Integrating Mind, Body, and Art, a Color Woodblock Printmaking Retreat
June 20 - 22, 2025
at the Rowe Center, Rowe, MA
Seeking a time apart, a fresh approach to making art, an exposure to Buddhist and Taoist thought alongside a hands-on interaction with the mechanics of making woodblock prints using the Japanese hanga method?
Join Matt Brown and co-leaders Todd Binzen and Matthew Daniell for a camp-style retreat time at a beautiful location in western MA. Structured around a group art-making project, this weekend explores the spiritual implications of making art as part of a team, investigating relationships to color and form through the three realms of art, science, and nature.
Participants will work together to develop a color woodblock print using the Japanese hanga method. Hanga is printmaking using a hand-held baren instead of a press, water instead of oil; it is relief printing from multiple carved blocks. Matt Brown has taught this technique for decades. In this workshop, he invites Todd Binzen, painter and Tai-Chi instructor, and Matthew Daniel, Buddhist monk, teacher, and founder of the Newburyport Insight Meditation Center, to help expand the foundational basis of the weekend experience. Participants learn the mechanics of the process (how to get imagery onto the various blocks, how to carve, and how to print with brushes and baren), but the focus of the work emulates the creation of the ukiyo-e prints of Japan (art-making that is collaborative, the work of a team). Matthew Daniell leads off in kindling the spirit helping to guide the collaborative work, Todd Binzen plays the role of artist supplying vision in the colors and imagery, participants learn to carve and print and do the hands-on work required to make the prints, and Matt Brown plays the role of the publisher helping to keep the work on track and bring the project to completion.
The concrete goal of the weekend?
All participants receive a finished print they help create, mounted in an acid-free matt suitable for framing.
The subtler goals of the weekend?
As a team we will explore relationships of body and mind in relation to others, and to a wonderful art-making tradition. Friday evening starts with a dinner followed by an optional meditation and a talk led by Matthew Daniell. Saturday and Sunday mornings begin with Qui-gong sessions led by Todd Binzen, and sometime during the weekend Matt shares insight into the science of visual thinking and how we see color, a viewpoint informed by his work with Prof. Ming Meng on The Energy Theory of Color.
Emphasis will be on the integration of parts: how to make a print using multiple blocks, how to be a part of an art-making team experiencing something entirely new, how to work with our minds and their complex natures in new social situations, and how to enjoy it all!
Saturday night, we gather for song and celebration, likely down at the Rowe Center Chapel, a beautiful sacred place. (You are welcome to bring acoustic instruments, songs or poems to share, and an open curious heart.) Sunday we finish our project, and take time to reflect on its result - what we learned and how to keep working with the spirit of the weekend, if we feel inclined.
The Rowe Center is located on Kings Highway near the center of the Town of Rowe, MA. Situated at the foot of Adams Mtn., it is surrounded by beautiful forest, access to over 50 miles of hiking trails, and a short walk to beautiful Pelham Lake. A variety of lodging is available. Meals are created by Chef Dan, whose philosophy and spirit will be a significant piece of the weekend experience.
Terms:
Tuition for the three days is $350. This includes all tools and materials to participate. Meals, lodging, and purchases of tools or materials you might wish to keep working after the class (printing jigs, carving sets, barens) are additional $.
Totals:
- $350 for the class tuition
- Meals and lodging package (2 breakfast, 2 lunches, 2 dinners) @ $310.
- Commuter option: (meals only) @ $195.
- Individual bedroom @ $190/ night: at one of two nearby houses
Class schedule:
We gather Friday evening with a dinner at the Sibley farmhouse at 6 pm on Friday. At 7 Matthew Daniell shares a guided meditation and talk. We start at 9:30 am on the Saturday morning with a Qui-Jong movement class led by Todd Binzen. The art-making work begins at 10:30 in the Rec Center,we break for lunch at th farmhouse at 12:30 pm.
Saturday: 9:30 - 12:30; 1:30 - 4:30.
Sunday: 9 - 12:30.
Demonstrations of steps of the hanga process at the beginning of each session. They are:
- introduction to getting imagery onto your block(s)
- carving and sharpening
- introduction to printing (with a focus on making paste, using the pigments, handling the paper)
- more about printing (with a focus on the brushes and the baren)
- there are also discussions of art theory, of edition printing (how to wrap up your project), of time management, of the function of making art, of The Energy Theory of Color.
If you wish to participate, or to know more, feel free to call me at 603-306-6547, or send a note to Jane Kauffman, co-ordinator for the weekend.
If you feel confidant you want to do the class, hold a spot by sending a deposit of $400 (include a note saying "Rowe2025"). Class is first come, first serve and we will run a waiting list.
If something comes up and you need to cancel, expect full refund of deposit up to 2 weeks before the start of the class.
Matt
Photos from class of 2024 at Rowe:
