have come to use the Studio's facilities, as we offer stone printing (lithography), intaglio printing (copper-plate), and ceramics making sections. Click here for a QuickTime VR tour of the Studio and gallery! 215 Kurumaki, Takatori-cho, Takaichi-gun, Nara 635-0143 Tel. +81-745-63-1017; Fax. +81-745-62-8797 E-mail:kurumaki@okamura-pic.co.jp News & Topics Nov. 15, 2011 Professor and Students of the 2010 RISD Japan Project Arrive at the Studio Artists who have worked at the Kurumaki Studio Naoki Azuma Shigeru Izumi Shoichi Ida Shintaro Iba Kan Irie Eibin Otsu Masao Omichi Togyu Okumura Ryu Oda Hiroshi Kasukabe Tohichi Kato Tatsuhiro Kaneda Ryohei Koiso Junsaku Koizumi Yukichi Kouge Kazuo Kobayashi Yuji Kobayashi Hideo Gomi Asako Sasaki Kosho Shimizu Kenkichi Sugimoto Yoritake Seki Hiroshi Senju Takashi Tanaka Waichi Tsutaka Kazumasa Nakagawa Masaru Bando Koui Fujiwara Michiko Hoshino Chiaki Horikoshi Shunbin Maeda Haruki Matsushima Miyokichi Marunage Setsuko Migishi Junkichi Mukai Yoshitatsu Yanagihara Satoshi Yabuuchi Don Ed Hardy Joerg Schmeisser (in no particular order) Stone Printing (Lithography) Invented in the late 18th century in the south of Germany by Senefelder, lithography is a planograph technique characterized by the way it makes use of how oil and water repel. The technique faithfully depicts the subject with greasy ink or lithography crayon onto a flat plate made of stone, zinc, or aluminum. The invention of this method would spread widely to printing techniques around the world, and the fundamental principle that drives it became the basis for today's offset printing. A long history of progress has since been accomplished. By the end of the 19th century, many artists were using lithography. Among these was Lautrec, whose works reached the pinnacle of lithographic art. Picasso and Chagall also made use of lithography to achieve a world of color in design that took beauty to a whole new dimension. Intaglio Printing (Copper-plate) Intaglio began in the late 14th or early 15th century, about the same time as woodblock printing. It developed along two paths, one in which artisans printed and the other in which artists produced works of art. There were two techniques for making the plates: one was to etch designs on copper or zinc plates with acid while the other was to simply carve the design directly onto the plate with a hard blade – without etching – before putting on the ink for printing. Etching refers to the effects of corrosion, but there are many other methods, such as drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint. Artists combine these techniques to create pieces. In Germany, great artists like Dürer and Holbein created etchings, while Rembrandt made etching into a great art form. In the 18th century, Spanish artists like Goya created numerous masterpieces, and the technique lives on today. Ceramics In 1979, a double-door kiln was constructed under the guidance of Kiheiji Takiguchi, who is known for his Gifu Mino pottery. Both a cave kiln and gas kiln were jointly constructed and are in current use. Using mainly clay from Shigaraki, Bizen and Mino, potters such as the late Kazumasa Nakagawa, the late Torao Miyagawa, and TV/radio writer Genyo Takahashi have created works here. Also, Robert Kushner created his "Rainy Season Series" here, and Shoichi Ida created his "Asuka Series" here as well. Recently, resident potter Masao Omichi has gained notoriety for his works.