[close] Gina Collia-Suzuki is an artist and writer who lives and works on the southwest coast of England. She has been an avid collector of Japanese woodblock prints, in particular those designed by Kitagawa Utamaro, for more than two decades. Initially a student of Western art, she encountered Japanese woodblock prints for the first time in 1985 and was immediately taken by their striking and bold designs, the compositional skills of their designers and the abilities of the craftsmen responsible for carving the blocks. In 1986 she met Jack Hillier, the world-renowned Ukiyo-e scholar, who became her mentor, and their friendship lasted until Hillier's passing in 1995. For more than twenty years she has devoted herself to the study of the woodblock prints of Utamaro, eventually concentrating her research on the specific subjects portrayed in his illustrated books and broadsheets.

A few years ago, following a house move, Gina found herself living with nuisance neighbours. This experience inspired her to write her first work of fiction, 'The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy;' a satirical tale about a thirty-something housewife who is driven to murder her elderly neighbour.

http://www.blog.utamarorevealed.com
http://dieneighbour.blogspot.com/
http://ginacolliasuzuki.blogspot.com/ [close]