Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Kanazawa

My son and I arrived last night in Kanazawa from Sado and indulged in another sushi dinner, this time at a place called Ippei Sushi, right off the main drag in the Katamachi area. Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped in at a bar called Griffith for a quick drink. The place was deserted on a Friday night at 11:00PM in an entertainment district, which left me wondering how the place survives. The two bartenders seemed happy to have some company. One of them was a talkative fellow who brought out a map and gave us recommendations on things to do in the city. 

In particular, he recommended Kenrokuen, which is said to be one of Japan's three most beautiful public gardens. We spent the afternoon there after visiting the Ohmi Market, which was rather reminiscent of markets I've seen in places like Barcelona but with a greater emphasis on seafood. There were stalls full of sashimi, oysters and other shellfish of all kinds, shrimp, fish, squid, and crab. Crab everywhere – mostly zuwaigani (snow crab) and kegani (horsehair crab). The snow crab was very expensive, ranging in price from about $110 a piece to as much as $160 a piece. The vendors were selling seafood to take home but also for immediate consumption. I was tempted by the oysters...

At Kenrokuen, the moss was spectacular, virtually glowing after recent rains. Plums were in bloom. I saw Brown-eared Bulbuls taking nectar from the plum blossoms as I saw them do near the Palace moat in Tokyo. I also saw Varied Tits, Eastern Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, and, on the grounds of a shrine near Kanazawa Castle, a pair of Oriental Turtle Doves. We are now in Kyoto, staying with friends for a couple of nights. 

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Sado

Aside from seeing the rare Japanese Crested Ibis on Sado, the highlight of our brief stay on the island was the friendly and helpful people. We stayed at a rather quirky bed and breakfast that served no breakfast run by a Mr. Kondo, an audiophile and jazz enthusiast. The downstairs lounge area was essentially a large listening room with vintage audio equipment and the room we stayed in upstairs had its own audio system, film projector, and stacks of LPs, CDs, and DVDs. There was even an outdoor seating area fully equipped with yet another sound system, speakers exposed to the elements but holding their own, that plays jazz 24 hours a day. The neighbors don't seem to mind. 

Mr. Kondo greeted us warmly and showed us how to use everything and what he didn't tell us about we would have had little trouble with as virtually everything was labeled with instructions. The Japanese certainly love to keep everyone informed of the etiquette appropriate to almost every situation. In the bathroom, one sign suggested using the fancy remote-controlled washlet sitting down, another noted that the remote was to be used for flushing but that the seat and covers were to be operated by hand. Still another pointed out that the bathroom light was automatic. There were signs explaining the audio equipment, a sign by the bed asking guests to refrain from moving the beds, and signs explaining the remote control for the overhead lights. Mr. Kondo is quite proud of his beds, pointing out that he has equipped the rooms with Simmons mattresses. A small wooden plaque above the bed I slept in noted that I was using a 'Simmons semi-double'. The best information he gave us was recommending Kinpuku, a nearby yakitori izakaya.

We didn't use any of the audio equipment as we spent most of our time outside, looking for the Ibis or eating at Kinpuku (which we later learned was recently named the best izakaya in Niigata  Prefecture). 

Kinpuku is an unimposing establishment. You'd easily miss it if you didn't know it was there. Aside from a tiny lantern out front, the only external clue is a little charcoal smoke from the vents and the scent of grilling meat the vents deliver to the surrounding area. We arrived by car, but were told there was no parking lot, so we said we would go back to Mr. Kondo's place and walk back, but one of the guests already at the bar got up and said 'I know a place nearby you can park. Follow me!' We walked a couple of blocks to what turned out to be the man's own house and the bar he runs. We left the car there and returned to Kinpuku. Stepping inside provided not only the prospect of good food but a respite from the snow and wind outside. Kinpuku seats only 12. There were two seats left. Mr. Kondo had told us to go early, as people are frequently turned away or have to wait for a seat sometimes as long as an hour or two. 

