departures (1)

Each year comes with more and more goodbyes. Autumn, a natural season for departures, makes such losses even more poignant than they already are. I try to remember that departure from here connects to arrival somewhere else, and new life.

The card at the top is for a dear friend who has decided to leave Japan after more than 40 years. The intended recipients of the other two must remain a mystery.

illustration friday (crooked)

Japanese-style scarecrow in a rice field

illustration friday (burst)

This "bursting chestnut" etegami quotes from Ode to a Chestnut on the Ground, a poem by Pablo Neruda.

etegami fun club newsletter

This weekend I will be sending out the first issue of a monthly newsletter about anything related to etegami. If you are interested in signing up for it (it's free), and want to know how, go to the original post here.  The newsletter will arrive in your email box as an attached PDF file. The first issue is only two pages long and feedback is very welcome.

illustration friday (imagination)

The word "imagination" immediately calls to mind Misuzu Kaneko (1903-1930), the beloved Japanese writer of poems and songs for children. This is the fifth poem I've translated for my on-going series of etegami illustrating Kaneko's poems. It seems especially appropriate for this week's topic.

The Stars and the Dandelion

In the deepest part of the blue sky,
like small stones that sink to the bottom of the sea,
the stars wait until nightfall
the eye cannot see them by daylight

though you cannot see them, they are there
things you can't see are still there

The wilted dandelion, bare of fluff

in a crack of the riverbank, silent
concealed, waits for spring
its powerful root hidden from the eye

though you cannot see it, it is there
things you can't see are still there

by Misuzu Kaneko

winners of the september give-away

Thanks to all the WONderful readers who asked to be included in the drawing for the etegami-collage give-away! I wanted to send something to each of you, but, alas, I had to draw four names from a brown paper bag, and these are the results! Congratulations to:

Aurora gets the snail.
Laura B gets the well.
Perogyo gets the cap.
Christine gets the cow-- Christine, please email me your full name and postal address so I can send the card to its new home. dosankodebbie (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) jp

etegami calendars

"A Year of Etegami Flowers"

"All Creatures Great and Small"

"Illustrated Recipes"

"Words to Light the Way"

I've added new design choices to the Etegami Calendars I offer on my RedBubble gallery, so you can get an early start on a holiday gift for yourself or someone else. Another good reason to get an early start is that all four designs are being offered at 0% mark-up until September 15, which means you get them for the price of printing and not a cent more (apart from shipping charges). Think about it. Click here to see close-ups of each page.  

P.S. These photos show the back cover of each calendar. Three out of the four have an entirely different etegami featured on the front cover, so that gives you a total of 13 etegami in each calendar. The recipe calendar is the exception. It has only 12 different photos.

a new etegami newsletter

There has been a rising demand for an affordable English language substitute for the JES (Japan Etegami Society) monthly magazine "Gekkan Etegami," which is both outrageously expensive and (obviously) all written in Japanese. So I've decided to put together a monthly English-language newsletter devoted to the subject of etegami. I hope to summarize some of the more relevant articles in the JES magazine, as well as explain the history, trends, and techniques of traditional Etegami. I also want to introduce the works of popular Japanese etegami artists and current etegami contest information. It will be in the form of a PDF file, starting out at two pages per issue. I hope to send it out by email attachment at the beginning of each month, and it will be FREE of charge.

I hope to get the first issue ready to ship by October 1.  If you want to sign up for a copy, send your email address to dosankodebbie (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) jp   

glorious summer vegetables

cucumbers

tomatoes

more tomatoes

eggplants

goya (bitter melon)

kabocha (Japanese pumpkin, top) and misc. veggies

corn on the cob

legumes (top) bell peppers (bottom)

In honor of summer's end, I selected some charming examples of traditional etegami from the pages of the September issue of Gekkan Etegami (the Japan Etegami Society's official magazine). These were painted and submitted by Society members throughout this summer.  I, as you know, spent most of the summer experimenting with new inks and painting styles. But when I saw these pictures, I fell in love all over again with good old traditional etegami.

september give-away (etegami collages)

Snail with haiku by Issa

"Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost

Common theme in Japanese horror tales

From my Proverbial Cow series

Can you believer it's already time for the September give-away? I picked out four of my etegami-collages, one each for four randomly selected winners. Each one is from a different series, and each is an original etegami-collage constructed with painted etegami images and washi paper backgrounds, glued onto re-purposed stiff paper backings.  If you want to be considered for the give-away, please indicate this clearly in a comment below.  I will chose four names on September 8. As usual, I can't promise which work will go to which winner, but it would be helpful if you indicated your preference(s) anyway.   

Note: This give-away is limited to followers of this blog. If you aren't already following, there are three easy ways you can do this, and they can be found in the right-hand sidebar of this page. If you take this opportunity to newly follow/subscribe, please tell me which method you used.