Tag Archives: abstraction in nature

Nature as an Inspiration – February 09, 2016


Fingers holding a spider lily petal.
A spider lily petal close detail.

The actual petal is about 3cm long. Straight-edged at start, it then progressively blossoms into a free style wavy form and tangles with other ones until they become a crazy mass of flaming red. Photographed in early Autumn 2014 as a research for a series of dyed dresses named Spider Lily Red.

Abstraction in Nature – December 07, 2015

Green foxtails at sunset.
Artist’s hand and a drawing.

Rather large pencil drawings of a spider lily petal are inching toward completion. Captured this evening at the copper gold moment right before the sundown. This is for a series of dyed silk garments named “Spider Lily Red”. It is important that I get it right while on paper, so that when I move on to painting on silk, my brush will be reasonably sure-footed.

Every petal’s a masterpiece.

For last two weeks, my priority #1 has been to spend as much time with spider lilies, bloom for a short while each autumn.
This year they are back earlier, and seemingly more in numbers.

The blossom has been my muse for sometime now, and here’s why, shown in pictures.

A flower petal close up.
Flower painting on silk.
Flower painting on silk.
A flower petal close up.

The above two drawings are both dye sample swatches, from top the completed #2 and in-progress #3. On different fabrics – both silk, with slight difference in dye absorption, lines bolder on the #3 just because. This style of drawing is a new trick I am trying out since the above #2 but has been on my mind for much longer.

As for the petals, I couldn’t find a thing to add. Examining them closely somehow grew me muted.

Red spider lilies close up.

I’ve decided to call this project “Spider Lily Red”, the newest addition to my dyed threads series.

最後の屋外プールが閉まった日、彼岸花が咲き始めたのに気がついた。二年前の秋、突然のようにあの赤い色を見ると胸の奥で何かが着火するようになった。なにがどう変化したのか、本当に突然だったのか。わからない、でもきらいな感覚では全然ない。

写真の絵2枚は染め見本、素材は両方ともシルクだがテクスチャーは少し違う、よって染料の染み込み具合の感触も違う。そうすると意識しないでいても描き方も自然と違ってくる。なんでかはわからない、わかろうとする気もあんまりない。

そもそも何故彼岸花がそんなに好きになったかだって不明。でも、わからん、といってそのままにしておけるのが何故かとても嬉しくて、くるくるにまるまった花びらを指に絡めてみたりするのだ。

進行中の彼岸花シリーズ『Spider Lily Red』は当方の染色系統の次作(今までの作品はこちら)。

Red spider lilies in a ray of light.
2020.10.13 – True North

Biofluorescents.


An Ivory Sea Shell textures.
Sand dollar, inner part.

Lately, much of my evenings I spend visiting fireflies.
Early summer rice fields, the plants are already at their full-height. They host a small family of the delicate insects come alive each evening as Twilight falls.

Test painting on silk.

In the pitch dark their fluorescent yellow lights draw weightless lines visible only to my mind’s eye.
Flashing on, off, on, off….I stand amidst the invisible web of Organic Elegance and say to myself:
I get it, it’s that Pulse again!!

Just then in distance a Wave breaks one more time, with its most wholesome assertion Sea replies:
it’s our Heartbeat honey, yours and mine.

The Night then trembles, suspended in time.

An wavy sea shell textures.
A flower petal study sketch.

Photos are of various beach finds and a dye test swatch for my “Spider Lily Red” series.

The last photo is of a new pencil drawing, incomplete, of a petal of the said lily, for the said series, trying something different from how I usually painted with dyes.

Additional note on April 10, 2019:

This post was originally titled as “Bounds melt. Time stands still.”.
For the reason I do not disclose (i.e. not that interesting to you) I removed this post from this site for a while.

I revived this under a new title and with revised text on April 09-10, 2019. The reason being:

The red lily petal dyed on a silk (the photo in the middle) was the first dye test for this project “Spider Lily Red”. I painted in the same way as all the previous Dyed Threads series (example). And it didn’t quite work.
The bottom drawing is what I came up with as the alternative. The rest of photos are the main sources of inspirations. The drawing – of the same petal, had progressed into 2 part series (references: drawing 1, and drawing 2) – are both completed now. I thought it would be kinda neat to show you how it all started.

Red. Unrest.


A spider lily petal drawing.
A spider lily petals drawing.

Listen
until you hear the Waves roaring in the petals.

Sea surface.
A spider lily petal drawing.

The drawing is of spider lily petals, colored pencil on paper, 38 x 54cm, a continuing study of the blossom for my upcoming dye piece.
Currently going through bouts of overwhelm at the sight of the bold red challenge. Too late though, I’ve already seen, and heeded, too much of what they have to unveil.

Small adjustment made on texts in the middle on 17Sep21