towel brush etegami

The town of Senshuu (known for being the origin of towel production in Japan) is calling for etegami painted by "towel brush," so I thought I would give it a try. A towel brush is basically a chopstick or other stick that has a small piece of terry cloth towel wrapped around one end, fastened tightly with rubber bands.

There are no hard and fast rules about how to make a towel brush, but I basically followed the directions in the image posted below. The merit --or charm-- of using a towel brush instead of a regular ink brush is supposed to be the coarseness and sloppiness of the lines. I certainly had difficulty affixing the towel tightly enough to the stick to use it with any control at all. And I quickly learned that, when dipped into my sumi ink bottle, the towel brush soaks up the ink so fast I have trouble keeping the bottle filled. It feels kind of wasteful, to tell the truth...

The dragonfly (top photo) was my first attempt. I hated it. But later it started to grow on me. The words are from a children's song about dragonflies and sunsets.

The next three attempts. I hated these too. The cucumber says "(Summer is over but) I still have a role to play." The open jar says "I let the fireflies go."

I was pretty disappointed with my towel brush etegami attempts up to this point, so for the next three I made even simpler images. I also used a gel pen to write the words, because I had to fit too many words on each card to attempt it with the thick towel brush. Each quotes a line from a different poem by Japanese poet Kudo Naoko. Top left is a yawning cloud. Top right is a grape dreaming of becoming the moon. Bottom middle shows scattered pieces of a broken heart waiting to be picked up. I hate these too, but I'll look at them again next week and maybe I will feel differently.

Obviously I need lots more practice. Especially practice making towel brushes. The sample art on the poster (top photo) is quite charming though. I wish I could produce something like that. We'll see.

flower salad

I try to get the Etegami Fun Club involved in the Flower City Fukushima Etegami Contest every year. We've produced at least two award-winners so far, although I do recognize that the Japanese judges probably give our entries special consideration because of the novelty of submissions from "foreign lands."

But the Etegami Fun Club is much larger now than it was a few years ago, and this year, members from Italy, France, Canada, the US, Poland, Belarus, (and more) came up with an unprecedented number of submissions. So many, in fact, that submissions from foreigners may soon become so blasé that it will be much more difficult to impress the judges. That, of course, is a good thing. It's further proof that years of effort to spread interest in and passion about the art of etegami has produced results.

The two etegami shown here are from my on-going Flower Salad series. The one at the top is my submission to this year's Flower City Fukushima call. It says "Let's eat flower salad and become beautiful." In Japanese, the word for "beautiful" (kirei) can also mean "clean, pure, pristine" much like the English word when used in a sentence like "What a beautiful day it is!" It is more than physical beauty; it can refer to the spirit or character and, most definitely, the heart. 

new etegami call-- box card art

I don't think I've instigated an etegami call since I retired the Etegami Fun Club Newsletter. And it's high time I did. The challenge this time will be to use gift boxes, commercial product boxes, or product wrappers to make an etegami collage of some kind.  If you can recall my last post, I confess it was in preparation for this etegami call.

Your submission should combine a product box with a handpainted etegami image in the simplest way possible. If there are sensible words already on the box, you don't need to add your own. But if you can add your own words without turning the etegami-collage into a big mess, please do.

Here are the requirements of the call:

1. Your submission to this call should be a physical etegami, not digital. For this call, it should be sent in an envelope through the postal service to the following address:

dosankodebbie's mailart gallery
Hiragishi 2-11-1-22, Toyohira-ku,
Sapporo, 062-0932, JAPAN

2. The submissions should be approximately 15 cm x 10 cm (6 inches x 4 inches) in size.

3. The deadline for sending submissions to this call is October 31, 2014.

4. DON'T FORGET THAT THERE MUST BE AN ETEGAMI ELEMENT= A HAND-PAINTED IMAGE SOMEWHERE ON THE COLLAGE, AND PREFERABLE SOME HAND-WRITTEN WORDS, ALTHOUGH THE WORDS THAT ARE ALREADY PRINTED ON THE CARD MAY BE CONSIDERED SUFFICIENT.

Update: As the submissions come in, I will post them on a new blog I set up just for this challenge. Later in the year, or early next year, I hope to find a more public, real-life venue to display them. Please click this link to see the growing collection of box-card etegami-collages. They are a lot of fun, and everyone has been so creative!

etegami made from gift boxes

etegami bee on a candy box card

Japan has two gift-giving seasons, one in the summer and one in the winter. But that's just the tip of the iceberg of the myriad occasions on which social rules require the giving of gifts. Proper etiquette also requires a response from the receiver, in some cases a return gift of 1/3 to 1/2 the value of the original gift! The customs differ from region to region, and in these days when company employees and civil servants are being transferred frequently from one area of Japan to another, the rules of gift-giving-and-returning can be very confusing even for a native Japanese. I don't worry much about rules, but I do make it a habit (from the heart) to send hand-painted etegami in response to every gift I receive, and sometimes even in place of a gift that might be expected from me if people didn't already assume I was ignorant of such customs.

