Heian Japan: an obsession

From the Genji emaki (Genji scrolls) circa 12th century (image from Wikipedia)

The Heian period is considered to be Japan's classical era when arts and culture flourished and a distinctly Japanese identity took shape. It spanned the years 794 to 1185 AD

(wikipedia will go into more depth than me).

There were notably a number of renowned women authors contemporary to the time. I fell in love with the literature in my early college days and have since collected any book I could find (and afford!) that was either written in Heian Japan, or provided historical reference. (I've also ventured into the Nara and Kamakura eras which preceded and succeeded Heian).

So many left on the "wish list"...

The obsession did not end with literature, however. I became fascinated with other Heian art forms, particularly illustrations. The illustrations depicting scenes and characters from tales are usually done in a style known as Yamato-e, which I find to be ineffably beautiful.

Here is my hand at replicating the style:

The above is a colored pencil study. These ladies appear in the 12th century Genji scroll "Bamboo River". The faces depicted in tale illustrations are quite deliberately drawn in a simple and elegant manner, reflecting the "peace and tranquility" of Heian (which means peace).

My beloved Genji scroll book from Japan next to images from another famous 12th century scroll, the Choju-giga.

The Heian Literature Book Report

I've started re-reading my books and thought I'd write a few thoughts about each while it's fresh in my mind. I'll sort in alphabetical order by their (Romaji) Japanese name. Click HERE to read!

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Day 82 (Day 5 CS) - Collection

"What do you collect? Work with a collection of your own or borrow one." Pure Admiration It's funny, I only recently acknowledged to myself that yes, I do collect something: literature and art books from Heian-era Japan (794-1185), and here is a prompt for that. I just acquired the Choju Giga art book seen in the background (hooray!) which inspired me to recycle two projects from October 2015's CreativeSprint and use them in a different context. The mantispid was made on CS 2015 Day 1 and the painting is a miniature print-out of a mock Choju Giga drawing I did on CS 2015 Day 8 . The easel and paintbrush are made of kraft cardstock. [April 6, 2016]

Day 15 - Historical Precedent

Day 15 Learn about something that happened today in history and make something inspired by it. Rhinoceros Beetle Gong I now realize I may have misread the prompt. I thought I had to merely learn about some piece of history and use that as inspiration, but I'm sure on this day 1,000 years ago, 500 years ago, or even last year, a gong was sounded. Oh well! On the 15th I went to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix and based my project on the many gongs in their collection. They had a display illustrating how gongs are traditionally made (i.e. - labor intensive), and I learned that there are generally three types of gongs ( suspended gongs or tam-tams which are flat; bossed which have a raised center, are tuned, and sometimes suspended; and bowl gongs which are more like large bells). They originated in China, their first uses are thought to be as a signal for the workers to return from the fields since some gongs are loud enough to be h...

Day 8 - Master Works

Day 8 Recreate or interpret a work of art you admire. This is based on a famous panel of the Choju Giga scroll (Animal Caricatures or Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) which was created sometime in the late 12th century in Japan. Similar to the original's ink on paper, mine was rendered in India ink and red acrylic ink on Bristol paper. I've replaced the rabbit with a click beetle trying to right itself, and the frogs were replaced with mantids (feeling ill today and my hand started cramping after I drew the beetle. The mantids aren't as well done as I would like. I may redo this sometime because I think it came out cute otherwise). The top "seal" in red says sumimasen , which is Japanese for excuse me! and the lower one is my name in Japanese. This was fun to make, but sketching with a brush is a lot harder than it looks, and no erasing! The Choju Giga artist was truly a master, I very much admire the brush work in the original. Here is the o...

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