Fall officially starts in less than a week

[dick benbow]

So I struggled to find what display elements I had to tell the story. In my efforts to progress
I have usually overstated everything, so my focus was to be a lot more subtle. Please focus your helpful comments/suggestions on the elements and not such things as the mauve background paint and yellow scroll (yes the quince could be better shaped but next year's flowers come on new growth .....etc) I spent this morning working on this so It's something I really would like to see how i'm progressing.
To me the scroll sets the theme....falling leaves, swirled about by the winds of change.
The japanese flowering quince has fruited and has come to fruition with the ending of summer.
Fall rains have enlivened the waterfall from a slow summer trickle from diminishing snowmelt, to an envigorated flow renewed by increased volumes.
migratory geese, separated in summer by mated pairs, are beginning to gather together
in preparation to make their annual pilgrimage.

In prepartion to make this display, I sat down and asked myself what do I think of that are markers for fall.
I came up with fallen leaves, squirrels gathering nuts, flying canadian geese, bonsai with berries or fruit, a suiseki with a light dusting of white on it's top indicating first season snow fall in the mountains. I then proceded to go thru my increasing numbers of bonsai, suiseki,scrolls, and tenpai in an effort to see what I had to work with. Not as flush as I'd like to be, I did write my sumi-e artist Hiroko to make me something I could use for 2014, the year of the horse.
So thanks for reading thru all this retoric, and let me know am I approaching a presentation that together quietly that says fall or is it too over stated.

oregato

 

[GrimLore]

Very, very nice but in our area Geese would better represent the Fall. Needless to really say - that presentation is awesome

 

[dick benbow]

so we're all on this journey together....trying to learn

here's what my japanese trained sensae had to say about it...

" In viewing the display, I can’t shake the impression that you wanted to use this display stand and sought items you could use to fill it.

Note the word FILL it.

Unless your viewers are complete novices , they will probably get the idea that this is an autumn display in the traditional manner, and will not need to be beat over the head with four items, especially the stone, which would hurt. Actually, it is the stone which should be omitted, in my opinion. It’s a really nice stone, but it is a very strong element, and for most people, it is much more suggestive of an environment – which, by the way, is an environment that doesn’t mesh well with the other items – than a season. I think it adds confusion to the display. The geese would be just fine where the stone is, and where the geese are now could be (gasp!) empty.

The bonsai is very informal, but even so I think a table with legs would be more suitable. The slab is massive, and very heavy looking for that airy bonsai."

I really appreciate david de groot's knowledge. he is curator of the weyerhaeuser Bonsai collection and a good friend.

 

[Smoke]

" In viewing the display, I can’t shake the impression that you wanted to use this display stand and sought items you could use to fill it.

Note the word FILL it.

Unless your viewers are complete novices , they will probably get the idea that this is an autumn display in the traditional manner, and will not need to be beat over the head with four items, especially the stone, which would hurt. Actually, it is the stone which should be omitted, in my opinion. It’s a really nice stone, but it is a very strong element, and for most people, it is much more suggestive of an environment – which, by the way, is an environment that doesn’t mesh well with the other items – than a season. I think it adds confusion to the display. The geese would be just fine where the stone is, and where the geese are now could be (gasp!) empty.

The bonsai is very informal, but even so I think a table with legs would be more suitable. The slab is massive, and very heavy looking for that airy bonsai."

I couldn't agree more. If I may add one more critique. Get away from the rack. For some reason these displays keep coming back to rack displays and scrolls. The shelves provide more than ample space to tell your story. Display should never, and I mean NEVER exceed more than three points. Man, Heaven and Earth.

 

[dick benbow]

thanks for the re-enforcement smoke...

 

[GrimLore]

I agree with that in "show" but I thought this is his own private area at his home - I guess I missed that, sorry...

 

[dick benbow]

Hey, NO problem. I'd never ever get a chance to do this around here in any club show.

They be stylin with a kusamono...LOL no such thing as scroll, tenpai etc

So, yes for my own satisfaction, I've put together a tabletop and alcove display in my home.

Tho i do want to be educated and practiced enough to grasp what needs to be learned for show.

Along the way I've become better at grasping subtle concepts, but as my teacher and smoke
remind me less can be more. So I'll have to work on that.

No, I get tickled anytime someone has something to say. It's not one of the more prolific topics around here.

 

[kakejiku]

Dick...been in New York doing a scroll workshop and on Friday a display lecture. I agree with your own observation of using too many items. Another difficulty for me is the use of maple leaves with another tree that seems to me be deciduous...this seems redundant....Additionally the wind in the painting seems to also be repetitive with the bird element in your display, even though they are swimming.

One thing you have always tried to do is evoke feeling with the scene. Can I make a suggestion and see if you could arrange the scene in a different way? Take your rack away....keep your scroll and replace tree with a Hut Stone. (Do not know if you have one...) Place instead of the geese a small deer....What does it tell to me...At least growing up in Northern Utah hunting season is in early October and just about the time the leaves are changing color. Hut stone representative of a cabin where many families stay to participate in the hunt.

Now, I will attach several pictures I took when at the bonsai convention in NY. Only thing I changed out is the scroll. I want you to tell me which scroll you would use and why....
1. Is a Waterfall

2. Is three persimmons just the fruit

3. Is a Magpie

4. Is a Cuckoo

5. Are Geese rising up in flight

 

[GrimLore]

I personally like the last one with Geese in flight. Here where I live the brilliant tree colors and constant Geese migrating is very normal at this time of year.

