Back to the kiln

Now that I have finished the last show of this year I am free to go back to finishing my catenary snake kiln. I am putting the floor in now. I have 30cm. by 30 cm. by 14 cm. thick large bricks that I am laying, putting a crushed fire brick mixed with mortar and rice hulls. In my calculation the rice hull is going to burn away and leave lots of little holes that will in effect give better heat transfer resistance that if they weren’t there.

Finished

I finally finished my show at Joyusha . For all my complaints it was a pleasant experience. I learned a few things about what it takes to sell at shows. Number one is that talking to the people who come to the show is not only important to the sales end of the equation but I felt strange if someone bought something and I hadn’t talked to them. The gallery is small, about 10 tatami mats, roughly 11.5 square meters.  The roof is low and the floor creaks with every step anyone takes. The total effect is of a delicate space that is too small for my towering 5 foot 5 inch  pacing presence.

I went to the gallery for a total of 5 days, two weekends and one weekday. The days I wasn’t there I had almost zero sales, the days I was there the sales were enough to make it worthwhile. The last hour of the last day a very attractive woman walked in, without hesitation took one long-necked bottle I had made that others had religiously ignored  and said she would buy it.  She then picked up a long narrow plate and said that since she had ordered tea she had to go downstairs and drink that and that if anyone came in to buy those two items I should come down immediately and tell her. I didn’t bother to tell her that even though those two pieces were among my favorites I seriously doubted anyone would swoop in to buy them.  She did buy them and in talking to her more found out she is a designer of commercials and was on a site hunting trip in Nara.

Back to building my kiln.

Kimonos

Today I went to a kimono auction in Kyoto. Take a look at the pictures to see some of the treasures I picked up. The auction itself was held in a shop, very small, fast and fun. Faster even than the last kimono auction I went to. Everyone had about 30 seconds per lot to decide the quality, price, etc. The bidding lasted at most 5 seconds. The bidding wasn’t really bidding as the word is understood in English. Each lot went on the block the same way. The pieces were laid out, one on the bottom serving as a “wrapper” for the pieces on top. When the full lot was decided, that is all the pieces in the lot had been shown front and back and put together, the “bidding” started and stopped in a couple of seconds. You were supposed to say your maximum price the first time, the highest bid won, no second bids allowed. If, as often happened, two or more people said the same price a dice was rolled and the number was used in a fashion that was unclear to me to determine the winner. I lost a number of times because I barked out my bid a second to late.

Now to sell all this. I would like to set up a live auction. If anyone has an idea on how to set one up, say on Ning or somewhere, please let me know. I would like some people interested in Japanese textiles and that have some computer skills to help me if there are any out there.

 

First full day at Joyusha.

I spent yesterday from about 12:00-4:30 at my show, talking to people who came by. Very interesting. The “buy” rate was about 90%. Extremely high I think. Overall visitor count was low but those that came seemed ready to buy. There was a group of about 7 women that dropped in because they had seen the poster out on the street. The only reason it is worth mentioning is they are all from my immediate neighborhood. The way life in this village works even though they represent more than 50% of the total of my closest neighbors not only didn’t I recognize 4 out of the 7 I haven’t talked to the 3 I recognized for more than 6 years. Only 2 of the 7 bothered to say hello while they were in the gallery. Welcome to Japan.

Yokoso.

Temari

I recently read a moving and interesting article on the history of the temari as it relates to the kimono. The temari is a decorative　thread   ball  that I have  had absolutely no interest in.  The article can be accessed here. The portion that jumped out at me and led me to read further on the topic is where John Marshall writes about the treatment of women in Japan. Cutting and pasting from the article.

Actually, something quite beautiful is made-

Picture a rural farm setting, long, long ago. A baby girl is born to a young mother and cherished as the thing most precious to her heart. As the baby is nurtured from infancy to adolescence, her mother will worry over her future lot in life.

As the child blossoms, her mother will save each of those threads pulled from the kimono that have graced and protected her. With a small treasured stone, shell, bead, or written prayer as the core, the mother will start to wind the threads, creating lively, colorful patterns as she works her magic. With each wrap of the fiber, with each change in the pattern, she will pray for her treasure-child’s health and happiness.

