Scroll for Each Season

This is a set of scrolls I did for each season. They are written in Full Cursive (Sousho) style, and the poetry was taken from a longer poem by Touenmei. The first one is for spring. I used the light green silk and dark green kakehimo to represent the colors of new lush flora growing all around. It says 春水四沢満, which means "The rivers are overflowing the banks from all four directions due to Spring"
For the summer scroll is written 夏雲多奇峰, which means "The Growing Strength of the Summer Thundercloud". I used the cloud cloth pattern to help the viewer visualize the meaning of the poem. The kakehimo for this scroll is the Kogecha (Burnt Brown) which almost seems Navy, to be indicative of the rain.

For the Autumn scroll, I used the light khaki with the distant mountain pattern to represent the viewer seeing the Fall Moon. I used a Kincha (Gold) Hanging thread to be representative of the grasses drying and dying. It reads 秋月明輝揚, which means "The Reflection of the Magnaminous Fall Moon".

Finally, the winter scroll is 冬嶺孤松秀, which means "The solitary pine standing on the cliff against the wind". I used the celadon cloth and the Takuboku kakehimo to represent the bitter chill of the winter wind.

I'm so used to seeing hundreds of views on your posting but little comment. I for one appreciate your sharing and especially the explainations. thank-you for soing so

dick benbow wrote:I'm so used to seeing hundreds of views on your posting but little comment. I for one appreciate your sharing and especially the explainations. thank-you for soing so

I'm on of those Dick, always looking, admiring them but don’t have much to say.
Kakejiku – Have you considered using your artist talent to do the more traditional ones (birds, butterflies etc) or is that another practice all together?
Cheers Graham

Hi Kakejiku

Lovely scrolls.
I would be happy to use all of them, for my trees, or stones.... The words are lovely too.
Thanks for sharing.

Kind regards Yvonne

gman wrote:Kakejiku – Have you considered using your artist talent to do the more traditional ones (birds, butterflies etc) or is that another practice all together?
Cheers Graham

I do not consider myself an artist. I am a framer. In Japanese 表具師 hyougushi. I allow others to be the artist. I follow the teachings of my Sensei under the Edo Hyougu style of scrolls. I also try to follow the three basic concepts when designing the frame for the artwork.
1. Where the work will hang. (Dimensions/Size/Background Colors)
2. What is the mood/meaning /message of the artwork, and how can my cloth selection and scroll design style enhance that meaning.
3. What is the personality of the artist and how can the scroll show that off.

For example, my wife writes most of my calligraphy. She has a very masculine writing style, due to the influence of her Sensei. So doing works in simple Maru Hyougu formats or Fukuro Hyougu formats helps enhance the masculinity.

Now to answer your question. I do birds, flowers and landscapes when a customer orders that. I outsource to several artists. Some in the US, some in Europe and some Japanese. Or if someone purchases an artwork to be framed. You can see the scroll titled 2011 Masterpiece. This customer purchased an artwork (Peony Flowers) from a gallery in China. She wanted a Celadon cloth, but the Japanese Celadon is more blue than green compared to the Chinese/Korean. And if you look close the cloth to the winter themed scroll above is the same. the customer ultimately chose this from three cloths, because this is the highest quality silk of the three. I felt it worked best for a Winter. The flower scroll is so strong it would have a difficult time working in a bonsai display, but the calligraphy scroll with the winter imagery may work. So if you have an idea for a specific bird or flower for a specific season, let me know and we could get the artist to paint something close to the vision for your bonsai.

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Kakejiku

Lovely scrolls.
I would be happy to use all of them, for my trees, or stones.... The words are lovely too.
Thanks for sharing.

Kind regards Yvonne

Thank you for the nice words. I have more seasonal poems in a book. Unfortunately, these scrolls are now gone from my possession. I am sure they would have looked good with your 盆栽・水石.