I knew it would happen...
sooner or later the writing of haiku poetry was bound to pull me further into Japanese art and design
I've always had a love of the aesthetics of their art, the simplicity of it so not much wonder, but I was also given a good nudge from Nigel Slater's new book "A Thousand Feasts"
in it he mentions a few Japanese potters and craftsmen and Google led me astray from there
one of the places I landed was an article with beautiful examples of the art of "kintsugi", mending broken pottery with gold
much as I would love to learn pottery, now is not the time...
but... I did think I could try reinterpreting kintsugi on paper
and so I've had a go, using some of my ink-painted paper
first, a "crack"
on the blue paper it could be thought a lightning bolt...
it came out rather flat though, not enough silver leaf medium I think
short straight lines
thinking of "broken silver lines" from one of my poems though these aren't quite what I had in mind
a soft bush and too much pressure created more of a channel than a line, evidenced by the thin dark line in the centre of each mark
little dots, like rain
different sizes dry at different rates making applying the silver leaf at the right time a bit of a challenge
consistency is key, and perhaps a different brush for removing the excess silver leaf
my favourite
more of a "join" than a decorative mark
a different brush, thicker line and as I went over it, adding more medium, I did it in a rope-like mark
it's a bit lost in this close-up but in the next photo you get a bit more sense of that
some interesting trials but more I want to do
the materials are all on my worktable, waiting for tomorrow
more line practicing for sure, and perhaps I'll try a few different tools to see what kind of effects I can get
as with everything I do, the busier my hands get with something new the more my head starts to get involved; what I'm doing feeds what I'm thinking
I'm not done with my Japanese art and craft investigations though
the website that had the kintsugi instructions also has a video or two on sumi ink calligraphy
at least I already have the ink... and the paper... and a brush
3 comments:
Oh how fabulous are these? I do love those times when you are looking at something unrelated then bing you wonder what if I...? and off you go on a glorious adventure. The silver leaf is beautiful on these papers and I love your learnings along the way. I think the join and the first crack one are my favourites for the idea of kintsugi, but the others offer beautiful design options too. What fun!
Oho, kintsugi is cropping up all over the place. It's such an interesting idea, isn't it!
I do love your what if explorations! I am wondering 'what if' you tried drawing with a feather before adding the silver leaf? Perhaps it wouldn't allow for enough fixative prior to adding the leaf. Might be a fun experiment though. OR...gold or silver paint applied with a feather?
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