Two more days and another October exhibition begins. Every year, for how many years?
The upstairs is closed again this year. One of the beams is still too shaky. The building is from the Taisho Era after all. I fear extra weight or commotion upstairs could cause some one to come right through.
Two more days to clean and prepare. I better get back to it.
I'm trying to work out just how to dress my paintings for the sake Kura at IInumahonke, ShiSui. a new space seems to call for a new kind of scroll. i am still experimenting with a design i first saw and an ancient Mongolian banner, that later turned up in an old temple in Japan. Color too is part of the puzzle.
I've got new wall. An interesting sake company in the depths of Chiba has invited me to fill their big old storehouse (Meiji Er Kura) with painting.
The Iinumahonke has been making sake in Shisui for over 300 years. They have a magical complex of buildings.
That Meiji Era store house is in the back. They are re-purposing it for visitors. I didn’t measure, but just from stretching out my arm and counting I guess the side wall is 25 meters long, and the ends a little over 12 meters – lots of room for the dragons of my imagination to play.
Wish me luck putting it together. I have until Golden Week (early May). All, of course, are invited to see how it comes together.
There will be an exhibition, a live demonstration of painting out on the lawn and a workshop for children and parents to explore the world of sumi ink.
Making a couple baby hair brushes for the new year.
An artist friend of mine spends time on the Internet. He was telling me about the conceptual artists in London coming along, the girl who steals diamonds from jewelry stores and swallows them and follows their progress thru her guts on YouTube. And there was a guy that digs up other people's shrubs I think.
Is criticism required?
In a world where people buy guns at Walmarts and shoot children, I fear these new Conceptuals have an up hill battle if they want to shock, or surprise.
Poodle sweat. Hungry ghosts.
in the studio
After every exhibition I have to learn how to paint again. There has been enough time away from it to make it all new again.