The proprietor, Mr. Fukushima, is a jazz guitarist as well as the one-man band that runs the place. He told us he's been grilling skewers of meat over natural charcoal as he does today for 36 years. Jazz was playing over the speakers. He told us that when he first opened, people thought it was strange that he played jazz and often didn't like it, but the customers eventually came around to his way of thinking and he seems to have found a niche. We ate there both of the nights we were on Sado. The first night we tried two locally brewed beers, one a nicely fruity blonde ale, the other an IPA-style beer. On the second night, we drank a well-made Muscadet. Many of his customers ordered wine to go with their yakitori. Kinpuku serves wine only by the bottle. My son and Mr. Fukushima had a long conversation about guitar technique on the second of our two nights. Everything was delicious, but the chicken and onion skewers, the tsukudane, and the lightly salted grilled chicken wings were especially good. I also enjoyed the skewers of cherry tomatoes wrapped in very thin pork strips. 

On the first night (March 20), we learned that the man with the bar who let us park our car at his place regularly hosts the practice sessions of a group of local musicians and dancers that do traditional dances during festivals. We were invited to come by after Kinpuku to hear the singing and dancing, the singing accompanied by flutes, shamisen, and drums. I've always thought it strange how much this kind of Japanese music resembles the music of the fife and drum bands that once flourished deep in the Mississippi Delta area. A couple of young women at the bar borrowed flutes and tried to play along. Everybody seemed to know everybody. 

Today (March 22) we took the jetfoil from Sado back to Niigata and there boarded a Shinkansen train to Kanazawa. In the morning, before leaving, we did a quick tour of the Sado gold mine, which, according to the pamphlet I read, was the longest continuously run mine in the world, having operated 388 years, from 1601 until 1989. In its peak year, the mine produced about 1,500kg of gold, which I roughly calculate would be worth about $15,000,000 in today's money. The gold was present in seams of quartz. Silver was also mined at the same location. Apparently, homeless people and criminals back in the day were sometimes  exiled to Sado and forced to work in the mines. 

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Leaving Tokyo

Before leaving Tokyo, I went back to the National Museum of Modern Art, in Takebashi, where I enjoyed seeing some old favorites, notably a Foujita self-portrait with a cat, and the famous portrait by Ryusei Kishida of his five-year-old daughter Reiko, which I hadn't realized is actually a painting of a painting of the young girl. There was also an exhibition of textile designs going on. I noticed a woman in a kimono looking at a pair of yukata in the show with designs apparently derived from the hiragana script.

Afterwards, I met former work colleagues for lunch at a Thai restaurant we used to frequent. After lunch, we moved on for tea and Oban-yaki (grilled batter filled with sweet bean paste). Walking around Takebashi near the Palace moat, I noticed that almost the entire moat frontage there has been rebuilt since I was last in Japan.

Before leaving Tokyo for Sado, I enjoyed an excellent (and reasonably priced) sushi dinner at Sushiko along with my son and a friend of his. We had to line up and wait outside for about 40 minutes, but it was worth the wait.

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Sado

I'm now on the island of Sado, north of Niigata. Once known for its large gold and silver mine, it's now known (at least in my mind) for the reintroduction there of the Toki, or Japanese Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon), Japan's national bird. The Toki is endangered throughout its much-reduced range (mostly now in China), and it was eliminated entirely in Japan (how embarrassing to have let your national bird go locally extinct) because of habitat loss and excessive use of pesticides, but it has been reintroduced from China and a small population is established on the Island again.

The weather has been terrible here – very cold, and very windy. Overnight it has snowed. Yesterday it was so windy I couldn't hold my lens still enough to get a photograph of a Toki in flight, but I did observe a few birds poking around in the post-harvest rice paddies. The Toki is usually pictured in the peachy-white non-breeding plumage it shows in the winter months. Right now, however,  the birds are in breeding plumage – stained slaty grey on the neck, nape, and upper back – but they still have their distinctive red faces, and, in flight, their beautiful peach-tinted white wings are visible. 