Grimmy

 

[kakejiku]

I personally like the last one with Geese in flight. Here where I live the brilliant tree colors and constant Geese migrating is very normal at this time of year.

Grimmy

Thanks, for the reply...when more give it an attempt will explain in more detail why ones will work not work.

 

[dick benbow]

Thank-you Jonathan for your contribution of thought and photos. If anything i just don't have enough accompaning tenpai and shikishi boards. But I'm working on that. here is a some artwork from my gifted friend hiroko on a shikishi board for winter. The pink faces of the monkeys, and silver tint to the big snowflakes, makes the scene for me. I know when the temps drop and this gets displayed, I'll have the urge to sit in a hot bath and soak up the heat
like my furry friends.

 

[kakejiku]

Thanks, for the reply...when more give it an attempt will explain in more detail why ones will work not work.

I gave this response in another location, and am copying my words below...hopefully some will find it useful, but OP has already read.

Here are some general observations.
In many cases some posters pointed out about the Hanko (artist stamp). To me this is a very small issue, because for me the more important points are 1. Matching Season 2. Cultural Storytelling and 3. Feeling Invoked

1. If viewing from a purely Japanese point of view, my feeling is that the Waterfall and the Cuckoo do not work as well because these are themes used for Summer displays. Now, I am not sure if the Pyracantha is red in the summer also, but if so then I would be wrong. However, it is not the size of the waterfall scroll that bothers me, so much as that the waterfall is in line with the tree, and typically would want to see it from an angle where the waterfall is above the tree. Additionally, this tree is more straight trunk, and having the waterfall flow right to left seems a little off...Total length of the scroll is not an issue.

2. The persimmons, magpie, and geese all fit for explaining the fall season. Now, cultural storytelling is additionally important.
The geese to me is a really safe choice, but the issues brought up by stonener are good points. One I think the scroll is a little small compared to the tree. Also, all the Chuumawashi (intermediate cloth) is a good color for the fall, the brown seems to me a little dark compared to the light walls of the tokonoma. Additionally, I have read that these Firethorn berries are eaten throughout the winter by birds that do not migrate. If putting with migratory birds, wouldn't this seem a little contradictory. And if someone knows whether Pyrachantha grow near wetlands where the geese would be I am unsure....

Persimmons to me are even a little later Autumn season. As I recall, Japanese started giving Kaki as gifts to us missionaries around late November to Early December...But, again it was brought up as having repetition with two fruiting themes in the same display. I am not sure what placement of the scroll is causing issue. This is the centered position, but it could have been moved slightly to the right, but would not solve two repetitive elements. I feel this scroll would be paired best with a stone.

Feeling invoked is also important in the display. For me the best scroll to use would be the Magpie. Magpie is an Autumn season bird, the tree is also in Autumn in full fruit. Some mentioned that the bird is facing away from the tree and that is a concern, but it is not really a concern to me. Facing away from the tree reinforces to me the following points. 1. The flow of the tree branches are very strong to the right, and this aids the accent in being a stopping point to that flow. 2. During this time of year there is still plenty of forage available for the magpie, and it does not need to eat the berries at this time, but as winter comes, it will rely more on those berries to survive through the winter. If the bird were facing into the tree, then I would feel like the bird was going to eat now...

Just some small points to mull over...any thoughts?

 

[GrimLore]

I am very happy to see you responded I will now give these things FAR MORE thought and I am always thankful for your expertise Also as regards to the Pyracantha growing in wetlands I have never seen that in this region. I do a lot of Rural Inspections for the Land Conservancy here covering thousands of acres a year. I know they like deep watering but they need good drainage. When I lived in NY State they were commonly used as a security measure planted under windows.

If you do not mind a question I see you mention the Magpie which we have some species of in this region. If I were to display here would it be more proper to display one native to our area? I guess my real question is the artful work you do consistent to not only to season but also to the place and culture it is physically located(the display).

Grimmy

 

[drew33998]

I like the magpie personally. No other reason than it just appears more appealing to my eye. Would love to learn more about display though.

 

[kakejiku]

If you do not mind a question I see you mention the Magpie which we have some species of in this region. If I were to display here would it be more proper to display one native to our area? I guess my real question is the artful work you do consistent to not only to season but also to the place and culture it is physically located(the display).

Grimmy

Thank you for the more in depth knowledge about the Pyracantha...

Which I think has reference to your question...season and location is important. Smoke touched on this point in a previous thread about the tree being lowland and the other high up in the mountains.

Also in the display class I conducted, we talked about cultural storytelling, which I feel is why traditional toko no ma display is so difficult to grasp. If you do not know the cultural symbolisms, there is often a feeling of disconnect from the display, rather than being able to feel you are in the scene or physical location.

I had some scrolls made of Native American scenes done so that we could make some displays that were more understandable from a geographic sense. The pieces: Tree, Scroll, Accent were all in the Japanese format, but the scenes and depictions were something that an American could actually stand in and experience in their life.

I would like to see more displays that follow the traditional format, but the pieces depict a scene or locale for our culture.

Hope that answered your question.

 

[kakejiku]

I like the magpie personally. No other reason than it just appears more appealing to my eye. Would love to learn more about display though.

BSF once had me do a proposal for coming to talk about scrolls and displays about 2-3 years ago, but nothing ever came of it...Maybe I can come there some day.

 

[GrimLore]

Hope that answered your question.

Thank you, always a pleasure seeing your work and a the lessons are greatly appreciated.

Grimmy