Many years ago,  a woman in my etegami group showed me a thank-you card she had received from a woman to whom she had sent a box of sweet melons. The woman had simply cut a postcard-sized chunk from the cardboard box the melons had been packed in, being careful to cut it from a part of the box printed with an image of a melon. Then she wrote "thank you" with a permanent black marker, addressed it, stuck a postage stamp on it, and mailed it to my friend. It was simple, it was creative and considerate, and most important of all, my friend was utterly delighted with it. This was my introduction to etegami made from gift boxes.

Since then, whenever possible, I make my thank-you cards from the boxes that the gifts are packaged in. Especially if they are pretty boxes, or printed with a brand logo that is prized all over Japan. Fortunately, there are a lot of pretty boxes in Japan, and I never have a shortage of material for making box cards.

My own personal rule is to add an etegami element to every box card. To the flowery box card (top) that I cut out of a box from a famous Hokkaido candy company, I added a bee that I had painted on a washi card, then cut out and glued to the box card. I glued an etegami shrimp to the light brown card embossed in gold letters with the name of a famous shrimp cracker maker in Nagoya. To the red card that I cut from the box of a well-known Chinese dumpling maker in Tokyo, I added an etegami dragon. Each of these cards were made for the giver of the treats that came in those boxes.

etegami shrimp on a shrimp crackers box card

etegami dragon on a chinese dumpling box card

Because these box cards already have printing on them, I chose not to add any words of my own. The message of delighted gratitude that I want to convey is clear enough, I think.  But if there is enough open space so as not to make the card too cluttered, I might add a quote or words of my own. Like the cookie box card below, to which I added an etegami albatross and a Robert Frost quote. The body of the albatross is placed right over the cookie brand name because I wanted a clean "canvas" to write words of my own. I think I should have spread the writing further to the left and right side of the card. But I need to remind myself of the etegami motto: "Awkward is okay; in fact Awkward is great!"

etegami albatross on a cookie box card

cultural heritage series

UNESCO recently registered “Japanese Cuisine” as an intangible cultural heritage of the world. To commemorate this event, I did a series of etegami depicting dishes that I felt expressed the connection between Japan’s food and cultural identity.

The first illustration depicts a box having lots of compartments filled with a wide variety of tidbits generally called Osechi, which is the label given to food prepared especially for New Year’s Day. Each item has some kind of auspicious meaning, often based on wordplay, although sometimes the significance is in the shape or color of the item.

The second illustration depicts Ishikari Nabe, a hot-pot dish that represents Hokkaido, the part of Japan I call home. This Ishikari Nabe features sea food and agricultural produce for which Hokkaido is known (particularly salmon and salmon eggs). Many regions of Japan are represented by their own particular nabe recipe.

I used a black felt pen instead of the traditional fude writing brush and sumi ink for these, so they don't look much like traditional etegami.

etegami call for artists who love japanese cuisine

a box of osechi (new year food)

THE CHARM OF JAPANESE CUISINE-- EXPRESSED IN ETEGAMI. SPONSORED BY THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND FISHERIES, IN CELEBRATION OF THE UNESCO DECISION TO REGISTER JAPANESE CUISINE AS AN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE WORLD.

ETEGAMI SIZE: 10 cm x 15 cm (approx 4 inches x 6 inches)
THEME: EXPRESS THE CHARMS OF JAPANESE CUISINE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS 

AS THERE IS PAPERWORK INVOLVED WITH THIS CALL, I WILL BE ORGANIZING SUBMISSIONS FROM OUR GROUP AND WILL SUBMIT ALL WORKS ON BEHALF OF THE ETEGAMI FUN CLUB IN ONE LARGE ENVELOPE. YOUR NAME AND COUNTRY WILL BE WRITTEN ON THE DOCUMENTS, AND IF YOU RECEIVE AN AWARD, I WILL NOTIFY YOU AND SEND THE AWARD TO YOU AT MY OWN EXPENSE.

I recommend your sending your submission to me in an envelope, with your name and address written on both the envelope and the back of your etegami.

TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR GROUP SUBMISSION, YOUR WORK MUST REACH ME BY FEBRUARY 1. 2014. THE WORKS WILL BE "JUDGED" IN TOKYO BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY, AND THERE WILL BE AN AWARDS CEREMONY IN MID-MARCH. AS USUAL, THE WORKS WILL NOT BE RETURNED. SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TO ME AT :

DOSANKODEBBIE,
HIRAGISHI 2-11-1-22,
TOYOHIRA-KU,
SAPPORO 062-0932, JAPAN

If you live in Japan and would rather participate in the call directly, go to this LINK (in JAPANESE) EXPLAINING THIS ETEGAMI CALL: http://www.wa-shoku.co.jp/form.php

more snakes (and a reminder)

A reminder to those who wanted to get involved in the snake etegami call. The deadline is coming up quickly. Some great snakes have been arriving by post, and I'm hoping even more will arrive in time to be displayed in the next Etegami newsletter. In the meantime, I've been posting them on my mailart gallery blog for you to enjoy. I'm able to extend the deadline for submissions by about a week. That gives you just enough time to mail your etegami to me!

another snake

snake-themed etegami call

The November issue of the Etegami Fun Club newsletter has gone out to all who have signed up for it so far. If you signed up and can't find it in your mailbox, let me know. Readers who have not yet signed up, and want to know how to do so, should check out the original post.

Everyone, whether you're getting the newsletter or not, is welcome to submit to a Snake-themed etegami call in celebration of  2013, the Year of the Snake (Oriental zodiac). Submissions will be posted in the January newsletter, which is scheduled to come out in mid-December. Here are the details of the call:

Etegami Call:
Rules: Your submission must be hand- drawn on a 10 cm x 15 cm (4”x 6”) postcard. The subject should be one or more snakes on a plain, unpainted background. No digital art or photographs this time around, but other than that, use whatever technique you choose. The image on the card must be accompanied by a few words to qualify as etegami. Avoid the stereotypical New Years greeting if you can, but if you can't, that is all right too.

Send it in an envelope to: Dosankodebbie, Hiragishi 2-11-1-22, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo 062-0932 JAPAN. Submissions much reach me by December 1 if you want to be sure they'll get into the January newsletter. Images and words must be G-rated. Submissions can not be returned. I REALLY look forward to seeing what you come up with. :D

etegami supplies and an etegami call

(1) I will be restocking etegami supplies on my Etsy shop one last time this year. Click here for the list of main items. If there is something special you want me to look for that isn't in the listing, I can give it a try.  Message me on Etsy to pre-order your items, then I will set up a custom listing for you to make the purchase. Your shipping cost will depend on the total weight of the items you order. I will figure it out for you before I set up your custom listing. All transactions must be completed before May 30. I will order from the supplier on June 1, package your items for you when they reach me, and then ship them to you by air mail. Your order should reach you in 2~3 weeks after the transaction.

(2) A British etegami artist friend of mine is calling for etegami on the theme of "England or Englishness." Deadline is June 26. Here is the original announcement:

ETEGAMI CALL! Please submit your etegami on the theme of England or Englishness to help celebrate us hosting the Olympic games and our Queen's Diamond jubilee-60 years on the throne. Please submit to Dan Jones, 15 Aspen Way, Newport, Shropshire TF 107EE, UK. Deadline is 26th June. I'm going to try and get some gallery space in Shrewsbury, if not I will create a Blog to exhibit them.

reading-themed etegami call

I'm thrilled to be able to tell you about a fun etegami call conceived by librarian and etegami aficionado, Judy Brown. 

Theme: Books, reading, libraries, or literacy 

Send to: c/o Judy Brown, San Miguel Library, P.O.Box 86, San Miguel, CA, 93451 USA

Deadline: Etegami submissions must reach the San Miguel Library by June 12 to be included in the exhibit. 

You may mail your etegami as-is, but if you want it to be better protected, I suggest sending it in an envelope. You may submit as many as you want, but your etegami can not be returned to you.

Here's the original notice that Judy posted on the Etegami Fun Club page on Facebook. 

"San Miguel Library will have a special program of Japanese drummers and more to celebrate the annual summer reading program and Japanese culture. A display of Etegami would be a wonderful addition. If you would like to send an etegami about books, reading, libraries, or literacy, please mail them to San Miguel Library, P.O.Box 86, San Miguel, CA, 93451
Thank you!"

"breakfast" etegami gallery

by Samantha (Australia). Awesome perspective! Someday I'll have to try vegemite, though I hear it's an acquired taste. I love the woody texture of the floor. Check out Samantha's website: A Drawing a Day


2 pieces by Mireille Ono (Japan, by way of France). One shows a western-style breakfast, the other Japanese-style. The words on the second etegami say "Builds the heart. Builds the body. Good medicine."

by Carole Marshall (Australia). My breakfast comes with a lot of pills too, Carole. What a clever idea to include them in your breakfast etegami! Check out Carole's website: Origa-me Origa-me.


by Corrine Girard (France). This is exactly what I imagine a French breakfast to look like! See Corrine's cute Rabbit Breakfast on my Mailart Gallery blog.



