Written on March 6, 1989 [Permalink]

March 6

Off to Tokyo to see the Printmaking seminar run by the Mainichi News. Stopped at Tanaka Nao in to see if there was any kind of 'Beni' extract that I could use for enogu. Arimasendeshita. He showed me a video clip of somebody making a dye from beni petals. I don't need another career - which is what it would involve ... so ... over to Shibuya and bought some Holbeins water colours ... eight tubes - every red in their book. Somewhere in that bag will be the colour for Tenji Tenno's kimono. Then off to the seminar.

The lecture wasn't particularly interesting, as it was a rudimentary overview of how prints are made, etc. etc., but sitting and watching Keizaburo Matsuzaki, the printer, and Susumu Ito, the carver was very educational and enjoyable. The most striking thing about their work was the ease and smoothness of the entire process. Economy of motion, peacefullness, 'gently applied strength', and a total lack of tension perhaps describes it best. Matsuzaki-san gave me a little bottle of the sumi he uses for printing. It's some kind of mixture of sumi and nikawa. His equipment was incredible - the brushes very soft, very worn and uneven - the barens incredibly thin and light. I made a bunch of notes on technical points that were new to me. Very interesting evening.