I have just completed a new state of one of my most popular designs, Natsu, under a new title and with a new colour scheme, and it now stands alone and does not belong to any other set. Kamisuki (Hair Combing) has a mauve-purple kimono with a variety of other colours for the patterns of irises, butterflies etc, including bokashi, or shading in the flowers. There is also 22-carat gold leaf on the comb, lacquer printing in the hair, and extensive embossing to suggest the fabric of the kimono, and the pink baren sujizuri background shades into yellow below, reflecting the tones of the kimono motifs.

   
    June sees the launch of two versions of a female nude design, 'Tasogare' (Twilight) and 'Kiyonaga no Kiseru' (Kiyonaga’s Pipe), respectively from the series Azuma Nishiki Bijin Awase (A Collection of Eastern Brocade Beauties) and Edo Zumi Hyaku Shoku (A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo). The editions of both are 100 impressions.

'Tasogare' (Twilight or Dusk), as you may know, was the name of one of the tragic lovers of Mitsuuji (Genji) in 'Nise Murasaki, Inaka Genji', by Ryutei Tanehiko, a 19th century parody novel (1829-1842) on the famous Genji Monogatari of the Heian period. There is also a Japanese verb ‘tasogarete iru’, meaning to daydream, or to gaze absent-mindedly, which seems appropriate to the dreamy expression of this young beauty.

       Kioynaga no Kiseru' (Kiyonaga’s Pipe) plays with the basic blocks of 'Tasogare' and adds a motif taken from a triptych design by Torii Kiyonaga of the later 18^th century. The original print shows a group of beauties enjoying a spring snowfall, and the central figure reaches up with her long bamboo pipe to the newly formed icicles hanging from the eaves to knock them off. Here it is as if the tattoo is reaching up to the long silver earring of the model, printed with silver, to tap it with her pipe. Pipes appear on the floor cushion and as the seal, and of course in the cartouche too, while the baren sujizuri background in swirling, shaded black and grey is shared with all the designs of the Edo Zumi series.

    This release had been delayed by being trapped for several days in France after my painting trip in early April by the Icelandic volcano and my cancelled return flight, and the very long train journey back to London afterwards did not help much either!

    Some of you will know that I submit prints every year to the CWAJ exhibition in Tokyo, one of the best international forums in Japan for new prints, and my May ‘new release’ will be this years’ print for that show. ‘Inazuma’ means Lightning, but is a literary term that brings ideas of fertilising the fields derived from ancient poetry. I have chosen a large size for this design – 66 x 31cm, or around 26 x 12 inches – to give the feeling of the verticality of the bolt of lightning as it crackles between dark clouds and rain to earth. This print is in a small edition of only 40 and but still employs 14 different printings, including three printings of solid black overlaid to achieve a deep, opaque darkness in the heaviest clouds.