Written on February 22, 1992 [Permalink]

February 21

Got a copy of the Shin Bijutsu Shimbun in the mail, and was surprised to see that they have used my 'panorama' picture. I guess their own photographer didn't come up with anything very interesting when he visited the gallery. The story seems OK, but again we have the same problem - no way to contact me, and no hint of the fact that I sell these things ... Any one of these recent stories could have really helped my project, but they're all just going to go in the file and sit there ...

Now that I know there will be nothing coming from this one, it's time to get downtown and start chasing up a gallery for next January. That's going to be tough. I'm a year or so too late, I don't have much time to spend walking around Tokyo, and I don't have any idea where the pile of money I'll need is going to come from.

Got Michiyo's translation of the blurb for this month by fax from Northwest Music, and punched it into the machine. The final blurb last year was kind of weak, but this one should get things back on track ... Good carving time, and finished off the sumi block. I was surprised when I printed the sheets for transferring the colour, to find that the carving is not quite as bad as I had expected ... I also noticed something quite interesting today just at the end of the work. I was carving the mouth and 'moustache' when the hanshita paper pulled off the wood, leaving no carving guide. Actually, that was no problem as the mouth was already outlined, and the rest was easy to place by eye. What was very noticeable though, was how easy it was to see and carve without the paper in the way. I have been thinking that the hanshita paper I'm using is thin enough to be no problem, but I think I'd better do some exploring ...

Transferred to colour blocks and started carving. It looks like I'll be able to print him Sunday evening - Monday. I'm determined to make some really beautiful colours this time. No more of the 'same old' yellows, browns, and reds.

Now that the main carving is over, I started thinking about what the next P/R should be ... Newspapers and magazines have pretty much been 'used up' for quite a while to come, and I thought about maybe contacting somebody down in the government somewhere about the possibility of using my print sets as gifts for ministers to use for visiting dignitaries, or for when they travel overseas themselves. My stuff is certainly representative of Japanese culture, but does the fact that the prints are made by a foreigner add a twist, or detract? Who knows... I think they would want to see something a bit more 'presentationable', if at all, so I'll try and find out where I can get some paulownia boxes made up to fit the blue cases. Take a few pictures, write some letters, and then see what happens... Who do I write to? Kantei? Gaimusho? Imperial Household Ministry? All of them?

I would also need some kind of pamphlet to go inside the set, giving a basic explanation of the work, etc. and probably including the blurbs that accompany that particular 10 prints. Actually I've been considering doing that anyway, one for each year, so that when I send out back number sets, I don't have to stuff in a bunch of loose odds and ends ...

February 22

Nice mail today - 210,000 from the last of the sets sent out a few weeks ago, and also a couple of copies of the Mainichi Weekly with my story.

Finished the colour blocks [4-1]. There are seven colours, one of which (the fan) is going to be blank. I'm not going to use any pigment for that one, but have carved a sunken 'zig-zag' shape, to try and give a realistic appearance to the folded fan. Prepared 60 sheets for sumi printing tomorrow - if I can remember how!