A life on the ocean waves for her

I am an artist printmaker based in Hamble, a Hampshire village with a rich maritime history. It is this location, a love of the natural world, landscapes and seascapes, and my adventures sailing, cycling and long-distance walking that provide inspiration for my prints and sketches.

In the Autumn 2024 I travelled to Echizen, Japan, for a five week residency, joining a growing number of international artists who have benefited from the MI-LAB AIR programme (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory Artist in Residence) since its inception in the late 1990’s. I feel very privileged to have been taught many of the unique techniques of Japanese wood block printmaking process, now called Mokuhanga, from Japanese sensei and to have made kozo washi in one of their traditional paper making workshops.

My visit to Japan reinforced my love of wood as a medium for printmaking, particularly using techniques that are eco-friendly and portable, such as Mokuhanga and wood engraving.

These techniques, the mark making and the grain of a wood block, seem well suited to creating prints that capture the wild beauty of the sea, its movement, wave patterns and reflections of light, reminding me of times sailing out of sight of land on the seemingly infinite open sea.

My work is held in collections in the UK, France, Holland, Germany, Japan, Australia and the USA.

Website: https://kayabrown.co.uk/

Instagram: @kaybrownart @handprintedbythesea