Netsuke - Elephant & Man in the form of a Seal

Today I am carving 'Elephant and Man in the form of a Seal' while listening to Katy Payne talk about elephants. Katy is a researcher in the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University and has spent 35 years closely studying the behaviour of elephants. In conversation with Krista Tippet from the On Being podcast. 

Katy Payne & Elephants

Katy Payne talks about her first encounter studying the behaviour of elephants in Portland Oregan Zoo. She spent a week observing the elephants and after a while being in close proximity to the elephants she noticed "a throbbing sound in the air".

“There is a sound below the pitches of the sound that human beings can hear and low and behold we discovered there was a whole other communication system there that no one had known about; it was just below the frequency that humans can hear.”

— Katy Payne with Krista Tippet from Onbeing

Katy's recordings led to the discovery of infrasonic communication in elephants. After years of research in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia she founded the The Elephant Listening Project

“ELP has been listening in on the sounds of the forests of Central Africa, applying Katy’s insights to further the conservation of elephants. Projects have been located at numerous different sites from Gabon and Cameroon in the west, to the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo to the east.”

— The Elephant Listening Project

Elephant Print no.2

I initially made a sketch of this elephant at the Royal Festival Hall from "Netsuke - 100 Miniature Masterpieces" by Noriko Tsuchiya. The drawing is much more graphic and flat than the sketches I made from life in the Bristol museum study room. The plus side being that the lines are clearer and easier to follow with the Hangito.

Carving and Stretching

I'm more focused today and managing to keep all the lines I want intact without cutting off a toe or or trunk. Giving myself more space and time and I am more in tune with the wood and my body - I am still getting pains in my elbows from carving and have tried techniques learnt from Paul Furneaux's woodblock printing workshop but I find it very hard to hold the Hangito in the traditional way. It feels more natural to hold it like pencil. As I haven't resolved this yet, for now, as soon as my arms ache - I stop and stretch out my entire body, letting the blood flow back into all the places that have been holding tension. As I think about the tension I wonder about this man trying to tame and chain this beautiful elephant. These animals are such free spirits and it is so good to hear about the wonderful work Katy is doing. I am so inspired by her passion. She is making people aware of the sensitivity and tenderness, the joy, the sadness, the playfulness, the love, the connection, reminding us all of the importance of these wonderful creatures and the delight and beauty that they exude.

Elephant Prints

I make six prints. While the wood is only lightly damp, I mix nori paste with Japanese carbon ink giving the lines more definition. (Elephant Print no.2) After a few prints the wood builds up more moisture and I use less nori paste which produces a more mottled watery texture. (Elephant Print no.6)

Elephant Print no.6

I apply too much pressure with the baren on other prints, overprinting the ink where there should be white space. So I have three prints that I'm happy with, each with their own unique quality which reminds me of Katy's heart warming story of the elephants holding memories close to their hearts.

“We recorded the voice of of an old matriarch, Rosie, who happened to have a grand daughter also in the herd - some 10 years later - Rosie had been dead for several years - Her granddaughter Sunshine was still alive. When we played these calls the elephants went into paroxysms of groaning and roaring - they were recognising that voice - there’s a real memory and voice is a part of it”

— Katy Payne with Krista Tippet from Onbeing

I lie on the floor and stretch out my limbs. Taking more breaks and stretching has been good practice today and I'm honoured to have spent time 'In the Presence of Elephants'.

If you would like to donate to The Elephant Listening Project, please click the the link below which will direct you to  Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website. 

Listen to more inspiring interviews by Krista Tippett at Onbeing.org

Netsuke - Ox (& the Art of Listening)

I discovered Onbeing at the beginning of the year. I have no recollection of the thread in the web that brought me to Kristas Tippett's website but ever since I found it I am a complete fan of her heart warming inspiring interviews with poets, thinkers, speakers, makers, teachers.... from all over the globe.

