Arashiyama is a very famous place for springs' hanamis and some Japanese intend to have a picnic there also. Place is fantastic because there you can enjoy nice views and taste some local delicious foods, sweets and drinks. In Arashiyama there is this charming art studio called Karukaya. It’s near the river next to a beautiful sakura tree garden.
I had amazing opportunity to experience a bit of traditional craft of Kyoto called ”Yuzen Dyeing”, the industrial art of dyeing Kimono cloth. This time, instead of Kimono cloth I used postcards made of Japanese paper called “Washi”.
On a Washi postcard, I printed with a brush a traditional Yuzen patterns with a variety of colors, such as sights of Kyoto and Arashiyama, wild local plants and flowers, and etc.
In total I had two sensees, teachers, who guided as well as they could. My lacking Japanese language skills made the situation a bit challenging, but when doing art, you can use the language of brush.
First I got to practice my print to an ordinary paper before moving to the real Washi. Washi felted smooth and soft, but it has some texture on it too. Then I replaced my pattern on the Washi, chose a color and used a brush to print it. My senses told me, that there are no stick rules about color using. You should just go with your feeling at the moment.
This whole experiment gave me actually feeling of ancient Japan, and the appreciation of a true handwork.
I found this great webpage for those who are interested more about Japanese traditional art making:
Sounds like a great experience. And this is a great post. I would like to read - and see - even more.
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