GIFTSFROMTHENORTHCOAST
That’s a wrap
Local artist holds workshop
to create funky and natural
gift cards and wrapping paper
BY M.J. CODY
Duncan Berry’s workshops
Dec. 11
10 a.m. to noon
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Barbey Maritime Center at the Columbia
River Maritime Museum
Gift wrapping can be tedious during the
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria
holiday season, but an artist workshop in
Astoria this month might change the way
Classes limited to 20 people or eight families
some people wrap presents forever.
crmm.org/classes.html
Duncan Berry has a passion for putting
See more online at bylandbyseabyair.com
the natural world down on paper. He pro-
duces eye-catching nature images through the
practice of gyotaku, the Japanese art of fi sh
printing.
those who come to the workshop will begin
He’ll lead a workshop Dec. 11 at the
to really ‘see,’ to understand, and appreciate
Columbia River Maritime Museum to teach
the wonder of our interconnected relation-
others the traditional art technique.
ships on this planet,” said Berry .
Berry will guide people through the pro-
Berry’s prints can be seen at RiverSea
cess of creating nature prints of fi sh, octo-
Gallery in downtown Astoria. To see more
pus, bird feathers, ferns and other objects to
of his work and the interplay between art,
make holiday gifts, such as cards, wrapping
conservation and climate change, two ambi-
paper or small prints.
tious projects are now on display in New-
Berry admitted that although he has lived
port : “Thanks Be to the Sea” at the Oregon
most of his life on or near the sea, he didn’t
Coast Aquarium, and “Blue Heart: Beauty
appreciate the beauty under the water until
and Change Along America’s Western Shore-
recently.
line,” a collaborative exhibit with artist
“I’ve fi shed off shore and done commercial Dwight Hwang at the Hatfi eld Marine Sci-
fi shing on the Columbia with my brother,”
ence Center.
said Berry . “But my relationship with, for
example, fi sh, was always on my terms, not
theirs. Even speaking about them with others,
it was ‘What’d you catch? How many? How
big?’ It was never a conversation about how
beautiful they are — their iridescence, that
perfect lateral line, the pattern of their scales.”
When Berry started to explore the Jap-
anese art of gyotaku and nature printing, he
began to realize how amazing all sea crea-
tures are.
“It was through art that I realized that
everything in nature and sea and land and air
are our relations,” said Berry . “How chau-
vinistic to think that we are superior. That we
‘own’ them. That they are dumb creatures.
Like us, they have fears and pleasures, prefer-
ences, and personalities.”
The ancient Japanese arts of gyotaku
involves inking a subject and applying paper
to transfer the image. It began in the 1800s
as a way for Japanese fi sherman to document
their catches.
Duncan Berry
“By interacting intimately with a fi sh, or a
feather or a crab as we print them, I hope that Berry holds a freshly-caught salmon.
Duncan Berrry’s gyotaku print of Chinook salmon and herring.
Berry created this gyotaku print of a steelhead trout on black unryu mulberry paper and white
inks.
FIND YOUR CAREER AT CMH
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IMMEDIATE OPENINGS
CMH is hiring for a variety of positions
with advancement opportunities, sign-
on bonuses and excellent benefits,
including up to 28 days PTO and 70%
off hospital services.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021 // 7