E. M.S. Early Morning Sun

Morning sun streaks into my tea room ..perfect time infuse my new tea.
I use a clear teapot to help visualize the brew and a large tea wan: Update: March 4th. 2019 .. this Tea Bowl is now returned to soil from whence it came .. Yes an accidental collision with a hardwood floor ... one my favourite tea bowls.

Open Sesame

Sésame, ouvre-toi ….

Yunnan Longrun Pu-erh Tea Cake-Caiwei (Year 2012,Fermented, 200g)

The cake is opened and placed into the tea caddie … I’ll brew some tea later today

Three cakes ready for the New Year

Just opened a gift from my brother and sister in law .. Three cakes, two 357 gram cakes and one 200 gram cake.  I’ll open the small cake and infuse a sample with a report to follow.

Yunnan Longrun Pu-erh Tea Cake –Dali (Year 2010,Fermented, 357g)

Yunnan Longrun Pu-erh Tea Cake-Caiwei (Year 2012,Fermented, 200g)

A simple statement of fact

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Field Trip .. Kawai - Hawaii

Visiting family in Hanapepe, Kawai:

View  from Kukuiolono golf course: looking towards Ni hau island.(covered in sea haze)9th. green,view from the restaurant (satellite disk outside on the right)1st. hole tee-offNow that’s a shade tree:Sorry not Scotland .. Kukuiolono, KawaiWaimea townKukuiolono Kukuiolono Kukuiolono Kukuiolono Waimea Waimea Waimea Waimea

Video Link: Master Craftsman .. Potter Ken Matsuzaki.

https://www.weloveclay.com/specialpreview/?utm_source=We+Love+Clay+-+Waiting+List&utm_campaign=fb6c51e268-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_29_02_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_86b0bc5a2b-fb6c51e268-83408575&fbclid=IwAR3mGLgVwCCb4GXmievv2GW2USTlZnuYMm9ogV0tydl99MglfpSiUieyY4Y

Also on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9clFHIrv4E

Making Tea-ware and Pottery .. Yunnan China

NB ..This is a different process from that employed in Yixing, Jiangsu province.  Famous for the “Zi Sha” .. Purple Clay.  See previous post: http://chawu.blogspot.com/2007/05/trip-to-yixing.html

Pottery / Tea-ware artisans in; Jianshui, Yunnan, China

Link to YouTube video … well worth a view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgRykDekP3U&t=369s

WARNING: Contains trigger words: “Kyoto-White Pigment”

Not to be taken too seriously ….

Viewers of David Bull’s Twitch streams will know how Dave reacts when he hears Woodblock printing in conjunction with “Kyoto and White Pigment”

In the new book RANKAFU Orchid Print Album, published by:Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Referencing various entries taken from the book we learn many of the Woodblock prints were produced in Kyoto and printed using white pigment.

NOTE: “This book is quickly proving to be an invaluable resource on many fronts… I strongly recommend this publication.”

CHAPTER 6

Woodblock printing and the production of the Rankafu print set

Side bar .. page 40, we see a great set of 6 pictures of Suga-San printing at Mokuhankan.

Page 43, section on Materials involved in the Rankafu prints.

“ Pigments and inks. These were widely available in pre-war Japan and made from both synthetic and natural pigments mixed with a rice-paste binder called nori in Japanese ……….

“The accurate, vivid colours evident in the Rankafu print set to this day are testaments to thee colour stability of these inks. Of particular note is the white pigment, gofun in Japanese, made from refined and finely ground oyster shells that are mostly composed of calcite, a mineral that has perfect cleavage. …….

Pages 46-47 we read a great biographical Sketch of Saburo Shinmi, woodblock printer. (1912 to 2007) ..  “ …. one of the Rakafu printers with Unsodo Corporation in Kyoto. ….

CHAPTER 9

… pages 249-250, we see White Pigment being used on various woodblocks

New Book Arrived ….

Short follow up on the book I ordered from Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew:

The book arrived and exceeded my expectations.

New Book Purchase

Rankafu: Orchid (Woodblock) Print Album.

http://shop.kew.org/rankafu-orchid-print-album

Rankafu showcases for the first time an exceptional set of orchid woodblock prints from early 20^th century Japan. Considered masterworks of botanical art, the Rankafu prints are visually stunning and reproduced here in full colour, showcasing the fine details of this spectacular art form. The process of making woodblock prints at this level of accuracy and artistic expression is among the most difficult of the decorative printing arts, making this body of work even more remarkable.

The authors tell the story of Shotaro Kaga, a pioneering horticulturist whose orchid collection and breeding programme started a craze in Japan that continues to this day. Kaga and his gifted orchid gardener, Kenkichi Goto were highly skilled orchid growers and developed hundreds of spectacular orchid hybrids. Kaga’s interest in orchids was sparked by his visit to Kew in 1910 where he first saw tropical orchids in the extensive greenhouses, and visited many famous orchid nurseries such as Sander & Sons, from whom he would buy hundreds of plants over the coming decades.

In 1946 Kaga published a set of woodblock prints to document his work and share the beauty of his flowers. Rather than using commercial colour printing to represent his orchids, Kaga turned to woodblock printing as he felt it was best suited to illustrate the natural state of his plants. He employed the finest artists, carvers, printers and materials to create this stunning legacy.

This book is the most comprehensive work to date on Rankafu and is unrivalled in its breadth of information and research. It is a beautiful book that will appeal to orchid fanatics and lovers of botanical art, as well as those with an interest in 20^th century Japan and the artistic process of making Japanese woodblock prints. 

With a foreword by Phillip Cribb, leading orchid expert and author of many orchid books.

Stephen Kirby is a geophysicist at the US Geological Society. He also lectures and does research at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan and the University College, London. Tropical orchids have held his attention for nearly 20 years, both as an amateur grower and a research associate investigating orchid biogeography at the Lankester Botanical Garden in Costa Rica.

Toshikazu Doi is a retired executive in the Pharmaceutical Division of the Kirin Beer Company. For 20 years he has been an active collector and researcher of Japanese woodblock prints of the late Meiji and Taisho eras (1870s - 1926) and especially the Shin Hanga era (~1915-1960). He is a member of the Mokuhankan woodblock print shop team whose mission is to help sustain the art and practice of woodblock printing.

Toru Otsuka is a retired researcher, writer and interviewer who worked for NHK Broadcasting Company in Tokyo and Osaka. He has for four decades collected photographs, documents, and other information relating to the Rankafu woodblock print story, amassing probably the largest privately-held collection in Japan. 

Purchased from Kew Gardens, London UK.