New Counters Etc. Kitchen and Master Bathtroom

Old Counter / Sink & Faucets etc B-GONE

 

Washi ..

This is a typical winter’s work day for a papermaker in the Echizen region in eastern Fukui Prefecture, one of Japan’s top washi-producing hubs for around 1,500 years and counting. Papermaking is deceptively difficult: 

A single sheet can be as thin as 0.02 millimeters — less than the width of most human hair. Handmade paper has an ineffable warmth and expressiveness missing from its machine-made brethren, thanks to little “imperfections” like deckled edges that betray the hand of a human maker. According to Yasuhiro, every artisan at Ryozo has their own idiosyncrasies when it comes to making paper, and he can tell exactly who among his staff made which sheet by touch and sight.

Ukiyo-e art brings Chinese literary heroes to life

Few art forms are as quintessentially Japanese as the woodblock print. Yet its roots are not purely indigenous, and its development in the last decades of the 17th century owes much to China. “The diversity of themes, the use of vivid colors to enhance expressivity, to say nothing of the technology itself — all these elements bear the hallmark to some extent of Chinese culture,” says Michi Akagi, curator of the Ota Memorial Museum of Art’s “China in Ukiyoe,” a new show that runs through Jan. 29.

Chinese artisans started experimenting with woodblock color printing as early as the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It was, however, a rudimentary and laborious process: Each hue normally required the carving of a separate block, so the first prints were two-toned and rather bland. Later on, Japanese craftsmen adopted the same technique — one color, one block — but they developed their own approach — the “kento” registration mark — to ensure that each color would align exactly with the others without gaps in between. 

As the technology matured and the market for books and ukiyo-e expanded, Japanese publishers grew bolder. They began releasing designs that spread over several sheets and employed numerous colors, up to 20 in some cases. Another technique with Chinese roots is embossing, otherwise known as gauffrage, which adds a three-dimensional texture to prints.

ˈōpən ˈsesəmē ..O·pen Ses·a·me

 

New Book .. A new episode in the Rebus saga.

 

Released on Oct 18th.  The story takes an interesting turn as a series of interconnected events unfold. Author; Ian Rankin, not at his best on this one: 8/11 ...

Pool ready for play:............

 

New Plaster Top Coat is complete and now the pool is filling.

 

Back-Yard Pool: Resurfacing plaster Top Coat .. Old plaster removed.

Beautiful and Pleasing...

Package of Tea arrived .. Ripe Pu-Erh

Two cakes of; Shu-Pu each 357 grams, plus a sample. 2022 from Yunnan Sourcing "Year of the Tiger"

3 mile loop

Seven Mile Loop

A.M. Perambulation .. Short La Paz loop.

Morning Walk .. Alicia Creek Trail ..out and back .. 8.8 miles

China, a view we seldom see: .....

A new railway opened in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, forming the world's first railway loop circling a desert.

The 825-kilometer line, linking the city of Hotan with the county of Ruoqiang in the Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, is on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert.

Northern California Coast .. Photo by Jean

Google Maps-Street View .. Feb. 2020 ..Pictures taken: March 21 2021

At a local recreation area ...