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 Day Four

Yesterday, between business calls, I wandered along the Imperial Palace moat near Takebashi. In the moat were the usual Eurasian Coots, Tufted Ducks, and Shovelers. In the trees and flycatching over the water were a number of birds that I photographed poorly in the hope of later identifying them. I had only a wide angle lens with me, so I was unable to get good close-up shots. Still, sitting on the Shinkansen, heading north to Niigata, Asian bird field guide in my lap, I've decided a small, brownish bird with a rufous tail and a conspicuous white wing patch I saw at the moat was a female Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus). I saw a White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) on top of one of the moat walls, wagging its tail. Larger birds, flycatching over the moat, appear to have been Brown-eared Bulbuls (Hypsipetes amaurotis), and I again saw the Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) that I first noticed the day before yesterday. I even found a pair of these nesting in a tree hollow (pictured).

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 Day Three

Leaving Tokyo tomorrow for Sado, where I hope to see the Japanese Crested Ibis, or Toki, Japan's national bird with the wonderful Latin name Nipponia nippon. It has been warm these last few days in Tokyo but it's starting to turn colder and it's expected to snow during the two days I plan to be on Sado. I need to find some gloves...

Yesterday and again today has been filled with shopping for items I need that are available only in Japan. Yesterday I secured two of the high-quality brayers I use in making my monotype-based collages at Bumpodo, one of Japan's oldest and best art supply stores. I wandered around the used book district in Jimbocho and stopped in to the English school I taught at when I first arrived in Tokyo. I was vaguely hoping someone (anyone) I once knew was still there, but it's been too long. I tried to visit the Tokyo Kindai Bijutsu Kan (The National Museum of Modern Art), but on a Monday, it was closed.  I did, however, see the Fuji Latex building, an old favorite among architectural oddities. It's built in the shape of a ribbed condom. Fuji Latex, as you may have guessed, is one of Japan's leading makers of condoms. 

Along the Imperial Palace moat nearby I noticed some varieties of cherries are starting to bloom. One tree was being visited by a pair of Japanese White-eyes and what looked like a thrush of some kind (which I later determined to be a Brown-eared Bulbul). They appeared to be taking nectar from the base of the blossoms, a behavior I've noted before. In the moat were Tufted Ducks. Earlier, in Shinjuku, I saw an Eurasian Tree Sparrow, a bird I had never seen before. 

I visited my old haunt, Yoseido Gallery, in Ginza, hoping to see some work by artist Mikio Tagusari. Turns out that the building the gallery has been in for at least 35 years (when I first found the place) is to be torn down and rebuilt. They are moving to a new location. They promised to send me photos of the inventory they have after they've settled in to their new home. While waiting for the gallery to open, I walked around Mitsukoshi department store, foolishly including a visit to the underground food floor, which, on an empty stomach was a mistake. 

Construction everywhere. It's always been that way in Tokyo. Turn around and an entire building is shrouded in scaffolding. Turn around again and a new building is in its place. The  pace of change can be disorienting even when you live here. It's amplified by a long absence. Walking to the station yesterday morning, I noticed a crew laying asphalt on a little side street. On another, they had finished and laid chalk lines indicated where street markings were to go. On my way back that evening, the work had been finished, with 止まれ (stop) neatly painted in dazzling white. 

Today will mostly be business. Meeting co-workers that I work with daily but have never met. Meeting former co-workers for lunch and other former co-workers later in the day. Preparing for the trip to Sado tomorrow....

Places I'm visiting: Japan 2024 Day Two

Had a fairly random day of wandering in Tokyo yesterday. Spent the morning in Shibuya looking at guitars with my son and then visited one of Tokyo's giant record stores, in this case Tower Records (still alive and well in Japan), with its eight floors of offerings. I spent my time on the 8th floor, which is entirely classical. The selection is amazing. Thousands and thousands of CDs and LPs to look at. 

The Japanese have a tendency to be very thorough about everything they go about. In another record store I stopped into, the storage accessory section (outer sleeves and inner sleeves of every description) alone was as big as a small record store at home. 

Earlier, I came across a store selling children's school backpacks, which are a big deal in Japan. They are typically red or black, made of high-quality leather, built to last, costing hundreds of dollars. This store had an unusual range of these all in pastel colors and with large bows – fancy backpacks for the children of the well to do. I didn't look at the prices. 

I wandered through a Sunday morning farmers market. Expensive strawberries were a hot item. A lot of artisan bread. Handmade kitchen utensils. Carrots. Eggs. The carrots in many colors. 

