RAIN ON AZALEAS

 #Densutejo #sutejo #haiku #azaleas #rain 

RAIN ON AZALEAS

Den Sutejo 1633 - 1698 was a woman haiku poet who was a student of Basho 

 A follower of Pure Land and later Zen Buddhism under Bankei she eventually set up a small nunnery for women.

Nure iro ya

Ame no shita teru 

Himotsutsuji 

wet color ! rain from down / under shining  / princess azalea 

Nure from nuru to paint or coat  Iro - color 

A search for princess azaleas brings up the name of several modern varieties that could quite possibly be hybrids or cultivars from whatever type of japanese azalea is being referred to ?

When you think probably of rain drops on azaleas shining and dripping bear in mind even princesses did not wear much in the way of jewellery and its possible Sutejo is not thinking of beads  but perhaps some expensive imported "watered" silk or satin or brocade over robe and the pattern the rain drops are forming on azaleas both flowers and foliage ? 

Rain at Kanazawa by Hiroshige

 #hiroshige #kanazawa #japaneseprint 

Continuing our Rain Theme here's a print by Hiroshige 

Kanazawa Rain 

Note how the rain obscured mountains or trees in the distance are balanced by the hut roofs and I think stacks of hay from rice or smaller huts in the middle right and foreground.

Note also the use of diagonals.

A "masterclass" in how to use greys and pale tints without an image becoming dreary

Harunobu - Young Woman in the Rain

 #harunobu Woman in the rain #Japanese #print #ukiyo-e

How splendidly Harunobu depicts rain and wind while having also those details of the effects of weather on humans: the geta that has slipped off her foot, the washing and her own kimono blowing in the wind, and also we have the rain slanting down from the clouds above, and the colors of the obi emphasing and complementing the slant of the rain! 

Shinsai Cherries and Rain Print

 #Shinsai #cherryblossom #rain #surimono #japaneseprint

SHINSAI early 19th century 

Its still raining in #sydney !!! sooo ...

The cherry blossoms and rainfall is rendered in a very formal stylized manner but this contrasts with the texture of the tree trunk and the gray middle tones of the rain 

Note the white streak contrasting with the darker gray lines for the rain something easier to do with wood carving and careful block inking than ink on paper with a brush.

Rain rain rain

#rain #japaneseprints

A medley of rain related images

Each of these prints are by a different artist and show how much variety there was within the Ukiyo-e school and how much different coloring techniques were used!

There is admitted no rain in the final image but there are umbrellas!

Enjoy!

Mukking Rain !

Copyright Julie Vaux 2015 

So why am I thinking about rain? We seem to be alternating between not enough and too much in the wrong places lately. Rain is always a gift but most of us farmers gardeners commuters would prefer continuous light drizzle that really soaks into the ground and preferably at night or in the evening?

Given the large number of Cantonese speakers in Sydney I'm surprised a pun hasn't made itself into Australian English of people praying for some MUKKING RAIN punning on the ... er ... usage of the F word ?

The way the weather is I can only finally suggest people also use folding brollies that have patterns that work as a parasol or sunshade?

Its raining in Sydney!

#technozi #sydney #hanzi #rain #typography

I had a technozi prepared based on a theme of summer heat so today its pouring rain instead! So I edited a old svg file of the rain / weather radical and tweaked it so hopefully it looks like its made of cloud and sky. Or suggests  that?

Given how heavy the rain is I probably should have used a gray gradient !

Copyright Julie Vaux 2015

The svg was rendered and edited  from Kai Ti Font 

RAIN 8 variants of Yu