2 pieces by Fumiko Koga (Japan). The first has a doodle of Fumiko's beloved pet dog in the bottom right corner, sniffing enviously, and it says "It's only hot miso soup, rice, seaweed, and tofu. But it's delicious because Mother made it." The second says "I woke up too late to make breakfast. I'm sorry." Search for more of Fumiko's work on my MailArt Gallery blog!



Two pieces by Katerina Nikoltsou (Greece). She paints on soft woven paper (almost like cloth) that comes as close to washi as she has been able to find in Greece. Katerina has sent me lots of great mailart over the years. Search for more of her work on my Mailart Gallery blog!


by Lisa Erickson (USA). What a charming mug! Lisa also sent me an iced tea etegami which you can see here. Check out her website: A Paper Snowflake


by Lisa Nylander (Japan). The writing is a bit faded, but it says "Today I'm a bread person. Tomorrow who knows?" Lisa, I've never had bananas on French bread. It really looks good. I'm going to have to try it!


by Mayumi Miyagawa (Japan). "One each day is the basis of good health." See lots more of Mayumi's etegami on my Mailart Gallery.

by Moses (Singapore). I love the wordplay on this one! Check out his website: Pause-ability


You can review my own previously-posted breakfast etegami by clicking here and here.

If you submitted to this challenge and don't see your work posted above, it may be because it didn't fit the size or content guidelines posted here. In that case, your work has been posted in the mailart gallery along with other fabulous mailart.

If you still can't find your work, don't hesitate to contact me and we'll try to figure out what happened to it. If you want me to change or add (name, website, etc) to the information posted beneath your work, be sure to let me know!

Thank you all for submitting your delightful work. I've sent etegami replies to those who sent me their work by traditional post, for whom I have addresses. If you sent me your work by email, and would like an etegami from me, please message me with your postal address. oxox

last reminder- breakfast etegami call

I'm getting some delightful submissions to the Breakfast-themed Etegami Call, and they will all be posted here on December 1. If you'd been meaning to send me something, and had forgotten, there are two more weeks before the deadline. Click here for submission guidelines. If you don't understand something, don't hesitate to ask.

I've posted an old etegami depicting my favorite Japanese-style breakfast. A bowl of hot rice topped with a very fresh raw egg. I drizzle a bit of soy sauce over the top and mix it all together. Served with a side of Japanese-style vegetable pickles. Yum yum.

reminder: etegami call "breakfast"

Submissions to the Breakfast Etegami Call are starting to come in, but in case you missed my invitation, please check for details on this post. The deadline is November 30, so you have plenty of time. Submissions will be posted here on this blog on December 1.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of breakfast etegami that I painted this week. A bowl of cold cereal with milk (left) is a typical hot-weather breakfast for me. Or, if I have any over-ripe fruit sitting around, I might blend myself a yogurt shake (top).

Cold-weather breakfasts are an entirely different matter. I get ravenous in cold weather. I'll see what cold-weather breakfast etegami I can come up with in the next few weeks and post them as further reminders that I look forward eagerly to seeing your breakfast etegami!

etegami call "breakfast"

Some of you may remember that I used to post fairly regularly about Etegami Magazine, a monthly publication from the Japan Etegami Association. Membership is a bit pricey, and I had to let my subscription expire at the end of the first year. Recently, I decided to treat myself to another year of the magazine, and was thrilled when the first issue arrived yesterday. One feature that immediately caught my eye was a collection of etegami on the theme of "breakfast."

Some of the breakfasts were planned around a bowl of rice (top), others were planned around bread (left). My Japanese acquaintances often ask me if I'm a "bread breakfast person" or a "rice breakfast person," and are a bit startled when I explain that my breakfasts don't fit their tidy categories.

I'm curious what you, my dear readers, ate for breakfast this morning. And as it's been such a long while since I put out a call for etegami, I thought this might be a good topic to try out. What do you think? It should be fun!

These are the rules:

1. Submit an etegami on the subject of breakfast. You may send it by post or by email attachment (jpg file). My postal address is at the top of my mailart gallery blog, and my email address is on my profile.

2. Submissions must be postcard size: approximately 10 cm x 15 cm (roughly 4 x 6 inches).

3. Any medium is allowed. It doesn't have to be watercolor on washi.

4. To qualify as etegami, it must have words on it.

5. Submissions must reach me by November 30, 2011 (Japan time) at the latest, in order to be posted on my blog on December 1.

