Talks

   "Gatherings at the Gallery"

at Matt Brown Fine Art, 1 Main St., Lyme, NH.  
For each of these gatherings we'll have snacks and refreshments.  
Their objective? Offering time for face-to-face connection and conversation.

March 15 - Art Connects Us,
Saturday, 1 - 3 pm
a Talk with Todd Binzen, Jennifer Brown, Maureen Burford, and Matt Brown.
   This talk is over, it was a lovely time.

April 12 - Energy, Cooking, and Color,
Saturday, 1 - 3 pm
a Talk by Karen Menge and Matt Brown
Saturday, 1 - 3 pm

May 10 - The Nature of Nature,
Saturday, 1 - 3 pm
a Talk with Dana Williams, Matt Stevens, Matt Brown, and others.

Workshops

Integrating Mind, Body, and Art, a Color Woodblock Printmaking Retreat 
June 20 - 22, 2025, at the Rowe Center, Rowe, MA.

Join Matt Brown and co-leaders Todd Binzen and Matthew Daniell for a camp-style workshop at a beautiful location in western MA, a sweet 100 year-old retreat center below Adams Mtn. near the VT border. Structured around a group art-making project, the retreat explores spiritual implications of making art as part of a team. We'll investigate relationships of color and form, mind and body, Taoism and Buddhism, craft and art. 
To find out more.

Before I read the info page link above, can you explain a bit more about this new idea?
The above weekend retreat is in lieu of the 3-day color woodblock printmaking workshops I have taught most every year for the past 25 years.

Reasons for the new approach?
Alongside my original 1993 inspiration to learn the Japanese method of color woodblock printmaking was an undertanding that the prints I admired (the landscapes of Hiroshige and Hokusai, the beauty prints of Kunisada and Utamaro, the domestic scenes of Harunobu) were made collaboratively, by a team. Actually a team of teams, as the carving for each ukiyo-e print was achieved by a group of carvers, the printing by a group of printers. The above June retreat is inspired by this collaborative idea. 

Built into the weekend are some happy relationships:
- an aspiration to work with painter Todd Binzen in his exploration of mind/body/art connection. Todd is a long-time T'ai-Chi teacher studying Taoism. We plan to model for a day those workshops of 19th century Japan, and Todd will play the role of the artist. The imagery for our print project(s) will be worked out from imagery Todd has initiated.
- an aspiration to learn from Buddhist monk and teacher, Matthew Daniell, whose approach to working with our minds is, well, Matthew has made a career of his spiritual practice and teaching. He has spent years living and studying in Zen monasteries in Japan, India and elsewhere; he worked for years alongside Larry Rosenberg (founder of Cambridge Center for Insight Meditation and author of Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation). Matt D. has taught at Omega Institute and numerous Buddhist centers, and is the founder of the Newburyport, MA Insight Meditation Center. Matt D. seems onto something excellent, and I want to learn more!
- a desire to work with Jane Kaufman, who used to work for the Rowe Center, lives in Rowe, and will be the coordinator for the weekend. Jane has good organizational skills and a refreshing positive attitude (nice to interact with in this current time which, alas, seems so full of stress and misdirection).
- an aspiration to explore the spirit, physical set-up, spirit, and potential of the Rowe Center, to be part of a story that dates back to 1924, the year visionary Unitarian minister Anita Trueman Pickett first set up a camp-time at this place.

view looking up King's Highway to the entrance of the Rowe Center:

 

Classes the Way I used to Teach Them?

Feel free to email with inquiries about color woodblock printmaking workshops in the future. I hope to be back offering my habitual 3-day color woodblock printmaking workshops in 2026 and beyond.
Meanwhile, know the above offering will include many of the basics.
Its promise? Higher reward with less work!

Below is class description of the workshops I have taught in the past:

Introduction to Japanese Color Woodblock Printmaking
The Japanese developed a woodblock printing method using water as a medium, brushes to apply colors to the blocks, and use of a hand-held baren instead of a press to transfer colors from multiple carved blocks to printing papers. This is a low carbon-footprint, non-toxic printing method.

Workshops are organized to offer a comprehensive introduction to the tools, techniques, and materials    of this printing method. In each class everyone completes a multi-color print and engages with aspects of design, carving, and printing. The workshop includes sharings of tricks and techniques adaptable  to other art-making approaches (watercolor painting, western-style printmaking). All experience levels are welcome.  

Each 3-day workshop is taught in six three-hour sessions.  To find out more, and to see prints made by past class participants, visit the Studio, or send me a note.

Matt