I'm listening to Gordon Hempton's soundscape of nature's silence 'A Hike through the Hoh rainforest.' He takes us on a guided walk along the trail through tall tree, ferns and moss, a winter wren twittering, a river echoing of the edge of the valley and the call of a Roosevelt elk. In his conversation with Krista Tippett he talks about the art of listening.

"Listening is not about sound - If you ever find yourself listening for sound, that's diagnostically a controlled impairment. Simply listen to the place and when you listen to the place you take it ALL in - We're about to enter into a giant driftwood log -Sikta Spruce log, the material used in the crafting of violins - when the wood fibres are excited by acoustic energy -in this case its the sound of the ocean itself - the fibres actually vibrate and inside you get to listen to nature's largest violin.” Gordon Hempton - Onbeing

Shiko Munakata & Kiyoshi Saito

While I carve my second ox, I wonder where this magnolia wood was growing and how many years it stood rooted in the earth before being cut into blocks. The death of the magnolia tree. The aliveness of mark making. The transforming of tree to print. This time I leave more wood, less carving, more outline and I am more gentle as I listen to the sound of the hangito cutting into the block. I love how Shiko Munakata really listened to the wood when he was carving. He let the wood speak as there is no right and wrong, just the doing of it and the way Kiyoshi Saito, another master of the Creative Print Movement (Sosaku Hanga) embraced the texture of wood grain when printing flat bold areas of colour.

"Flat areas of colour and the texture of the woodblocks' grain communicate the essentials of the nature of bold and harmonious designs. Saito's simple style possesses great freedom and spontaneity, and there is an international avoidance of elegant refinement. " Masterful Images - The Art of Kiyoshi Saito. Barry Till.

"The nature of the woodcut is such, that even a mistake in its carving will not prevent it from its true materialization." Shiko Munakata

I have returned to using the Japanese carbon ink as I am not yet used to the smell of the sumi ink. I use dry Japon simile paper and rub the baren over the woodblock. The plastic cream baren is hard and unforgiving of the slightly uneven surface where I had put too much pressure on the wood with the bone folder. I use my shredded bamboo baren and the next print is much cleaner. This ox is better than the last one but still with its many imperfections. I stick a sample into my notebook along with the previous samples.

I wonder whether sketching these netsuke from 'life' will make a difference. The central archives department at the British museum have forwarded my request on to the department of Asia and sent me their email so I can contact them directly. I send another email to the department of Asia and wait for their reply.

Netsuke - Ox (Signed Tomotada)

I usually would prefer to draw from life so it's a bit frustrating drawing from my dark grainy photographs. It's prompted me to write to the British Museum in the hope for an appointment to view and sketch their collection of netsuke. They have an extensive collection of 2300 netsuke. I will wait and see and I finish up my sketch of an Ox signed Tomotada.

Listening to the World

While listening to Krista Tippett's podcast On Being I begin the process of transfering the image to the block ready for carving the Ox. Krista Tippett is interviewing the American poet Mary Oliver who always carries a pen and paper while she is walking in the woods. The woods is her sanctuary where she finds creative inspiration. She never writes her ideas directly on to a computer and advises others to do the same - I understand the positives for doing this but I'm finding the combination of digital and analogue world work well together for me. There is much more ease and efficiency using both. I scan the sketched ox into the computer and open it up in photoshop. I've deliberately kept the fine lines. Usually I thicken the lines directly on to the paper after I have made the initial sketch but I print the original sketch on to the tracing paper and rub the image on to the wood.

The image is more faint than usual and it's difficult to make out all the lines but I'm going to have a go at carving the ox with fine lines.

The result is over carved and with chipped outlines and an unsuccessful patchy print. I print out the sketch of the ox and draw over the original sketch. The lines are thicker. There is more black with smaller areas of white. Lets hope this one works out better than the last one.

Ox signed Tomotada - A.957 - 1910 Salting Bequest. British Museum

"When you make something, when you go through the process - all the steps and at the end you have a finished project you made with your own hands, out of your own mind, that is your own design - it's a reflection of your soul."Eric Hollenbeck - Portrait of a Master Wood Worker. Blue Ox Millworks