Greeting Card – Gingko

This greeting card depicting ginkgo (ginkgo biloba) is dyed using Kyō-karakami, a craft started in Kyoto during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), which uses wooden printing blocks to print decorative patterns on paper. The original craft known as karakami (lit. Tang Chinese paper), was introduced from the Asian continent during the Nara period (710-794 CE) by aristocrats who used it to write letters and poems. Kyō-karakami uses a unique process to produce patterns with distinctive Japanese designs and colours. Craftspeople start by creating their own dyes with a mixture of seaweed, crushed shells, mica crystals and pigments. They then mark out the size of the paper to the size of the hand-carved wooden blocks while accounting for the differences in their shape and thickness as well as the consistency of the dye that changes according to the temperature and humidity. Using a special sieve the dye is indirectly and evenly applied to the blocks which is then covered by paper one sheet at a time transferring the colour and the pattern, the uniformity of which testifies to the skill of the craftspeople. The same area of the paper is then printed again producing a subtle texture variation that is not possible with modern printing. At the end of the process the paper is allowed to dry naturally.

Ginkgo patterns in Japan symbolise longevity. The shape of the ginkgo leaves, resembling a spread fan, also carries the auspicious meaning of development and prosperity.

Card size: L12 cm x W6.5 cm

Envelope size: L12 cm x W7.5