At Oyama Senmaida’s 収穫祭 harvest festival yesterday, I offered my first taiken on making art from natural materials.
It was ridiculously named “Let’s Art” (signaling that it was likely to include English?) but the content was good. Nine participants made paint and ink, devised brushes from foraged materials, and then used them to draw, paint, and print.
I brought an array of ink, paint, and drawing supplies that I created through the seasons. Putting the color board together was satisfying. Our workshop paints are the three in the lower left of the samples. And Kaori gifted me the lovely indigo in the upper right!
In order for the students to grind that paint, I spent many hours filtering clay and ochre and making lake from goldenrod. There was a lot of prep for this workshop – a year in the making. It’s my joy to do this in my studio, but doesn’t give students a sense of what’s involved.
But that’s what a taiken is, a hands-on experience. A taster, not a masterclass. Everyone got a chance to dip into color making. They were inventive with their brushes, trying different materials and configurations. There was good use of the tatakizome (hammer printing) station, too.
I demonstrated and gently guided the work, but didn’t provide detailed explanation. I’d hoped to talk a bit about where the materials came from and how they were processed to make the supplies. What makes a good brush. Why the red ink turns blue on the paper. But my instructions were more practical and simple than theoretical. (Yay, second language.) It was probably for the best considering we only had two hours.
After the workshops, the harvest festival continued with lunch, performances, awards, and a short presentation of each of the eight workshops held in the morning. Let’s Art unfurled a group banner we made hastily at the end of class; it showed the spirit of what we did.
I hope to offer this again next year and to continue to refine the process through more offerings like this, so here are some notes for myself.
Things that worked:
– Grinding paint on marble tile slabs
– Alcohol ink making
– Brush making from bamboo
– Individual paint palettes
– Foraging for materials
– Individual bags for foraging
– Color board display
– Example gallery
– Timetable/agenda
To be improved:
– Paint and ink distribution system (bottles toppled; not everyone was careful)
– Prepare a background for the group painting
– Have a separate table for the group painting
– Bring some of my own actual art for the gallery
– Bigger trash bag
– Better access to water