Later in the day, visited Kagurazaka, the neighborhood I lived in when Tokyo was my home. It has changed a great deal. All my favorite restaurants are gone. The area has been tidied up and prettied up with new buildings. There were a few familiar storefronts, though. The noodle shop at the bottom of the street that I used to go to for tempura soba is still there. The Mosburger next door remains. I walked by the two apartments that I lived in that are nearby. The second of these backs on to the compound where the chief  justice of Japan's Supreme Court lives. At the entrance the  guard stationed there 24 hours a day was at his post. As if I'd never left. 

Feet aching from walking, we rested at a fancy Kagurazaka coffee shop where the prices for a cup of joe ranged from about eight dollars to about 15 dollars. Here was another example of the Japanese doing nothing by halves. Each cup is individually brewed and delivered to your table by a uniformed waitress in the beaker it was brewed in, the coffee then poured at the table, the ritual as important as the product. I was happy to pay for the rest that the visit afforded. The place reminded me of a San Francisco Chinatown teahouse in its design with its square cubicles and heavily detailed ceiling. 

We had had extraordinary luck with food at lunchtime, in Shibuya, on spec adding ourselves to the end of a line that had formed in front of Tokyo Tarako, a restaurant that serves nothing but mentaiko (salted cod roe or pollock roe) spaghetti. Absolutely delicious. Mine came with a small pat of herbed butter to melt on top. Many of the selections came with little pots of broth (made from kelp and bonito flakes) that you add to make Japanese-style soup-spaghetti. A treat. Tokyo Tarako is at Shibuya 1 Chome-14-9. They appear to have a sister restaurant in Harajuku as well. At dinner time, we were not so lucky. It was a Sunday night, many stores and restaurants were closed. We were craving good sushi, but had to settle for mediocre yakitori in Jimbocho, the district I worked in as an English teacher when I first arrived in Tokyo. 

Along the way, we passed Yasukuni Shrine, controversial because it enshrines all of Japan's WWII war dead, including the men designated as Class A war criminals by the post-war Tokyo Tribunal. It's a pretty spot, despite the controversy. Pictured here is  the large copper torii at the main entrance. 

 

Places I'm visiting: Japan 2024 Day One

In Tokyo now for the first time in I don't know how many years – 10 maybe? The cat at home is being taken care of by one of my son's friends who is staying at the house while we're away (Thanks, Jason). 

Needless to say, international jet travel is nothing new, but it always feel a bit surreal to board an airplane in one country and then to deplane a quarter of the way around the world only a few hours later. At the same time, having lived in Tokyo nearly 20 years, stepping into the city feels oddly 'normal'. It almost feels like I never left. Quickly the old instincts kick in. In particular, the skill of navigating through crowds, honed over many years, comes back unbidden. Keep to the left, but stay between the edge of the flow going one way and the oncoming flow of people. Don't make eye contact with the oncoming traffic when you need to slip through a tight space. Be polite, but don't hesitate. Almost as if I never left...

Much is the same, but it's easy to note differences. Some are obvious. Even in places that once were quite familiar, landmarks are gone. At the East exit of Shinjuku station the large panels that once were used for advertising the newest movies are no longer there (I can remember when these were actually painted by hand). Everywhere are new tall buildings that I can't identify. There are many, many more foreigners than there used to be. Everyone, Japanese and non-Japanese alike has a mobile phone. 

Other differences are more subtle. Taxis were once almost exclusively sedans (usually Toyotas painted yellow) but everywhere now I see stocky black taxis reminiscent of London taxis. I asked a driver who told me they were introduced ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and that they were, in fact, modeled on the London cab. The 'hatsu nori' (initial fare) price was ¥720 when I left last, but now it is ¥500. At first, I thought the fare had been reduced, but I've learned that that ¥500 today buys you only the first kilometer. ¥720 used to buy you the first two. Every taxi has a GPS now – a very welcome development considering the confusing address system used in Japan; taxi drivers can actually get you where you're going now, although they seem no better at driving smoothly. There are video screens in the back of the cabs. Gone are the rows of advertising pamphlets selling things like spirulina health drinks or promoting temporary staffing agencies that I used to perfunctorily peruse on a short ride. 

