On this third day of the workshop I completed my project. I spent much time yesterday carving my woodblocks.

We also had a demonstration by a resident artist here at Mi Lab, Chihiro Taki. Loved watching her work.

Today, with much help from all of our teachers, I began printing my blocks.

I printed my gray block on about half of the 32 pieces of paper. Then I went back and printed the blue block, not always happily.

I didn’t take photos of the entire procedure so I will finish the story in my next post. In the evening we had a demonstration about drying our prints using my finished prints.

We are in a lovely Japanese house with a beautiful garden and great workspace. We spent the morning learning about carving our woodblocks; 2 blocks, each with a different color.

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In the afternoon we started carving our own blocks. Since we are working within sight of Mt. Fuji, and I had the good fortune to see Fuji from the train to Kyoto, I decided to use it as my starting point and added some shapes from my recent echocardiogram for the second color.

This is my image with areas where color will overlap. These are not the colors I will use.

Tracing image onto block

My two blocks with registration keys already cut.

I carved my first block today and will work on the second tomorrow. As a bonus the rain stopped and we got to see Fuji from the studio window.

I reached the limit of what I will do for art . We took a bus from Tokyo to the workshop site where we will be staying for four days and living for five nights in a true, rustic old Japanese inn. I am lying on 3 futons on the floor. That’s not the problem. I can get down. Getting up was the issue. It took me 10 minutes to move around to where I could finally lift myself up. Also Japanese pillows are filled with something that seems like small bits of gravel, probably beans of some kind. So they have now arranged for Gail, my friend and roommate and I to move to a hotel. I feel bad about this, but I’m not sure I would have survived four more nights. I’m very grateful.

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Monday morning, before we left Tokyo, we visited Ozu Washi, a great paper store. I didn’t buy anything but I will have another opportunity before I leave. 

We also stopped in a brush store where they are actually making brushes. They had every kind, from toilet brushes to wonderful paint brushes. Again I didn’t buy anything. My suitcase was already full.

Ate Beaver Bread for breakfast. I bought three small rolls. One was filled with some kind of jam. I ate around the jam. The bread was great, easily number one here or at home. The second roll was chocolate chips with nuts. Yum. Third one for tomorrow.

We went as a group to two museums and an art supply store. Lots of walking again. Just barely getting to know people, but great so far.

Haven’t stopped walking. That total includes lots of museum shuffle. Much more exhausting than real walking. Fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

First thing we went to the Mori Art Museum for a show of contemporary Japanese Art. The show was called Connexions and featured the work of mostly young artists and their connections to the past, to current events and to technology. Some of it was very moving and thought provoking. One of the best shows I’ve seen recently.

Definitely is an obsession with cats.

Alongside the art museum is something called City View, which lets you overlook Tokyo from almost 360 degrees. It’s an amazing panorama and really shows the beauty and density of the city. I was awed.

Our second museum visit was the Ota museum for a show about Hokusai and his vision of Mt. Fuji. So lot’s more ukiyoe. This was in Harajuku where we had to cope with the Sunday crowds. After the museum I had a little more time to wander around to the wonderful mirror kaleidoscope and take more pictures. It’s also the best place for people watching.

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A visit to a large art supply store finished up our evening.

My workshop begins tonight at dinner and to meet everyone. I’m already installed in my own room in the Citan hostel in Tokyo.

I got here about 2pm after a two and a half hour train ride from Matsumoto. After I checked in and left my luggage I went for a walk here in the Nihombashi area. It’s very quiet and I didn’t find much of interest, but on the map was something called Beaver Bakery. So, with great difficulty following the GPS on the phone I came to a small line in front of an almost unidentified shop. It was the only thing around and sure enough, it was Beaver Bakery. I went in and bought 3 items.

The line was gone by the time I took the picture.

To understand bread in Japan think of Wonder Bread, only fluffier and more squishable. The things I bought don’t squish. Haven’t tasted anything yet. Tomorrow. It seems that Beaver Bread is famous. There is even a book about them, in Japanese, of course.

Went out for dinner with the workshop group. I think this will be another good one.

This is my third night in Matsumoto. When I made this arrangement I thought of Matsumoto as a kind of mountain retreat where I could chill out before my workshop begins. There are mountains all around but it is much more urban than I expected. So, I’ve been sightseeing but taking it much easier than the last two weeks.

View from my hotel.

Matsumoto was the birthplace of Yayoi Kusama, an artist whose work is at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh and all over the world. The city museum of art has a permanent exhibition of her work and was one of the attractions for me. Here are pictures of work outside the museum. A tour group was there posing as I arrived. I never understood the gestures.

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No photography was allowed inside the museum. For the most part I didn’t care, but I really wanted to photograph inside her mirrored corridor. The guards kept a tight watch on me. The room was about 20 or 25 feet long and not much wider than the span of my outstretched arms. Both openings had red curtains hanging to the sides. The walls, ceiling and a narrow area on either side of the openings were mirrored. At about waist height on the long walls there was a shelf with small red and white polka dot stuffed shapes. Looking into the mirrors the curtains became columns and even I became a column and everything stretched to infinity. Fantastic. I was alone in the corridor, except for the guards watching me from outside and I wanted to stay forever. I walked through the entire exhibit and decided to go back to the corridor. As I was about to enter several people went into the exhibit before me. I walked past them, past her early art work, and went back into the mirrored corridor. The first woman entered, spent the entire time looking at herself in the mirror, fixing her hair, her backpack and quickly walked out. I don’t think she ever saw the space around her. Two other people walked through quickly, never looking. I wonder if the guards think about this kind of stuff. And I wanted to talk to someone about it. That‘s the downside of traveling alone.

Another feature of Matsumoto is an ukiyoe museum (woodblock prints), supposedly with the largest collection of prints in Japan. However the exhibition space was small so disappointing. I enjoyed the prints but the exhibit I saw in Hiroshima had three times as many.

The most widely promoted tourist site is Matsumoto Castle. It was described as having steep, narrow stairways inside. I did not go in. I am phobic about steep stairways. But it is certainly beautiful.

Nearby was a funny street with old buildings and shops dedicated to frogs. I had soup and salad lunch in a bakery cafe, no frogs.

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My favorite discovery was an Inari shrine boxed in by tall buildings near my hotel.

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