This is one of the few times in this year's project when many of the collectors will open the package, see the print, and say "Oh, I've seen this image before!" In my own little collection this same picture appears three times, twice in postcard format, and once in a larger size. It seems that there is 'something' about this particular design that really catches the eye of those who like Japanese prints ... or at least of those who publish them! It is usually attributed to Hiroshige, and indeed certainly does seem to fit his style perfectly.

Although the timing of this print certainly needs no explanation for the Japanese collectors, I have to remember that a great many of the people collecting the Treasure Chest this year live overseas, and they may not be familiar with some of the details of the traditional calendar here. But almost everybody with any knowedge of this country at all has heard of the custom of moon viewing; any number of the books I read about Japan before coming here talked about o-tsukimi, usually describing scenes of kimino-clad people on a veranda overlooking a Japanese garden, perhaps with a large pond below, in which the freshly-risen moon was reflected. Members of the party would take turns creating their poems to the beauty of the moon ...

Well, that was then, and this is now. Although I suppose that there are some people here who do indeed take part in such events, I suspect they are rather few and far between. For the most part these days, most of us are no longer even aware what phase the moon is in at any moment.

Unless ... we happen to catch sight of the full moon accidentally, as happened to me just a month ago. I was making an evening errand on my bicycle out to the local shops, and turning a corner suddenly came face to face with the largest, most golden full moon I had ever seen, directly framed in the distance at the end of a long straight stretch of road.

It was bigger than I would have ever thought possible, and as I stood there and watched it climb higher, I realized what a wonderful sight the sky must have been before the days of tall buildings and electric lights ...

David
Monday, September 19, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:35 AM | Comments (1)

Back to a more traditional image this time, after our foreign 'adventures' with the previous two prints!

This print has its origins in a similar fashion to one of the earlier prints in this Treasure Chest series - the one depicting tea ceremony utensils; both of them were created as copy models for aspiring brush painters.

Nature studies make up by far the largest part of that genre, and as both bamboo and birds are considered fundamental elements, something that must be learned by every painter in that style, scenes like this one are very common. I think that this one, with its somewhat weather-beaten and tired-looking bamboo leaves, suits this late summer mood quite well ...

About five years ago, when I was making my first Surimono Album, I included a print with my interpretation of a painting of bamboo plants. It was a bit of an experiment for me, and I was quite apprehensive about how the collectors would accept it - it seemed to me to be quite 'bare' and somewhat boring.

As it turned out, my concern was completely misplaced; that print was the hit of the series that year. I wonder if this one will have a similar enthusiastic reception!

As you have seen by now, this print series is being made up of both prints with explicit seasonal connections, and those of a more general nature. I see though, that there are now only eight more prints to go in the Treasure Chest, and yet we will have to jam into those eight spaces the entire range of autumn and winter!

So I hope that you are ready to pick yourself up after a lazy summer and dive right into the best season of the year. I'm on the way already!

Just about exactly two weeks from today is chushu no meigetsu (Autumn Full Moon); can you perhaps guess what you will see when you open the next package?

David
Monday, September 5, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)