…by any other name…

So, why are a good number of the names that I use for shapes, tampers, and materials Japanese? I get this question fairly frequently.  There are several reasons why. 

 

Despite the fact that most of my foreign customers are located in Japan, I have no illusion that I’m creating Japanese art.  The truth is that I was raised around Japanese art, much of it the work of Hokusai and Hiroshige.   I also collect prints of their work.  That goes back to my mom who used to thumb through pages of their prints with me by her side, or on her knee as a tot.  That said, I know enough of Japanese art to know that one cannot create it without understanding their culture and sensibilities. I know enough to not even try.  A friend of mine is a major collector of Japanese art and he knows enough of it to know that there is only so much that we can understand and that much of it will always be beyond our grasp.  So, please understand that I would never be so bold, or crass, to think that I could create Japanese art.  There are many, many inspirations for my work from weather, to nature, to Flash Gordon, to just about any interest that I have or anything that I’ve seen.  So, why then Japanese names?

 

Other than having studied the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy my exposure to Japan has been primarily through Godzilla movies <grin>.  As to art, my exposure has been though a  lifelong involvement having come from a family of artists as well as having studied art extensively in college.  As an attorney I have always been sensitive to the written word and the images and emotions that they evoke.  Words have been my craft and trade. I’m well aware of how they can impart ideas and emotions.  Sometimes words that are common to us, in our own language, are a little too forward, maybe a little too blunt.  In those instances I like to chose a word that has a wonderful ring to it that upon translation will give a little insight into what I saw in my mind’s eye when I created the piece, created the shape, or first saw the material.  Sometimes I’m at a loss for a name so I chose one a bit obtuse, yet appropriate.  A perfect example is a new material that is made up of yellow flecks.  It’s a very yellow material, but calling it “Yellow” would be boring.  So, I used the word “Kiiro” which is Japanese for “yellow”.  I think “Kiiro” is a pretty word.  “Yellow” is, well…yellow.   As another example, I could have called the Torune-do a “tornado”, but Torune-do seems to me to fit better and offers a name that is out of the ordinary.

 

My fascination with words isn’t limited to Japanese words, although I must admit that I find aspects of the language to be quite beautiful.  I like to use other languages such as my own English as well as Swedish, German, Spanish and Danish.  I love the looks of words.  A word in one language can have an entirely different look in another.  I enjoy taking various words and translating them to different languages and seeing how they change, or how they are similar.  Often my customers will translate the names (If I haven’t provided the translation) and will tell me what they have discovered almost as if it was a clue that had been discovered embedded within.  That’s been a lot of fun, and going to other languages has offered a multitude of words for names for so many pieces.

 

A fun example is a Hira (Japanese for “palm” as these tamps fit in the palm of your hand) that I just finished up today.  At first I chose the name “Ari” which is a Japanese word for “ant”.  Upon further inspection I decided that “Swan” was more appropriate but really got a kick out of the Swedish word for “swan” which is “svan”, so, “Svan” it is.  One letter makes so much of a difference, and besides, I was able to give a nod to my ancestry by way of my maternal grandfather.  The Japanese word for “swan” is “suwan”, and that just didn’t cut it for me.  And while I do like the word “ijin” for “devil”, with the previous Hira the name “Diablo” got the nod (although I will file “ijin” away for the future).

 

Words are important to me, and I love the nature of words and assigning them to my work.  Please don’t read anything more into it than that.  My work is what it is, and it’s not trying to be anything else other than what it is.  That would be pointless.   

Ah well…

Today I turned 50.  Someone asked me if I felt like I was 50.  I told them that I felt as I did when I was 40.

When I turned 40 someone asked me if I felt like I was 40.  I told them that I felt as I did when I was 30.

When I turned 30 someone asked me if I felt like I was 30.  I told them that I felt as I did when I was 20.

So, if all of that is true, at 50 why don’t I feel like I’m 20?

That said, I have no complaints, only blessings.