Tuesday, January 19, 2016

green, but not


The snow does not let up, and neither does my compulsion to paint green things.  But as I was painting these traditional Japanese tea-picking baskets, I decided to stop short of depicting them filled with tea leaves. Call it the moment before the tea-pickers sling the baskets over their shoulders and begin work for the day. Or maybe the baskets have just been emptied. Somehow the complexity of the weave of the baskets made me reluctant to clutter the image with any further ink or color. The green is there in spirit, though. I can see it if I try. And I can smell the freshly picked tea leaves.

I chose the words Chatsumi-Uta (tea picking song) to accompany the image. It hints of yet another sensual stimulation which isn't actually depicted here. Chatsumi-uta were songs that the tea-pickers sang to bring rhythm to their monotonous task. There's a rather charming haiku by Kobayashi Issa that goes Akubi ni mo/ fushi no tsukitaru/ chatsumi kana (Even while yawning/ she keeps the tune/ tea picking). [translation by David G. Lanoue]

7 comments:

  1. I love your paintings and your blog after discovering it just recently and spent a few hours reading. I have started doing a few etegamis, but not on postcards or using the correct tools. I keep a daily diary/journal and an etegami type of sketch just gives me the motivation I need some days. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you get hooked on making your own etegami. Maybe you can send me one someday. :)

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    2. I hope it's OK with you but I just posted one from my journal, with a reference to your blog, on the Artists Journal Workshop and Everyday Matters Facebook pages and got a huge response. You may get some new fans : )
      I'll have to find some postcards and send you one someday.

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    3. I'm honored, and thanks for telling me about two FB groups I wasn't familiar with and may try to join for myself.

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    4. I hope you do. That Artists Journal is for work only in journals but Everyday Matters is for all art.

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  2. This is lovely, the baskets are so beautiful and the fact that they are empty is very expressive, along with the unsung song implied by the words

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