About the Artist
BARBARA WYBOU
"I love the process involved in printmaking. I also love the final product, an edition of prints that, in spite of weeks or months spent carving and printing, in the end seems to have come from nowhere, like magic, a gift from the universe."
For 20 years I lived in Japan, where I studied Japanese Woodblock Printing at the studio of the traditional woodblock artist Toshi Yoshida. Before moving there I had been doing lithography at York University and at Open Studio in Toronto. Stone lithography requires heavy equipment and chemicals so it was necessary to work in a communal setting. When I discovered the Japanese technique of woodblock printing I was thrilled, as it allows me to create prints in my own space, working small and in great detail, with the fine texture of wood grain and the building up of layer upon layer of translucent watercolour pigment.
In 2012 I opened a retail business in the Artscape building in the Distillery District, a very popular destination in downtown Toronto. For 10 years it was both my studio and a retail shop, so people visiting could often see me at work. Sadly the entire Artscape building was closed down at the end of March, 2022, so I have moved my studio home, and my business online.
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