Thread: Kumiko art — HANABI

Absolutely fantastic Des. Great stuff.

There's no prize for judges and selection committees are often biased to non stated judging criteria. I'm guessing a Tassie comp would be biased to something Western in Blackwood. Brisbane might like to have seen a Corrugated Iron feature. You've got an appreciative audience here! (Appropriate smilies missing due to authoring probs at the moment, there's another thread on that!)

Thanks Corbs, Alex and Fuzzie.

Art competitions are always subjective, and what one person likes, another won't. Such is life.

BTW, I only mentioned it as a light passing comment. If not having my artwork selected for a competition is the worst thing that happens to me, I'll be more than happy.

Des

Hats off mate
first time I've seen this type of work (newbie) and am amazed at the attention to detail. Will be checking out your site.

Des, I'm guessing that while your methods are traditional, the overall themes of the designs aren't. Is this so? If it is, have you had any reaction from Japanese people to your designs?

Thanks Olas.

Alex, The way the pieces are cut and put together is strictly traditional.

These days the base kumiko in this kind of work (jigumi - the three-way joint triangles holding the smaller patterns) in Japan are mostly cut by computer-controlled radial saws. These have an accuracy much better than 0.01mm, but they cost over $80,000. So obviously all my cutting is by hand with my Nakaya kumiko handsaw. The ha-ganna planes make the small size of the individual pieces possible. The methods I use for this are traditional. Most of the jigs I use are standard, but some others I've designed myself to suit my own work habits.

The theme of Hanabi was a fireworks landscape setting, so it could have been set anywhere. The annual tategu competition and display in Japan is held in different prefectures each year, and the landscape scenes for these tend to have a local feel, probably mainly to attract the attention of the local judges. Mt Fuji tends to feature prominently as well, as do mountain and stream settings.

The pattern themes on the other hand are variations on a similar thread, and some of the kumiko shokunin handle these better than others. These are simply collections and arrangements of individual patterns, so in a sense the themes combine both traditional and contemporary aesthetics. I was starting to look into these a bit more closely until the book-writing took over.

So both the landscape and pattern themes in the kumiko work have been around for quite some time.

Instructors at the College where I studied in Japan (Shokugei Gakuin) approached the National Tategu Association to include Hanabi or at least a photo of it in the national tategu display last year (I only found out about this much later), but unfortunately for a number of reasons it didn't go ahead. So at this stage, outside of the College, the fact that I'm doing this kind of work is largely unknown in Japan.

Hopefully with the recent publication of my first book on the basics of shoji this might change a bit. Even though it's in English, the Board Chairman of the College will undoubtedly push it at every opportunity, and he is very well known in the traditional Japanese architectural world, so I've got my fingers crossed.

I've started on the second book, which will provide detailed instruction on many more patterns, some of which are rarely seen these days because they are too time-consuming; and the framework for the third with all the patterns in Hanabi and many more is starting to take shape in my mind. I've designed a few different methods and jigs so that all the patterns in the books can be made with tools found in any Western workshop. (Sorry Moderators if this sounds like a gratuitous plug for the book).

So hopefully, over time, kumiko shokunin in Japan will start to have a bit of a reaction to my work, and to that of other gaijin woodworkers who decide to take up this wonderful craft/art form.

Jeez, I have gone on a bit, haven't I. Sorry.

Des

Thanks Des, most interesting. Didn't realise you had published a book on it ... must start dropping hints.