Artist Ryan Casper shows Gyotaku fish prints at Local Color Gallery

Ryan Casper of Searsmont will be the featured guest artist at Local Color Gallery in November.

Casper practices the 19th-century Japanese art of Gyotaku, or fish printing. He brushes Sumi ink made of pine soot and water directly onto the surface of a fish, then presses a sheet of Washi (Kozo) paper made from mulberry bark onto the inked surface to produce a fish print.

Casper’s Gyotaku prints feature bluefin tuna, mackerel, steelhead salmon, Atlantic longfin, squid and crab. He also creates nature prints, which include two different kinds of giant scallop shells, giant sand dollars, maple leaves, and sea grape leaves. Casper makes his own frames from salvaged barn wood.

Casper is a self-taught artist. Originally from Florida, he gets inspiration from his travels and his interactions with other craftsmen and artists, including Dwight Hwang and Elena Di Capita, both renowned gyotaku printmakers. Casper’s other mediums include wood carving, wood working, drawing and painting.

Local Color Gallery is open seven days a week at 135 High St., Belfast. Learn more at localcolorgallerymaine.com.