The trains are subtley different. There are now announcements in English. Every station appears to have been given a letter-and-number code that I'm guessing was another innovation for the Olympics. The codes make it easy to navigate without remembering station names. The train colors are slightly different in some cases. The dangling grab-irons in some of the JR trains appear to be coordinated with the color of the train line. As in the taxis, paper advertising has in many places been replaced by LCD screens, which seem colder than the posters tucked into the curved spaces above the baggage racks that used to be there. I can remember occasionally seeing young men whose job it was to go through the cars of stopped trains at the start of the day, removing outdated posters and replacing them with new ones. Now it's all digital. I even noticed young women outside the train stations with LCD screens hung around their necks advertising clubs and restaurants. Everything is digital. Everyone on their phones...

More serendipitous art: Floor Patterns

This is a section of the floor of the Attico consignment shop, in Sebastopol, which is in the building that was once the local Ford dealership. I seem to photograph the floor there every time I visit. Serendipitous art. 

Serendipitous Art: Backlit Tarp

I saw this abstract scene recently while taking bottles to be recycled (so glad you can now – as of 1 January 2024 – get a $0.05 refund on wine bottles). A tarp hung on a fence was backlit by early morning sun. Unintended art. 

Plants I'm Growing: Heat tolerant lettuce

Last year in the garden, we had particularly good harvests of carrots and lettuce. The lettuce held up well throughout the season, despite the heat and getting less water than it likely would have appreciated. I lost the seed packets (until today). As I will surely lose them again, I'm posting  here so that I'll be able to find the names  in the future and I thought others living in California might be interested to know about these varieties that seem especially well suited to our climate. I've just planted some for this year. 

The lettuce varieties that did so well were both butterhead types, one called 'Kagraner Sommer' (from Renee's Garden but likely available from other suppliers) and 'Rhapsody' (also from Renee's Garden)
.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 285 (Santa Rosa)

Here's another fairly recent collage. This is Untitled Collage No. 285 (Santa Rosa). August 2, 2023. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper (bark cloth fragments), collage. Image size 10.0cm x 9.3cm (3.9in x 3.7in). Matted to 14 x 11 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, see my website at http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/.

Note that my book Colin Talcroft – Abstract Monotype Collage: 2013–2024 is now available on the website.

If you're in the Northern California area, some of my work is now showing in "Paper's Edge" a show of collage and mixed media work at Hammerfriar Gallery, in Healdsburg, CA, through May 11. I'll be doing a live demonstration of my collage process at the gallery on Saturday, April 13. See you there!

Wines I'm Making: Bottling 2023 rosé and 2022 Cabernet

I spent some of the weekend of February 10 and 11 attending to winemaking chores I had been putting off. I bottled our 2023 rosé of Sangiovese, made labels, and got the labels on and did the same for our 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc. We ended up with 15 bottles of the rosé and 62 bottles of the Cabernet, which is pretty typical. This past weekend I also racked and sulfited our 2023 Cabernet and added oak on the assumption that the malolactic fermentation has probably gone as far as it was going to go, although I did not go to the trouble of doing a paper chromatography test to see. It is what it is.... I treated the wine for a slight hydrogen sulfide smell, which is a reminder that next year I'll need to go more to provide yeast nutrients during fermentation.

 

Rain: More Rain and Wind

On February 4 and 5 we had almost continuous rain accompanied by high winds. Since last reporting, we've had 5.3 inches of new rain. That brings our total at my location so far this rain year to 20.55 inches.

[Edit: Since last reporting, we've had another 0.50 inches. Our total as of February 8 is now 21.05 inches.]

[Edit: Another wave of storms has been passing through since yesterday (February 18) and as of the morning of February 18 another 4.40 inches of new precipitation had accumulated in the rain gauge. That brings our total now to 24.45 inches – and it's still raining.]

[Edit: Today (February 20) it's clear and sunny in Santa Rosa. This is the first clear morning we've had in some time. Checking the rain gauge this morning, I see we've had another 1.75 inches of rain since last reporting. That brings our total so far this season to 26.20 inches.]

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 284

Here's another fairly recent collage. This is the last in a string of pieces I did over this past summer that incorporate bits of a couple of sheets of pseudo-calligraphy I had made earlier in the year. This is Untitled Collage No. 284 (Santa Rosa). August 1, 2023. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size 19.4cm x 10.5cm (7.5in x 4.1in). Matted to 14 x 11 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, see my website at http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/.

If you're in the Northern California area, some of my work will appear in "Paper's Edge" a show of collage and mixed media work at Hammerfriar Gallery, in Healdsburg, CA, from February 24 (opening reception 3-6PM) through May 11. I'll be doing a live demonstration of my collage process at the gallery on Saturday, April 13. See you there!

 

Music I'm Listening to: Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Mahler's 5th Symphony

I attended the San Francisco Symphony concert last night (January 26) at Davies Symphony Hall. On the program was a single piece, Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Michael Tilson Thomas conducted. It was played straight through with no intermission. I hadn't known it before, but, according to the program, MTT made his debut with the SF Symphony in 1974, conducting another Mahler symphony – Symphony No. 9. So, MTT has been conducting Mahler in San Francisco for 50 years. 

The concert hall was packed – not an empty seat. I don't think I've ever seen the place completely full like that before. The entire audience rose to give MTT a standing ovation as he walked on stage. The concert ended the same way – with an extended standing ovation for the conductor, who was looking a little frail, but no frailer that when I last saw him, which was during his first performance after recovering from his brain surgery. Before that, the last time I saw him was in March 2018, in a concert that, coincidentally, included the Mahler 5. That was a brilliant performance. 

This performance was almost as good. There was a little highly uncharacteristic wobbling in the brass section in one or two places last night, but, aside from that, the SF Symphony was its usual highly competent self. MTT takes this piece slowly, letting the spaces speak in a way that is highly effective, never rushing. As I've noted before, I've not been especially fond of MTT as a conductor over the years – except when he does Mahler. 

MTT looked deeply touched by the long ovation after the performance, after a few minutes he raised his hands to stop the applause and he addressed the audience. He thanked the orchestra and the audience for the many years and many experiences shared by all of us. He seemed a bit wistful, giving the impression that he knows and has accepted the fact that most of his career and his life are behind him. The entire audience seemed to understand. There was much love in the air.

Rain: More storms

We've had a number of storms pass through in recent days (today is January 27). I hadn't checked the rain gauge for a few days, but this morning I found 4.8 inches had accumulated. That brings our total for the current rain year so far to 15.25 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. 

Art I'm Making: Show at Hammerfriar Gallery

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be participating in a show of collage and mixed media work along with Molly Perez and Deborah Salomon at Hammerfriar Gallery, in Healdsburg, from February 24 to May 11, 2024. There will be an opening reception on Saturday February 24 (3PM-6PM) and I will be doing a collage demonstration at the gallery on Saturday, April 13 at noon. I hope to see you there.

Art I'm Looking at: Botticelli at the Legion of Honor

I found a recent article on Hyperallergic about drawing on blue paper interesting (actually a review of a book on the subject) – particularly interesting having recently seen the show of Botticelli drawings now at the Legion of Honor, in San Francisco.

It was striking that so many of the Botticelli drawings were done in ink on tinted paper, mostly pink paper in this case, heightened with white chalk. 

While at the Botticelli show, I was startled when a living Botticelli appeared beside me, gazing at the drawings on the wall. Her hair was long and blonde, flowing in loose curls, and her doe-eyed face was dainty with a pointed chin. Had she not been dressed in modern, casual clothing, she could have emerged from Botticelli's Primavera. It was all I could do to keep myself from staring at her. I had to wonder whether it was pure coincidence or whether she had done her hair that way purposefully, to create a stir. If she hadn't been wearing headphones, listening to a taped tour of the show, I would have approached her and asked her to pose in front of one of the drawings. Surreptitiously, I photographed her. She gave me goosebumps. 

Rain: New Precipitation

It's raining this morning, January 13, 2024, a light drizzle. There is 3.55 inches of rain accumulated in the rain gauge, but that's rain from earlier in the month that I haven't yet recorded. Adding that to our last total of 6.90 inches brings the total so far this season to 10.45 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which is on the low side for this time of year, but it's supposed to rain most of today and there's more rain in the forecast for next weekend. 

