Okimiyage – Detail
This absolutely gorgeous print is a collaboration between Audrey Kawasaki and Pressure Printing. It is not for the faint hearted though, costing a whopping $1,500 US, even more for international buyers. If you have that kind of cash to spare, I’d get over to Pressure Printing ASAP to get your hands on this exquisite piece.

There are only 50 of these so I don’t expect them to last too long, but at that price they might be around for a little while at least. Audrey is so unbelievably popular these days that I am sure a lot of people will have no qualms paying the price, as her prints resell easily at 3 times original price.

Prints are framed in a hand made soft maple frame, and have been signed and numbered by Audrey. The paper of the print has been embossed with patterns designed by AK and each and every one was individually hand coloured by her as well.

Audrey’s drawing is of such intricate detail that it just makes this piece so nice. I have always really liked her drawings, often more than the paintings. They are just so crisp and perfect.

You can read more of the Pressure Printing process and see lots of pics on their blog.

And with that I would like to leave you with my 2 all time favourite pieces from Audrey, both drawings done in graphite that are just so beautiful and detailed I find it hard to comprehend someone my age being so unbelievably talented.

These 2 drawings were part of the ‘Smitten’ show at thinkspace gallery, May 2007.

Ishiki – Detail

Audrey Kawasaki is such a wonderful artist. She has become very very popular in the last year or two, which unfortunately makes it harder and more expensive to obtain her original works or prints.

Almost a year ago I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to purchase some of her prints at retail price (a very rare occurrence when living in Australia), and so naturally, i jumped to it. Being skint at the time, I couldn’t get all 3, but was very happy to be able to purchase the 2 smaller prints, names ‘Ishiki’ and ‘Odaijini’. A huge amount of prints sold at retail price end up on eBay being “flipped” for often more than 5 times the original price.

This is a shame for real lovers of the art and collectors as it makes many pieces simply unattainable unless you have vast amounts of money. But in all honesty, I have never missed out on prints (or tickets for that matter) by simply following the purchase instructions, so consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to buy her prints at a fraction of their worth.

Since receiving them, I moved out of the parental unit, and because they were unframed, I left them behind to collect another time. Almost a year on and I finally realised how slack I have been not taking them to be framed, and set out to do exactly that this weekend. It is a shame custom framing is very expensive in Sydney, but I really do prefer getting my prints framed in such a quality way that is befitting of their beauty.

Here are some pics I took before sending to the framer, to illustrate the solemn beauty of her work. I will post some of the finished product soon.

Odaijini – by Audrey Kawasaki 2007

Odaijini – Detail

Ishiki – by Audrey Kawasaki 2007