In Disbelief....

I'm not sure exactly how this happened, but apparently I won an award in the Flower City Fukushima Etegami Contest!     This link is the only English site that I can find describing the contest; Debbie runs the Facebook group where I learned about the contest.  She lives in Japan and made it possible for the members of the Etegami Fun Club to enter, by completing the necessary entry forms (in Japanese, of course), and sending our entries in for us.

Debbie posted a photo of my entries on her mail art blog here.  I'm not sure how many entries there were in total, but in 2014 there were 904.  Perhaps when I receive the award from Debbie I'll know more about the award and which entry won.



Magnolias

 

4" x 6" Etegami

Watercolor

 



 



Let All Creation Sing!

 

This etegami was inspired by the early rhododendrons I saw at VanDusen Gardens.  I tried out watercolor paper with this one - still no bleed, but I like it just the same. 



Etegami Paper Tales

 

So far I have been unsuccessful at sourcing the postcards that are used to do Etegami on.  I can find the cards on-line, but the postage to Canada is two or three times the value of the cards.

 

The special cards have various levels of "bleed" which help to make the ink and watercolor uncontrollable.  (Ha! Maybe I'm out of control enough without additional help!)

 

I've been trying various kinds of cardstock to try and find ones that bleed.  So far without success.   In addition, with large areas of watercolor, the cardstock buckles.  They really are too flimsy to mail, but they flatten out if pressed or ironed.  Here's another; this one is a bit more creamy in colour:

 





With These Tulips

 

Etegami



A Host of Golden Daffodils

 

Etegami



Getting Serious With Etegami

 

So exactly how does one get "serious" about Etegami?  Before you do Etegami you're supposed to warm up for 15 minutes.  Keeping your elbow high enough to hold the brush vertically, by its end, for 15 minutes, is not an easy feat.  I can't do it as slowly as prescribed either - 4 inches per minute is glacial.  On this rice paper, the bleed is lovely though, so I think I need to buy some proper washi Etegami postcards.

 

The other thing I've done is carve myself a new "Hanko", or signature stamp.  The vibrant red paste will add a nice balancing element. 

 

Half of the fun is learning all about this, of course.  OK, probably more than half.

 

Of course if I really want to get serious, I have to mail them. LOL



Small Fish

 

Etegami

Watercolor



Etegami - A New Discovery

 

I've just discovered something that suits my clumsy drawing style - Etegami.  In fact, with Etegami, clumsy is good!

 

Etegami is an old Japanese Folk Art, whereby postcards are made to send to friends.  (So, as this is in my sketchbook, it isn't real Etegami. It is in the Etegami style, though.)  Holding the end of a brush by the very end, one draws an everyday item.  Color is added, and then words carefully chosen.  The "chop" containing your signature is added at the end.  (I had my chop carved on a visit to China.) 

 

You can read more about Etegami here.  The author of the article, Debbie, runs a Facebook group for us to share our Etegami.  What fun!