Until one day a stranger comes to take her away as a bride, perhaps never to be seen again. How can a mother bear such a burden? How can she possibly communicate all that she, with her entire being, wishes for her dear daughter?

John Marshall goes on,

In the loneliness of a foreign household, in the arms of a stranger, under the watch of a demanding mother-in-law, in the pain of child-birth, she will have her nurture-infused temari to keep the memories of her sun filled childhood, sheltered in the arms of her loving mother, alive in her heart.

End cut.

Very nice story and I am sure that is the case somewhere. My problem with it is while some parts of the story are true the main thrust doesn’t seem to match any of what is written. See here, here , here, or if you read Japanese　a cut and paste,

「手まり」は、平安時代に中国から伝えられたといわれており、清少納言の「枕草子」にも貴族の遊び事として登場しています。その後、一般に普及するとともに、全国各地で独自の技法や美しい紋様が作られてきました。
讃岐には、草木染による木綿糸を用いて、染糸１本１本を針でかがりながら、２０余りの模様を描き出す技法に特色があります。
今回は、讃岐かがり手まりの基礎的な作り方を行います。

I think in popular culture it is usual to portray the treatment of Japanese women in this way but the reality I have seen here doesn’t support such an oppressed position. John has far more experience and knowledge in things related to Japanese textiles than me so it is surprising he would write something so different from what others have written. Maybe he has secret knowledge.

Show at Joyusha in Nara.

Here are some pictures of my show that starts the 14th.

“New” vintage Japanese haori.

I am always amazed at the quality of the vintage haori and kimono I come across. This one is no exception. Black base with Dianthus japonicus in fine detail throughout the whole piece. I looked up “nadeshiko” which is the name in Japanese and only came up with “Pink”. I didn’t know there is a flower named pink. A whole family of them in fact.

Another thing about this haori that gives a lot of insight into Japan is the fact that it has never been worn. I come across a lot of kimono and haori that are “new” vintage. What happens a lot of times is either the piece was given as a present and never worn or taken with the woman when she moved out of her parents home to get married. Traditionally she would take a whole house full of furniture and the tansu, dressers, would be filled with kimono and other clothes. Many of them never to be worn. A living tradition as it is still practiced in the countryside.

The right price.

I went to a shop that carries antique kimonos today. It is run by the second daughter of a major figure in the antique fabrics world in Japan. The first daughter runs a shop in Tokyo while the third daughter is still learning the trade. The mother and father of the three run a shop in front of the oldest wooden building in the world, Horyuji temple. The shop I visited is directly in front of the train station in Horyuji.

The first thing I noticed was the beauty of the shop. It was just redone a couple of months ago. There was incense burning and the overall effect was of a very well-run, nicely decorated small shop. I would guess it is about ten tatami mats in all, roughly 15 square meters.

The selection was really nice. Limited but very nice. There were  maybe 40-50 pieces total in the shop, kimonos, obis, purses, etc. Very old pieces to post war but probably nothing newer than 1955 or so. A lot of antique fabric swatches, enough to make any lover of fabric drool.

The next thing I noticed was the prices. I sell antique kimono and obi on my Etsy site. I do it mainly because I like kimono and obi, less to make a profit. I saw today I am selling for less than 1/4 market price. If you look at my site you will see some great deals. I don’t think I will raise my prices but I was surprised to see how much things cost in the real world.

Iga Ueno and Shigaraki

I spent the day driving around the Iga/Ueno and Shigaraki area. I first stumbled on a guy firing a kiln while his father looked on. He was firing without any temperature reading devices. I felt much better about the condition of my kiln after seeing the condition of his kiln and  chimney. There are also pictures of his father’s work.

The second place I went is to a guy named Kyono. He does Bizen type work. The pictures are of his house. All the wood is black from smoke from a wood burning stove.

Nara Japan

I took a walk down to Nara today to ut my show notice postcards around Naramachi. It was about a 20 km. walk. I found the best display I have seen yet in a city run place. I have pictures. The base is a large square with 6 pieces in it. As you approach it tiny fish scatter around. It has live fish in the water which is about 5 cm. deep. Very interesting and neat display.

I took a rest in front of Gojunoto for about 30 minutes. The video,  here, is of a scene that suddenly appeared behind my. The priests seemed to be moving some items in the procession. There is sunlight that got into the video. Sorry about that.