Arts Itoya Painting 2: Pursuit (Ichi-go ichi-e)

June 20, 2024 in New Artwork, Residencies

My second painting is also atop a Pigment Tokyo paper; this time, it is a large aluminum foil scattered paper. This paper was hard to work with, as the paint doesn’t grip to it as well as I’d like (and my new Holbein metal primer did not help), and the tape I used to anchor the paper to a board ended up removing the foil off the corners. However, I persevered! The subject is a male Japanese rhinoceros beetle, called kabutomushi here in Japan: Allomyrina dichotoma. The adults only live for 2-3 months after pupating.

I plan to carefully varnish the beetle before framing this piece, but I’ll do that at home - so for here, it’s done! All of the metal leaf papers are hard to photograph, but I’m pretty happy with the below image.

This is Pursuit (Ichi-go ichi-e), acrylic on aluminum leaf paper, 11.5x17”, 2024. The Japanese romaji in the title, ichi-go ichi-e or 一期一会 in kanji, is a four-character Japanese proverb that means “one time, one meeting” and is about embracing the present.

Shelby Prindaville’s acrylic painting of a kabutomushi or Japanese rhinoceros beetle (*Allomyrina dichotoma*) on aluminum leaf paper.

Week 2 of the Arts Itoya Residency

June 20, 2024 in General Interest, Residencies

Once we got to the studio, I began to paint! I tend to put in pretty long hours, so there was far less exploring going on - but there was a bit. While all the residents get along well, several enjoy independence. Emily and I both get along really well and like the same destinations so we began doing pretty much everything together. We asked a volunteer with the residency, Charlie, if he’d mind showing us a nearby koi store. With the owners’ permission, I used my underwater camera to take photos, much to Emily’s delight! We got some good images and the koi store owners were so very sweet. Japanese hospitality is outrageous. Despite the fact that it was clear we weren’t going to be customers, and they’d already done us a favor by letting us take photos of the fish, they also sat us down, showed us some documentary clips of their store and fish at different times, plied us with tea, coffee, and cookies, and offered their home’s art up for viewing as well as their bathroom to us. I need to up my hospitality game!

I learned that their average koi’s lifespan is 100 years, but that the oldest koi fish in Japan lived for 200 years! They also shared that this is the slowest time of year for their shop, and that the most spectacular fish come through in October and November. However, they are going to be getting new stock in next week so we plan to return!

We also began to explore a bit more of the culinary scene in Takeo, but it’s rough being a vegetarian here. Our favorite places include Irie, a Jamaican/Italian bar with a delightful owner and employee pair, as well as Sol de Verano (a Spanish tapas bar with delicious Basque cheesecake) and a tofu hot pot and gelato place. We also tend to eat at least one meal per day from a konbini (Family Mart or 7-11).

Hiro took four of us who wanted to go on an excursion to a hydrangea temple and shrine which is up a mountain in Takeo, and that was really beautiful, though my ears refused to pop for some time so I was happy when I could finally hear again!

Intersperse that with a lot of studio time, and a few late night onsen visits, and you have a full picture of my second week!

Arts Itoya Painting 1: Duality

June 15, 2024 in New Artwork, Residencies

The first painting I completed at Arts Itoya is of two backlit hibiscus flowers from Yakushima. The substrate is a gold and silver leaf flecked Torinoko paper from Pigment Tokyo; I added the translucent green coloration. I was inspired by the dark fantasy iconography of flowers in anime, particularly in Hell’s Paradise as well in Demon Slayer and Suzume.

This is Duality, acrylic on gold and silver leaf flecked Torinoko paper, 14.37x11.6”, 2024.