Shu Hua Tong Yuan

#chineseart #asianart #proverb

Shu Hua Tong Yuan
Calligraphy Painting Same Source

Okay that translation's too "concise" but you get the idea

(I have used a horizontal alignment for those of you reading on mobiles or small screens so it also functions a header)

Using Calligraphy and Painting share a source or origin may seem odd but bear in mind Chinese Painting usually involves OUTLINES to start.

The "boneless" expressionistic ink play style evolved later.

Notice what the top part of both SHU and HUA is?

The ideogram depicting a hand holding a tool.
Originally this was a stylus but the modern form looks more like a tapering brush making strokes !

The oldest art we have western or eastern is usually a dot or a line!

Okimono Two

More about #okimono

Copyright Julie Vaux 2014

I've seen the Japanese word Okimono translated a number of ways

oject d art artistic object ornament sculpture statuette  art object etc

literally it means put up thing something you put up for display usually on a traditional tokonoma alcove so it could be in its broadest sense a bonsai a doll a ceramic vessel a scroll several things 

Where Chinese might use Xiang ( ZOO in SinoJapanese) Japanese uses Xiang and this word also.

Oki CHI oku The Chinese is zhi tone 4 

OKIMONO

#sydney #okimono #jizaiokimono #japaneseart #dragon

Okimono is a word that gets translated as Object of Art Statue Statuette Ornament but basically means put up (on display) Thing Oku +mono due to the Japanese custom of displaying small objects in the tokonoma alcove.

One variety of okimono I've also been fascinated by are the articulated statuettes like this one. Yes that dragon is not one solid casting !