The Space Between the Trees

I just returned from an exceptional art trip to Japan, meeting with calligraphers, gold leaf and wood block artists, ceramicists and mask designers. The country is an artist’s dream. Even the most inexpensive gift is carefully wrapped in beautiful paper. Besides the famous cherry blossoms, there are entire hillsides of magenta azaleas and fields of the same swaying indigo irises that were painted on an ancient gold screen that now lives in the Nezu Museum. Peonies are the size of salad plates and each petal hangs like a piece of fine silk. The architecture is just as thoughtful, fresh and exciting. The windows in one high rise retail building in Tokyo were actually designed to mimic the spaces between the branches of the trees that line the busy street. Even a rainy day makes the shapes and calligraphy of the landscape appear as artistic as the art inside the museums. Sigh. Did I mention the food? The “canvas” is a bento box or a beautiful plate, and serious attention is paid to the colors and design of the food placed there. One dinner included 88 different plates specifically chosen to suit the food served upon it and each one was a visual delight. I took pictures of every dish and who knows? If I could resist eating it, my next series might be one of the beauty of food.

Just before I left Tucson for this trip, I painted a palo verde tree that caught my eye at Tohono Chul Park. It was the calligraphy of the branches and that special Spring green that delighted me. Now I think I was priming my eye for Japan and plan to continue exploring this idea. The desert is usually so spare and muted--then it bursts into color for a short window of time. Very Japanese.

When I returned from the trip, I was very honored and pleased to find out that I was accepted into the Salmagundi Club in New York. This is a very old, prestigious club for artists and I look forward to visiting and showing my work there. The idea of tradition and valuing art through many generations is, thankfully, not just Japanese.

I’ll be spending a lot of time this spring and summer working to continue the lessons and insights from this trip, from Tucson to Tokyo and now on to New York. If you can’t get to Japan in the near future, I hope my work will offer you a little of the excitement and beauty that I discovered there.

Arigato,
Jane-san