Lobster Love, Gyotaku Impression of an Anglesey Lobster

Lobster are a local seasonal seafood here on the island of Anglesey.  Many local people have pots in the waters around the coast.  They are such a feature of our local marine life that I always wanted to record them. 

However working with a hard shelled creature that is so three dimensional was always going to be a challenge.  It took me a long time to find a way of making successful prints.

The lobster I worked with to make this print was caught in a pot on the Menai Strait, just a couple of miles from my studio.  It was caught in 2021 and has resided in my studio freezer ever since.  I have a policy of trying to work as sustainably as I possibly can so it's important to me to care for the specimens and keep working with them time after time rather than just diposing of them.  The way I work means that after printing they wouldn't be food safe as it takes me a long time to make these prints. 

This is one of my 2025 prints where I wanted to challenge myself to think more about the composition of the print and in doing so see if I could produce something at a standard size. 

With this print, not only has each element been printed separately, I've also printed it in three layers, so I have actually taken 18 prints to make it. 

This print is A3 in size so could be framed in an off the shelf frame if desired.  It was made using high quality, light fast, permanent acrylic ink and is on a sheet of Japanese paper.

After the print is taken I then have to flatten the print using the Urauchi technique.  This is an ancient Japanese method of bonding sheets of paper together to make the print flat and to give it strength.  I use Japanese Masa paper for my backing paper and I have recently adopted a policy of doubling up on this process so that the print is bonded to two backing sheets.  This gives the paper a finished weight around 160gsm which makes it easier to handle when framing. 

As with all my prints the flattened print has been stamped with my signature stamp and signed.  Shipping is from the UK and will be insured.  Where possible I use recycled shipping materials.   The cost of shipping to the UK is free and to other territories will be calulated at check out.  Please be aware that local taxes may be applied in your country and will need to be paid locally.

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any further questions.