-N- – Page 710 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

The Four Treasures: Inkstone / Suzuri, vii

Every region has its artistic styles, as well as every time period. The same may be said for production of the suzuri, with a classical shape and style modified according to era and taste. The most common suzuri is a rectangular stone with a deep well on one end, and a flat surface sloping into it This makes sense, as it is practical and probably fairly easy to accomplish. Decorative elements and embellishments in the non-working areas are certainly possible, and I would be inclined to say almost inevitable for the expression of the carver’s creative force.

Besides the impact of regional and time preferences, the economics behind the stone’s production itself may be seen. Stones for the masses – the daily stone – are probably more plain than those for the aficionado, simply because of their utilitarian role. These can be made quickly, with or without attention to quality or aesthetics. Today, stones for tourists may be pretty but worthless as far as usability; other stones may be far better in quality and less ornate. A good stone is absolutely necessary, whether for calligraphy or painting, if you are using an ink stick.

Today’s stone is from Japan. It does not have a rosewood box, but it is very nicely encased in a kiri wood box. Unfortunately, I cannot read the label! (If anyone can translate for me, please let me know.) This is the only stone in my collection I have not yet used, and I am still deciding on whether or not I should – it is so beautiful as it is! Knowing me, though, I will at some point when I am not rushing around – I want to take the time to enjoy it.

I am under the impression this stone is carved from nachiguro, a lustrous black slate or river shale unique to Japan, and has been used since the Nara period (710 – 794 CE) for carving practical and ornamental items, such as suzuri, go stones, and suiseki, This stone is a sedimentary shale which originates in the upper side of the Kumano river in Japan’s Mie prefecture, and is characteristically very dark and shiny.

Many traditional Japanese themes and symbols may be considered by a master craftsman in creating a high-end suzuri, but this artist has taken a considerably more modern approach. The abstract elements of the lid are suggestive of many things, and certainly some traditional themes as well. Just in a glance, I can envision falling leaves or swimming koi. The carving is very subtle and pleasing, working very well within the smooth borders of the circle. To the touch, the different textures are smooth and rough at the same time, without any sharp edges.

The smooth elegance of the polished stone is a bit more rough on the grinding surface and the well, having the necessary tooth to create sumi ink. The borders of the well are polished and shiny, in keeping with the rest of the stone. The contrast of these two areas repeats the circular motif of the suzuri’s shape, as well as the framing of the lid’s pattern. The underside of the lid is as smooth and reflective as the underside of the lower portion of the stone. Even the underside of the suzuri well is smoothly finished, and follows the circular motifs of lid surface and underside, and the well. This stone is not especially old, probably produced in last quarter of the twentieth century. It is a large, heavy stone, measuring more than 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter.

Suzuri Well on Left; Underside of Suzuri Lid on Right

I expect this stone could be considered something of a luxury item, for oneself or as a special gift. Given this, I cannot help but wonder if the beauty of the stone is all it has – can it be used to produce good ink? Even if it does not, there is something to be said for simply beautiful objects. The suzuri’s circular shape is pleasing, the lid’s carved surface intriguing, and the soft, candescent glow of the stone subtly elegant. Aesthetically, this suzuri is a sculpture to be appreciated in its own right.

Singing the Blues

Having become a bit more serious about photography, doing “themes” seems to be a good way to focus on something, rather than randomly shooting all and anything. And just getting out with the conscious intent to take a picture in theme is proving to be a challenge, a bit of a laugh, as well as tapping into what I would consider as design elements in a painting now being used in a sentence.

The set to the right, What Color is Blue?, are some of the ones I did yesterday morning in a local park. None have been retouched, but a few have been cropped. The most interesting thing to note was how the color shifted with a longer exposure. The benches are a rather nice blue, very clear, but become more turquoise with more light exposure, either with the f-stop or the time.

The above photo is a detail of one of the bench shots I did. I rather like the composition of lines in different directions. However, dead center is a bit of blob between the blue uprights . . . I will try to remove this with some software and see the results. No wonder people edit digital pictures! They can become much more interesting when cleaned up a bit.

Blackberry Plum Pie

Summer is the time of lovely fruit, and the time for pie. This is a kitchen sink pie – not enough of any one fruit to make a pie. So, 2 kinds of plums – black and sugar – and a whole bunch of blackberries.

Prepare to make thy pie!

Preheat oven to 450 F for a metal pan; 425 F for a glass pan. Make pie crust first. While it chills in the refrigerator, prepare the fruit.

Pie Crust – makes two 9” crusts
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
7 T. cold butter (100 g)
6-7 T. cold water

Cut butter into small dice. Place in bowl with flour, sugar, salt. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add 6 T. cold water; mix well with fork but do not overblend. If it seems a bit dry, add 1-2 T. more, 1-2 t. at a time. You may also use a food processor to make the dough, just be sure not to over process once you add the cold water.

Gather together into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator while you chop fruit – about 30-60 minutes is fine.

Pie Filling

4-5 cups of fruit, clean, washed, picked over. This pie was about 3 c. plums and 2 c. blackberries.
Juice of 1/2 lemon – about 1T.
1/4 – 1/2 c. sugar (some of the plums were a bit tart)
2-3 t. Chinese Five Spice form Penzey’s (China cassia cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger and cloves)
3 T. small tapioca
2 T. flour
1 T. butter – to dot fruit when it is in the pie dish, before the second crust is added.

Chop fruit. Stir in with all other ingredients to set up and meld flavors.

After you have finished with the fruit, take the pie dough out of the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature about 10 minutes. Cut in half, with one side slightly larger for the bottom crust. Roll out crust, place in pie pan. Place fruit into pan. Dot with butter. Roll out second crust, place on top. Roll edges over or under to seal pie. Crimp with fingers or flatten with fork. Slash top crust for ventilation.

