Tokyo Diary: Flowering plums

I have just returned from a one-month artist residency in Tokyo, Japan. Along with fellow mokuhanga artists Mara Cozzolino, Laura Boswell and Paul Furneaux, we were group participants in ArtsChiyoda3331's joint residency, sharing an apartment and a large studio space in the antique books section of Tokyo--- Jimbocho. It was a paradise for mokuhanga artists; there were antique Ukiyo-e prints in the book shops, Ukiyo-e prints in the museums, and we had contacts and lists of artists, material suppliers and shops, and craftsmen making tools, paper, blocks, sharpening stones and more.  I wasn't sure what I was going to work on-but I wanted it to have a subject that would tie in with my presence in Japan, but still reflect my artistic interests of etegami and woodblock prints.

While all Tokyo and much of Japan was eagerly awaiting the Sakura blossoms--the cherry blooms. I was carrying a drawing I did this time LAST year, of an old, stunted plum tree, in bud and starting to flower.

That drawing was an etegami--a loose sumi ink brush drawing to which watercolors were added and then text.
And since along with the Japanese Quince, the plums are among the first of the blooms to open, they were blooming when I left Florence, and I found them blooming--in lots of places in Japan too.

On my first morning in Tokyo, I found them on the way to Ueno park in a streetside garden,  I found them again, on a scroll in a shop selling calligraphy supplies, and I found them again inside the museum, depicted over and over again.


So I was happy to throw myself into this long and noble tradition.   This is the original drawing/etegami from which I created the resulting print.

I added the background and there is some variation in color and gradation intensity across the 30 print edition. 
"What if I'm not ready?"

Japanese woodblock print: Edition Varie of 30. Printed from 8 Shina blocks,
12 layers of color with watercolor, sumi ink and rice paste on mixed Japanese papers.

Primroses/Primule-March Etagami.

"Spring primroses say, "Hello, Hello".

A little over a year ago we went to the mountains in the Appenines near Genoa.
It was late spring and very damp and there were wild strawberries in bloom (but no fruit) and lots of low yellow primroses flowering.

I dug up a few of each and potted them when I got home.
It's now a year later and the primroses, despite almost complete neglect, are in full bloom.
They are a pale yellow and almost glow in the dark in the early morning and late evening when everything else is dull gray and brown.
Since they are such a local symbol of early spring and seem to me so cheerful and optimistic.
So I chose my vase of transplanted mountain yellow primroses as the subject for my March etagami.

2014: Looking back

I decided to look back at my output for the last year. Artistically, it was a mixed bag. While I produced a few interesting pieces, my general productivity was very low--I produced just a handful of prints in 2014.
Horse/White Knight, my 9 block year of the horse print.
Steel Metaphor (arrow road sign) For the Sketchbook project exchange.
Right of Way (driving school)-- a larger print.
Cardinal Creeper; my first-ever wood engraving on boxwood.
November Cypresses, a long-format landscape...carved and proofed in 2014 but I still need to print the edition.
 I also continued in my exploration of sizing Japanese papers and printing with the technique of moku hanga on western cotton papers and in preparation for teaching,  I made three new barens with the twisted-cord base trying out different kinds of twine and cord to see what might approximate a functional baren for students.

I also painted about a dozen quick etagami sketches--as part of the Florence/Japan Etagami exchange. My small drawings were sent along with those of the other Italian participants to our respective penpals in Japan.

And I entered the world of Art Education;
I demonstrated at the local Japanese Cultural Fair for 3 days in November 2014 and I taught a three day class teaching moku hanga printing to artists.

I also cleaned out a garage and house; supervised the new roof and painting of our Santa Cruz house and found a wonderful new family to stay in our home while we're in Italy. This took the better part of the Summer--the time I would have spent printing had I been more energetic/efficient with my time.

So goodbye 2014. We're well into 2015 and I'm going to try to get through my backlog of "prints waiting to be made" while jumping into a few exciting new projects that will move me in some new directions. Which way? Follow the arrows.

Poppies

POPPY, detail, monotype print 10" X 12" (ghost)






I finally decided it was time to stop putting it off and break in Big Blue--my 30 year-old, homemade etching press. I have over the last few weeks picked up a couple of plexiglass sheets from the hardware store; some sample bottles of Akua Color monoprint/water-based inks/one inexpensive brayer and dug around my cupboards for some stray printmaking papers.

I have lots of flowers blooming in the garden beds so a quick sketch on a sheet of paper and I covered the drawing with the sheet of plexiglass and using mostly brushes, painted the colors on the plate. It happened in stages: first the red petals; then the black flag of the center and some of the green buds/seedpods/then back in again with more color here or there, finishing with tracing my drawing in black ink with a brush on the plate.

I ran the plate each time face up on the bed of the press, laying down the paper on top; covering it with blankets and running it through the rollers. I had three sheets. Rives BFK Dry; Rives LW dry; rives LW damp. The last two sheets are ghost prints--printed after most of the ink was taken up by the first sheet.

Akua color is supposed to work better on dry paper but I got uneven coverage and very splotchy color instead. My best print is the third run on damp paper. The colors are too soft and faded--this should be a vermillion poppy that should stand out from 100yds instead of being so soft/muted. I will probably have to play with papers and pressure/blankets to get the right pressure.






I wanted a painterly approach. But I'd have ended up with something more lively and with more vibrant color if I had just stuck to watercolor and painted it. It will take me a while to get a hang of these new colors--they're honey-like in consistency--and didn't like to be brushed onto plexi.

Top to bottom: 1st Impression (dry paper); ghost print on damp paper;ghost print on dry paper.

So while I'm not really happy with how these turned out (I'll probably overpaint them in watercolor to see if I can salvage anything) but I'm really happy to have used the press, broken the ice and gotten some studio time in.