Working in harmony with his handcrafted tools, Rod Nelson captures the calming movement of water, with gentle tranquility flowing from his woodcut prints. 

Rod Nelson is a self-taught printmaker based in Gloucestershire, specialising in woodblock prints. Rod has a unique approach, using tools and techniques he has spent thirty years developing.

All prints are unique and carried out by the artist himself, using Okawara 60gsm acid free Japanese paper and inks from refined natural linseed oil which are permanent and lightfast.

Inspiration for Rod comes from nature, the landscape and sometimes other printmakers.  The artist who has had the greatest influence on his work is the maverick Japanese woodblock artist, Shiko Munakata, whose prints have a great sense of freedom and respect for beauty and decoration.

Rod has exhibited widely; regular shows across the UK and Germany include the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) and he has recently had work selected for the International Print Centre of New York’s Winter Exhibition. He has exhibited with the International Cultural Association of Shanghai and his work has also been selected from over 1,800 entrants to appear in the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition in 2019.

He was a founder member of the printmaking cooperative Pine Feroda and currently teaches woodcut technique at the renowned college of arts and crafts at West Dean in Sussex. He also teaches at the RWA, in Germany, Holland and runs workshops from his home. He is co-author (with Merlyn Chesterman RE) of the book ‘Making Woodblock Prints’, published by Crowood Press.