Bake pie at 450 (425) for 10-12 minutes, then drop oven temperate to 350 F (for metal pan) or 325 F (for glass pan) for another 45 – 60 minutes, or until crust is done. Remove from oven, cool.

Pushing Up Daisies

Below is an image of a daisy taken awhile ago alongside our house. It’s rather bland. Below is the same image, with post-processing done in Photoscape. You can see that under the top daisy, the flower’s receptacle has become nearly pure black, like a puzzle piece. Even in the original picture, it is a bit dark, and consequently distracting to the eye.

Neither picture above is especially spectacular, but the post-processing certainly messed up the final image. Below are two more results, the first which is sharpened only from the original. The receptacle is a bit more defined, with its ridges a bit more clear, but not darker. The second one uses the “bloom” feature (which I don’t understand – I’m a novice in post-production photography software) in combination with the sharpening. I think the result is a little better. The whiteness of the petals is more apparent. I also used the mole removal feature to get rid of the black spot on the foreground daisy.

One thing I have a very hard time with visually is contrast – adjacent areas and their shades of grey – when I work in color. Whenever possible, I try to take photos of any artwork I am doing to check out the contrast. High contrast has few shades of grey; low contrast has several. The degree of density in each, how dark or light, can determine the “pop” in a picture. In painting, this can cause items to retreat to the background, or move forward. This is what our mind uses to create depth and dimension in a photograph or a painting.

This next photo is the last one above, converted to greyscale. It is a soft photo, not especially dramatic. There are good areas of contrast, but the petals are lost.

Daisies in Greyscale after Sharpening and Blooming in Color

This next photo is the greyscale photo further sharpened, and the contrast increased. The petals are more apparent.

Greyscale Daisies with More Sharpening and Contrast

Finally, here are chorus lines of the photos in a row. It may be worthwhile to look at it, and thus decide which photo is ultimately the best. I set the lines up so they would span the same space, but in doing so, some of the image quality is degraded. What I am looking for is the contrast and clarity in the final image of the petals, the inside yellow part (stamens and pistils? I forget my flower sex!).

Ultimately, I am not sure about any of these photos. I think the viewer needs to determine it. Liking or disliking a photo is a personal thing. I do think, in general, the composition is rather nice, but in retrospect, I should have taken the photo from a more superior perspective, looking into the foremost daisy a bit more, but not by much. Also, to cut down on “busyness,” it would have been a good idea to remove the dropped petal on the most distant daisy, the one up against the wall. If I knew how to remove it with software, I would try it. There is some movement in the photo. The center of the daisy on the left may be a distraction, just as the receptacle on the upper daisy may be too dark.

Good, bad? I need to step back to reconsider! Too close, too much, a bit overwhelming. Later I can make a decision.

One thing which does help is turning one’s work upside down.The same can apply to a photo. Maybe I am more successful than I think, as I really like the movement in this upside down image. And, in reconsidering, I like the one of the colored daisies only sharpened a bit, with the black spot removed, the best.

Cheapskate Distractions in a Wandering Mind

We watch our pennies. We don’t have a lot of lolly to throw around on frivolity, but we do make sure we don’t pinch on our hobbies to make life miserable. There are some things we can do without quite easily, even though we might like to have them, such as a flat panel TV, but compare that to being able to buy malt or hops or paper or a brush, we would prefer to do without the TV. Good computers are another necessity, partly for telecommuting to work (although that is provided by The Employer), but also for entertainment, information, education. Clothes are necessary, not optional, but a fantastic wardrobe is not. Good food varies in cost, but preferably is reasonably priced and fresh. Packaged food is for the quick moment when flying out the door without a lunch will spell a disastrous day in the classroom.

Lately I am becoming rather re-enamored with photography. Over the years, I have had SLRs and numerous digital cameras. I am now considering if it is worth having a DSLR. Of course, this means money. My new Lumix DMC ZS5 is a point-and-shoot with a very good lens by Leica, decent video capabilities, aperture and shutter priority, EV, other gizmos, as well as, most seductively, the ability for manual exposure. This means I can take photos with control over all factors, as far as the camera will let me. There is no f1.4 or f22, but f3.3 to f6.3. Shutter speed can be as long as a minute, and as small as 1/2000 second (I think). Not at all bad for something I can put in a cargo pocket. And for the cheapskate in me, digital images beat the cost of film and developing without a doubt!

A week ago, I went to the Descanso Gardens with a friend, and he has a Nikon D200. BIIIIIIIIIIIIG diff! And that has gotten me thinking. I don’t like big cameras, and the new 4/3 format looks interesting, but the EP1, EP2, and EPL1 have not quite gotten my attention. Sony has the NEX-5. I am only now looking at Pentax, the K-7 and the K-x. Reportedly these are small cameras, even though they are full DSLRs. Apparently – and most noteworthy to my cheapskate thinking – is that they are backward compatible for all Pentax lenses. What that means is, with over 25,000,000 lenses having been manufactured by Pentax, there should be some out there! There are also rumors of a K-5 coming out on various boards. Dangerous.

Between now and whenever and when-and-if these thoughts become realities, I’ve decided to become a bit more serious about photography – there is a lot I can do and learn about from the Lumix I have. Currently, the most fascinating thing is to be able to under-expose an image – something not do-able on most pocket-sized digital cameras – using manual exposures.

Because of this, I’ve gone ahead and reactivated my account on Flickr – and have provided a link to the right. This way, you or I or anyone can access some of my pictures in greater quantity. Below, are a couple of my more favorite ones I have done in the past month.

I won’t take credit for the hunk at the top of the page, though.