Kimono Kimono

Kimono Kimono is a magnificent treasure trove of Japanese collectables, from vintage Japanese Kimono, silk scarves, wooden clogs, masks and elegant opera costumes to antique hanging scrolls, parasols, paper fans and lanterns.

Japanese Woodblock Stamps

Phil Porter, who runs Kimono Kimono, allowed me to photograph his own personal collection of antique woodblocks and stamping books used on the Shikoku pilgrimage. Each stamp is intricately carved. On one of the blocks, some of the background has been re-carved in an attempt to revive the original stamp which has been worn down from the years of stamping. Another stamp is carved on both sides to enable a two colour print be made from the one stamp.

The woodblock stamp is solid but softened from the years of being held. It reminds me of my netsuke drawing session at the Bristol Museum where I had a similar feeling holding the netsuke. These tactile objects built for practical purposes, slowly shrinking with use, are taken away to be preserved and now have a new purpose. To become historical reminders, time capsules, precious objects for adoration, reflection and meditation.

Nokyo-Cho

These beautifully stamped books (Nokyo-Cho) are given to each pilgrim as they begin their journey in the 88 temple pilgrimage of Shikoku. The pilgrimage is to honour Shikoku's most famous Japanese Buddhist monk, Kobo Daishi. As part of their pilgrimage they will collect the signature and seal of each temple they visit.

"This is not just a pilgrimage to places made sacred by his name. This is not just a visit to temples founded by, or visited by, the Daishi. This is a month's long walking ritual where you ask the Daishi to walk with you and then completely turn yourself over to his care. And if asked, he long ago vowed to walk with anyone who requests it. In return for your efforts, the rewards are unimaginable." Pilgrimage to the 88 Sacred Paces of Shikoku

Phil Porter Seal

Phil gives me a Kimono Kimono postcard with his own personal seal stamped on the back. He tells me that it is Japanese tradition that all families have their own seal or stamp (called Inkan or Hanko in Japanese). These seals would serve the same purpose as a signature for all kinds of documents, from signing important contracts to confirming a receipt of delivery.

I thank Phil for his time and in exchange I offer him a netsuke woodblock print and pick up a little Sakura notepad, some Japanese incense and head back to my studio.

"KimonoKimono holds an extensive range of Kimono and Obi, along with dressing accessories and object d'art. A treasure house for Kimono lovers,textile collectors and interior designers." Kimono Kimono

Kimono Kimono

13 Perry Road

Bristol

Netsuke - Wood Bird II

Re-carving the wood bird

Today I make sure to take my time and carve closer to the original lines of the bird sketch.

Inking up the wood bird

The L shape sits up next to the woodblock to line up the paper. Paul Furneaux had given me some little markers to use for registration which I tape onto the wood. I place mine completely the opposite way round and slanting on the block and feel the frown of the ukiyo-e printers. But for me it's perfect as I want to bird to be at a slight angle and didn't accommodate for this in the initial carving.

Printing the wood bird

The slanted markers on a separate L Shape enable me to change the position of the printed bird. This experiment might go against the tradition of the ukiyo-e printers but exploring different methods of registration became quite common among the Sōsaku-hanga artists during the Creative Print movement.

“Many artists - Munakata, Morozumi, Kidokoro, Maki, Sasajima, to name a few - do not use registration per se because they work with monochrome prints, or they print all the colours at once, or they use colouring techniques such as resist dying after the basic monochrome image has been printed. For them it is only necessary to center the image on the paper - though the use of kentō still survives, contemporary Japanese print artists have steadily been developing their own individual approaches to to meet their particular needs. ”

— Evolving Techniques in Japanese Woodblock Prints by Gaston Petit

“The technique...in modern prints became creative rather than technical.
”

— Japanese print-making: A handbook of traditional & modern techniques - Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki

“Sōsaku-hanga (創作版画 “creative prints”?) was an art movement in early 20th-century Japan. It stressed the artist as the sole creator motivated by a desire for self-expression, and advocated principles of art that is “self-drawn” (自画 jiga), “self-carved” (自刻 jikoku) and “self-printed” (自刷 jizuri). As opposed to the shin-hanga (“new prints”) movement that maintained the traditional ukiyo-e collaborative system where the artist, carver, printer, and publisher engaged in division of labor, creative print artists distinguished themselves as artists creating art for art’s sake. ”

— Wikipedia - Sōsaku-hanga

Saw Into The Wood

I have been trying to saw a piece of wood in my studio with my foot as a clamp and using a saw which I learn later, is designed for metal work! It doesn't bode well, as you can imagine, so I head over the road to Bristol Design for some tool tips.

As I step through the door, I take a step back in time. This shop contains some of the most beautiful old wooden tools I have ever seen. They are laid out in orderly rows on shelves, in all different shapes and sizes. Hand saws, plane hand tools, chisels and sharpening stones. Vices nesting in wooden boxes and giant tools hang on the wall making strange shapes as if I might have entered a tiny museum of curiosities.

Gail from Bristol Design is brilliant and helps me find a saw to cut my pieces of magnolia wood. So far I have been printing woodblocks mostly without any registration. This is fine for test prints but at some point I will want a bit more consistency and I will need some kind of registration. Rather than create kento registration on the woodblock I am going to make an L shaped piece of wood similar to one we used on Paul Furneaux's Japanese woodblock printing course at Edinburgh Printmakers.

Sawing magnolia wood for L Shape registration

Thank you Gail for your help and also for lending me your vice to saw the wood! I'll definitely be ordering one as soon as they come in. And no more foot clamping!

Bristol Design

Bristol Design, 14 Perry Rd, Bristol.

Printing Thanksgiving Day Invitations

Putting the Turkey on a Polymer Plate

Guy had given me a rough sketch of an idea for his Thanksgiving Day Invitations. I worked up an illustration for the front of the card and used Bodoni 72 Smallcaps for the type. We sent off the design to be made into a Polymer Plate ready to be printed at the workshop.

Printing the Turkey

Guy spent the afternoon printing his Thanksgiving Day cards on the Adana 8 x 5. He chose vermillion linseed oil based relief printing ink on different coloured recycled card stock.

Thanksgiving Day cards ready to send!

Netsuke - Wood Bird with Inlaid Eyes

Sketching & Transferring Bird Image to Woodblock

Carving Bird

Dampening Paper & Printing Bird

Journey or Destination?

I constantly remind myself that the journey is more important than the destination but I still haven't learnt the lesson to slow down and really be in the present, with each moment. A distraction and a slip of the knife changes the direction of a cut resulting in a mis-shaped ridge on the body of the bird. The more simple the shape, the harder it is to hide the mistakes. To understand the contours of the bird, I need to focus, slow down, breathe and stop rushing to get to my destination.

Original netsuke 'Bird' from the V&A museum. Unsigned. Made 18th or 19th century - Japan.

“A craftsperson’s job is half meditation, half creation. It takes creativity to design whatever you are working on, but it takes meditation to do it right.”

— Andy Couturier - A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance

“According to Democritus, we have learned many of our abilities from animals: the spider to weave and sew, the swallow bird to build, the swan and the nightingale to sing (one genuinely wonders if birds had not existed, man would never imagined that he could fly.)”

— Saul Frampton - When I am Playing with my Cat, how do I know she is not Playing with me? Montaigne And Being in Touch with Life.