Submitted etegami will not be returned, and there will be no judging or awards. It is not a contest. I will, however, try reply to your submission with an etegami of my own, as I always do when anyone sends me etegami.

Ask me questions if you are confused about any aspect of this etegami call. I'm looking forward to lots of submissions! Have fun!
.

mini-exhibit (autumn)

Acorns by Mike Szwarc (USA)

Changeable Autumn Weather by Carole Marshall (Australia), Autumn Leaf by Yun Stouls (France)

Autumn Leaves by Katerina Nikoltsou (Greece)

Bursting Chestnut "under the spreading chestnut tree" by dosankodebbie (Japan), Autumn Leaf by Jennifer Kennedy (USA)

Persimmons Hung to Dry "getting sweeter by being hung and dried" by dosankodebbie, Horse Chestnuts (Psalm 51:2) by dosankodebbie

Chestnuts "good friends" by Michiko Shimizu (Japan), Hototogisu Flower (Tricyrtis) "to be among the autumn grasses" by Youko Ogawa (Japan)


Yellow Cosmos Flower "waving at a blue sky" by Michiko Shimizu (Japan), Pine Cone "fragrance of pine" by dosankodebbie, Pear "the color of autumn" by Takako Chida (Japan)


My warm thanks to all who responded to the Autumn-themed Etegami call, even though I gave you very little warning. The deadline was actually calculated to keep you from spending too much time on your submission. Etegami are best when they're drawn without too much self-conscious planning. Some additional pieces may still be on their way, but I've decided to go ahead and post what has already arrived. Any etegami arriving after today will be posted on my mailart gallery instead of here.

autumn-themed etegami call

You are invited to send me your hand-painted etegami on any subject associated with Autumn. Please abide by the basic definition of etegami, which is a simple image accompanied by suitable words. Postcard-sized submissions only, please. Choice of medium and style is up to you. Your etegami should be postmarked by November 10 in order to reach me in time to be included in the Autumn-themed Etegami Mini-Exhibit, which will be posted on this blog in mid-November. Your submissions will not be returned. My address is at the top of my mailart gallery blog. Have fun!

Attached is an etegami I drew of some kabosu, a tart, juicy citrus fruit that is used in Japan like lemon or vinegar, especially as a seasoning in autumn cuisine.

tamano "sea-themed etegami" call (part 2)

Remember my post about the Sea-themed etegami call taking place this summer in the city of Tamano, Okayama? This etegami depicting a hatchling turtle is the one I decided to send. It's actually one I intended for the Ripple series but never got around to finishing. So I added Japanese words that basically mean "Please don't pollute our ocean," signed my name and prefecture at the bottom (as per instructions), and sent it off today. I think the Tamano etegami call is supposed to be a Feel-Good kind of event, so my contribution may not quite fit. But at least I remembered to send something at all. : )

tamano "sea-themed etegami" call

The coastal city of Tamano in Okayama prefecture, in conjuction with the Japan Etegami Society, is calling for Etegami on the theme of the Sea. There is no fee to enter. There are no prizes. Submissions will not be returned. All submissions will be exhibited from October 30 to November 7, 2010 at two locations in Tamano city.

How to submit to this call:

• Submissions will be accepted from May 6 to August 31, 2010

• Only one submission per person is allowed

• Size of etegami should be approximately 10cm x 15cm (4 in x 6 in)

• Write the name of your prefecture/country and your own name in the bottom 1 cm of the card, on the same side as the artwork.

• On the address side of the card, write the address in the center-to-right half of the card (in Japanese as shown in the attached image) and your own complete address, name, and age in smaller letters in the lower left.

• It doesn't matter if you use the card vertically or horizontally for your artwork.

• The postage stamp must be on the addressed side of the card (not on the image side), and the card should not be placed in an envelope.

The sample etegami on the printed announcement are of images as varied as a lighthouse, a tropical fish, a swimsuit and beach ball, suntanned feet, sun setting on the horizon, seafood platter, shellfish-- giving you an idea of how far and wide you can go with the sea-theme. You can see that some of the samples break many of the guidelines of traditional etegami (such as not filling in the background). So feel free to draw in any style you like.

If you are unable to write the address in Japanese letters, use the following romanized address:

Dai 25-kai Kokumin Bunkasai, Tamano-shi Jikko-iinkai Jimukyoku
Uno 1-27-1 , Tamano-shi, Okayama-ken, 706-8510 JAPAN

I plan to submit something. You should too. It will be fun!