First Project of 2011: A Kite!

Happy new year everyone! I hope your holiday was wonderful and that you've entered this first week of the new year well rested and with renewed energy. I've been back in the studio since Monday and have put the Israel/Palestine print on hold so that I can work on an entry for the Drachen Foundation's moku hanga kite project.

Based in Seattle, Drachen Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to disseminating information about any and all sorts of kites from around the world. The Kite Project invites international artists to produce Japanese woodblock prints on thin washi no larger than 18 x 13 inches. The prints will then be expertly sparred into functioning kites by the folks at Drachen. The kites will be shown at the 6th Annual Kyoto International (KIWA) Exhibition in Kyoto in late March, at the 1st International Moku Hanga Conference in Kyoto in June, and later at Cullom Gallery and Mighty Tieton Arts, both in Washington state.

Since I've been contemplating peace recently, I wanted to design a kite around that theme. I wanted it to be bold and graphic so that it would be easy to see even when the kite is in the air. In a previous print, I had included a Buddha with his hand raised in the abhaya mudra (see image at left) which signifies protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear. I thought that it would be really lovely to fly a kite that offered protection, peace and freedom from fear to everyone below, so I decided to show the hand of Buddha in my kite. I've been calling it "Blessing Kite."

Since the kite is due in Seattle in 10 days, I also decided that I would attempt to make the print using just one block. Here's the design I developed, drawn onto the block: