Sumi-e

This is the new lamp shade I made after fixing the floor lamp. The shade is "rice" paper with sumi-e.

From Minto Three Athabaskan brothers, out winter hunting, temperature 40 - 50 below, near village of Minto. See vapor rising from a snow hill. Bear's den. Bear's breath condensing above the den. Vapor rising. Two older brother say to young brother: "Hey! Bear's winter sleeping inside den. Now you kill your first bear! We'll help carry meat back to village." Younger brother say: "No way! You two go I'm scared." Older brothers: "You go kill bear, get meat for the whole village or we'll beat the shit out of you!" Younger brother more scared of older brothers so he crawls in to bear den. He mover slow . Feels around. Feels fur. Lightly runs hand to backbone right behind the head. Draws his knife back behind his side but hand brushes more fur! Another bear! He backs off, feels lighty lightly around. Finds 3 bears in den. Doesn't want to crawl back out, fears brothers beat him. Kneels in the den. Thinks. Thinks. Feels and finds spine on 1st and second bear. Keeping feet in place feels lightly 3rd bear. Thinks. 'Strike spine 1st bear break spine, reach back strike 2nd bear same way, 2 steps hand on 3rd bear's head push knife hard!' Breathe. Breaths. Breaths. Moves! Strike strike strike!! Crawls runs like hell out of den! Brother say; What for you run out baby?" "3 bears!" he tells them. They laugh; "No way you baby, never 3 bears in den!" He looks back at den, nobody coming out, so he tell them: "It's OK they all dead." They laugh more. He says: "OK by golly you go look!" They push him in snow but then see his bloody knife and wonder. So... They go beat on den with log. Nothing happens. They shout and yell. Nothing happens. So they light torch, push it ahead and slow, very slow, crawl in to den. Find 3 dead bears. Village have plenty of meat that winter. Older brothers never ever pick on younger brother again. So! Remember. Be quick! Be smart!

Meanwhile... stopped for supper in this small yakatori on a little back street near Okayama JR Station. The place was only big enough to seat 6 or 8 people at the most. Quite nice, good food, congenial hosts!

Monochrome. In the style of the Orient (sumi-e) but with Occidental brush (fan brush), medium (watercolor) and paper (Cansons 140 pound cold pressed 9 by 12 inches).

I got up around 6 in the morning down in Valdez, Alaska, went outside and found the mountains wrapped in mist and fog, -an ever changing pattern of lights and dark. Done on my iTouch using zen brush.

Brushed ink on 'rice' paper, 12 by 18 inches.

Ink.

Some of my sumi-e, Japanese ink painting, tools. The fude, brush, on the far left, is one I just got from my daughter for my birthday. Yep, yesterday I turned 39, -for the 33rd time, for the 33rd year in a row!

Done with Zen Brush application on my iTouch.

狸, Tanuki an animal indigenous to Japan with relatives on the Asian continent. 狸 Tanuki is often, in English, translated as 'raccoon dog'. -though it is no relation to the raccoon nor the dog. In Japanese folklore 狸 is mischievous, capricious, and sometimes downright mean and nasty. He is usually depicted with a straw hat, a jug of sake in hand and a purse of pad hanging on his waist that he uses to write the IOUs for all the sake he drinks. He is also usually depicted with a grand belly and exceptionally large gonads dragging the ground. Sumi-e. inks brushed on 'rice' paper, unmounted, 13 by 18 inches. Thanks for viewing; Jim (狸爺)

元旦,いえ. Gantan; the first kanji of the new year. It is customary, especially for school children in Japan, to carefully write a kanji to celebrate the start of the new year. Often the Kanji is carefully considered to express a mood or a profound thought. I couldn't think of ______ so.....

12"X18", "rice" paper, unmounted.