Art I'm Making: Untitled Colage No. 283 (Santa Rosa)

Still catching up on posting recent work. This one, a small piece measuring 9.7cm x 12.3cm (3.8 x 4.8 inches), completed July 13, 2023, is Untitled Collage No. 283 (Santa Rosa). Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Matted to 11in x 14in. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collage, visit my website http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/

Books I'm Reading: New Art City

2023 has not been a great year for reading. There was a time, when, living in Tokyo, when I had a long commute, that I read a book a week or more using my time on the train to and from work. Since returning to the US, 22 years ago now, I've been reading a book a month or so, but this year, with the death of my mother in January and all the responsibilities that stemmed from that, I've been able to get through only a handful of titles. 

I most recently finished Jed Perl's New Art City (Vintage, 2007), which was an interesting look at New York in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, but rather dense and I was slow to get through it. It starts off with a chapter that underscores the importance of Hans Hoffman as a teacher in New York in the 1930s before moving on to look at the major artists of the period based in New York – Joseph Cornell, Jackson Pollack, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and others – as well as the critics who were writing about these men and women. Inspired, I'm now reading a book about Helen Frankenthaler, and I have another on deck specifically about the women who were working as artists in New York during the period. So many books, so little time....

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 282 (Santa Rosa)

A collage from earlier this year, again incorporating some pseudo-calligraphic brushwork. For me, a comparatively large piece. This is Untitled Collage No. 282 (Santa Rosa). 30 June 2023. Image size: 32.3cm x 41.2cm (12.7in x 16.2in). Matted to 20 x 24 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse. 

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collages, visit my website at http://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site/

Rain: End-December Rain

Today, 27 December, it's been raining most of the day and the rain continues. So far there's 0.80 inches of new rain in the rain gauge, but it's supposed to continue to rain into tomorrow, at which time I will update our total precipitation so far in the current rain year. 

Art I'm Making Untitled Collage No. 281 (Santa Rosa)

Here's a small collage from the middle of this year. This is Untitled Collage No. 281 (Santa Rosa). June 14, 2023. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size 11.7cm x 9.2cm (4.6 x 3.6 inches). Matted to 14 x 11 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collages, visit my website http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/.

Rain: New rain in December

In the past few days, mostly December 19 and 20, we have had rain on and off. This morning there was 3.05 inches of new rain in the rain gauge. That brings our total so far for the 2023-2024 rain year to 6.90 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which seems low for this time of year, but more rain is forecast for next week. 

Art I'm Making: Untittled Collage No. 280 (Santa Rosa)

Earlier this year, I made seven or eight collages using my usual handmade monotypes but also several sheets I had made simply by painting with black paint on paper, mimicking calligraphy, although this was asemic writing – that is, gibberish; I was simply using the brush as if writing characters, drawing on my informal study of Japanese calligraphy (I lived in Japan 19 years). Here's another in that group of collages.

This is Untitled Collage No. 280 (Santa Rosa). Completed March 23, 2023. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size: 10.3cm x 11.8cm (4.1in x 4.7in). Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse. 

 

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collages, visit my website http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/.

Rain: November-December 2023

I've not been diligent in recording rainfall this season. I've a lot to deal with in the past few months, but I note here that we've had rain on and off in the past few weeks, although nothing in the way of a major storm yet. There is 3.80 inches in the rain gauge, which I haven't emptied recently, so that may be fairly accurate (it is raining now, so it will go up). In any case, I'll use it as my starting point recording rainfall going forward for the 2023-2024 rainy season.

Art I'm Making Untitled Collage No. 279 (Santa Rosa)

Earlier this year, I made seven or eight collages using my usual handmade monotypes but also several sheets I had made simply by painting with black paint on paper, mimicking calligraphy, although this was asemic writing – that is, gibberish; I was simply using the brush as if writing characters, drawing on my informal study of Japanese calligraphy (I lived in Japan 19 years). Here's another in that group of collages, a small piece.

This is Untitled Collage No. 279 (Santa Rosa). Completed March 23, 2023. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size: 10.3cm x 11.8cm (4.1in x 4.7in). Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collages, visit my website http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/.