Written on April 15, 1991 [Permalink]

April 13

I knew it. Today's stuff started coming out blotchy, weak, tamari ... you name it. Packed it up for a couple of hours to let things settle down, and then tried again. Better, but not as 'good' as yesterday. What is it, horoscope? I'll definitely be needing a third print run on this one. One thing I did notice, was that when it came time for the final quiet strokes with the brush, I really had to be quiet. If I was at all heavy, there were blotches in the thin carved lines. I think I'd better get busy with the sharkskin ...

Nippon TV called back again today, and we set up for next Saturday afternoon for the filming. They figure about three hours. I don't know anything yet about broadcast.

A letter from Mrs. Wilson of the CWAJ. She will be showing the print package to a group at some kind of meeting she will be attending next week. She said that about half of their membership was Japanese, so maybe we can scoop another subscriber or two ...

April 14

Finished the colour on the 70 copies. What to say about it? After putting the final colour on, sat and separated them into two piles, go and no go. About even. Am I getting worse or what? Yes and no....

The 'no go' pile is full of prints that have some uneveness in the black kimono, mostly caused (I think) by not using enough sumi. When I tried to use more, the blotches took over, causing a worse problem. When these problems came up during the printing yesterday I made a small batch of paper wetter, and another batch drier. Neither made an improvement. At one point I used the nagura stone on one of the places where there was a recurring white patch, and it seemed to make a difference. Generally though, as I sat and looked at them all tonight, they seemed to look pretty shitty. I did better than this last year.

Or did I? Tomorrow is shipping day, and Ashida-san left me a list of back numbers to get out of the boxes for her. That was enlightening. Sangi Hitoshi. Toshiyori Ason. Dainagon Tsunenobu. If I applied the same standards to those old prints that I applied when rejecting half of today's print run, there would be nothing left. Nothing. They look horrible. I guess this is good, as an indication that I am improving, but how can I sell these things? There's no way that I can go back and start printing everything all over again. I guess this is going to be a never ending problem. A year from now, what will I think of those Sanuki prints that I thought looked so good last month .....

Another problem came up this week. Mold. I found some on my tokibo a few days ago, so sterilized them all with formalin, and hung them outside to dry. Today, when I was washing my printing brushes after finishing, I noticed that a couple of them had huge clusters of mold at the base of the hairs. Does this mean that all of today's prints are 'infected'? Who knows. The paste is prepared with lots of formalin, so that should help take care of it. Maybe I should start using that stuff in the moistening water as well .... I suppose I'll be living with this furry stuff for the next few months ...

Any bright spots today? Sure. Enjoyed a spin on my new super dream machine bicycle, courtesy the Bridgestone company. (Their turn to make up for past incompetence - exchanging the old 'Spyder', which they have admitted cannot be maintained, even by the factory, for a brand new and very expensive mountain bike). I would feel less embarrassed about this if I had purchased the old bike from a Bridgestone dealer, but actually I got it from the dump! They don't care. They feel that it was a mistake marketing it, and they are willing to make good, no questions asked. Fantastic!

April 15

Last month, Ashida-san did the wrapping job all by herself, and it took her pretty much all day. Today, Shintani-san and I worked together with her, and it was all done and ready for the postman before noon. It's also more pleasant work for everyone doing it this way, assembly line style, and I think I'll try and get them to make it a habit every month.

The Post Office picked the pile up about 2 o'clock, Ashida-san delivered the Hamura locals, and I delivered the 'personal service' customers. All done the same day.....