Nagasawa festival and Awaji puppet theatre company

Today was the Nagasawa Festival.  The artists took part in running a workshop organised by Masahiro-san and Keiko san for the children of the local school.  We collected leaves from the local temple..

And then had two large scrolls of paper on which the artists drew trees with animals in..

The children then glued the leaves onto the trees.  There was a wonderful sense of community about the day which I really enjoyed.  I tend to work 12 or so hours a day and the weeks blend into the weekends, so it was nice to do something totally different.  It was nice to feel part of the bigger picture of Nagasawa.

Here are the finished images.  I like the way that the images were framed against the backdrop of the mountains.

Awaji puppet theatre then came to give some performances and talks for us.  The puppet theatre's ethos is very closely linked to that of Noh and Kabuki [traditional Japanese theatre].  During the performances, the puppeteers wear black masks, so the focus is on the puppets.  I liked the eeriness of this effect.  Like all traditional Japanese arts, it takes years to master, as each body movement can suggest a mood or atmosphere. I am very drawn to the aesthetics and philosophy of Noh, so enjoyed the puppet show tremendously.  Like Noh, the puppet performances are seen as a prayer in front of the gods, so at the beginning, wooden sticks are clapped together to attract the attention of the deities. 

Here a character is being brought to life.

At the side of the show, sat an orator and an instrumentalist.  They both explained their parts in creating the show.  The orator demonstrated different voices that he uses to convey different parts that are played.  Even though the entire afternoon was in Japanese, I understood quite a bit of what was being said.  I seem to be understanding how Japanese sounds and it is not that difficult to ascertain meaning.  

The orator reads from a book, which is shown here, alongside the drum.

The puppeteers then showed us their role in the performances, including how the puppets are animated.  It takes three people to animate each puppet. The two pictures below show the different states of one mask.  He pulled a lever and the face changed completely.

These shoes are used by the actors to elevate themselves if the character needs to be raised into the air, for example if it is walking [as a human], or flying [as an element or spirit].

Here, the performers are demonstrating how the puppet works, showing us different expressions.

We were then very honoured to be invited to experience trying to work one of the puppets.

The puppeteers then put on a short performance for us, to finish the day.

First image of tryptych..

This is the first is a series of three images called 'kokoro' or in kanji, 心. I am using Holbein 'Iridori' pigment for this image. Iridori is a type of Japanese painting and all the colours are sampled from the pallet used for this type of work. This is the first layer, which is yellow followed by gold.

Then the second layer which is light blue followed by dark blue whilst it was still wet. This starts to give the appearance of material. There are bokashi [gradient] layers on both the blue and yellow, to suggest a slightly ethereal mood.

I then put a bokashi with no nori on the bottom of the image. I used a Sumi baren [a baren for detailed lines; there is another baren called a be-ta, which is for more solid areas] with a horizontal movement instead of the usual circular motion, which gives a flat colour, to create the texture. On this layer in particular the grooves of the bamboo skin covering the baren can be seen. I deliberately rotated the skin so it would create this effect. This block also had the shadows cut on, to begin to give the hakama folds some depth.

Then, another bokashi on a seperate layer to build up the background. Again, two passes, one with light brown and then one with gold.

I then printed a solid colour onto the background to make the entire image pop forward. I then overprinted a white band to illuminate the image. I then printed the shadows underneath the feet on a separate layer, first with silver and then grey. I didn't like the way the background looked like an abstract shape, so the image was then cropped down to create the impression of space either side. This also focuses in on the hakama patterning and the movement of the feet, instead of the positioning on a stage.

Residency..

As promised a couple of days ago, here are some pictures of the residency studio.  This is the view over Awaji from where my desk is.

This is the studio. 

And finally my desk.  Here all my brushes and carving implements are laid out ready for work.

And finally, this is one of the new blocks I have been working on since we moved studio on Monday.  I am creating three images, based on some of the patterns within Noh theatre. By patterns I mean both of the costumes that are worn during the performances and the patterns of movement that the actors use.  This is a five block print which will be built up in twelve passes. This is the keyblock, or to use laymans terms, the block that is printed first and every other block aligned to.

Folklore and Noh..

Sunday 2nd November.  Today we were taken further afield on Awaji island.  We went to the local folk museum where we were shown an example of an authentic Edo period house.  The image below is taken from inside the house.

Awaji was ravaged by an earthquake and this picture below is from a museum, which was built over the site of the fault line.  Here, scientists can study how earthquakes operate. In the picture it can be seen how the tectonic plates had shifted during the quake.

These are some pictures taken from the City Hall, where we had met the mayor a couple of weeks ago.  The bonsai exhibition is part of a wider cultural festival that took place over the weekend.

This is a view taken from outside the local onsen.

Sunday evening.  At sunset, we went to see a Noh play at Izanagi shrine.  Here is the entrance to the Noh play.

This photo was taken inside the shrine, where the play was being performed.

Here a Shinto blessing is being performed on stage.  In Noh, the stage is the place where the seen and unseen worlds meet. Dramas are played out where human actors try and resolve obstacles before the gods.  Usually, there is only one piece of scenery, which is a pine tree painted on the back wall.  This tree is the place where the gods 'descend' to and the play is performed as an offering to the gods.

On Wednesday the master printer comes to teach us until Friday.  We then move all our equipment to the residency for the five remaining weeks.

day 12 - Sekioka sensei returns home..

Today, Sekioka sensei returned home, but not before letting us have a go with cutting 'sakura no ki'..cherry wood. It was very difficult indeed to cut through the wood as it is very tough. This is great for making very detailed images, but our hangi-to knives were too wide to do it. He then allowed me to use one of his knives and it became a lot easier.

He then showed us the correct way to sharpen our knives, using a set of stones that go from very rough to very smooth. These stones have to be soaked in water before use, and then kept wet, otherwise they can damage the blades.

From left to right..back row - Dyan, Keiko-san. Middle row - myself and Michael. Front row, Elettra, Sekioka sensei and Asa. The tatami mats we are sitting on are actually quite comfortable now. We have to sit in seiza for 7 hours of the day [for those who don't know, the people in the front row of the photograph are sitting in seiza - it is the traditional Japanese way and is quite nice once one's legs get used to it], so this is a good thing.

Here sensei shows us the traditional way of sitting to do moku hanga. This is a moku hanga table which is slightly angled. I am going to see if I can get one of these [or make one] for when I get home. I can't really imagine making moku han prints whilst seated at a western style table now, it would seem quite odd to do so.

Regular readers may remember a picture I posted a couple of days ago showing the first cuts from my new block. Since then I abandoned that block [I started cutting it before Sekioka sensei came to teach us] and this is the new block, cut down to the second layer of plywood. I don't think I have done that bad a job.

On Sunday, we are going to a bonsai museum and then to a shrine, where there will be an outdoor Noh theatre performance. I think I might use the photographs from that as part of the work I will be making over the next six weeks.