66. It Was A Clear, Moonlit Night...

It was a clear, moonlit night a little after the tenth of the Eighth Month. Her Majesty, who was residing in the Empress's Office, sat by the edge of the veranda while Ukon no Naishi played the flute for her. The other ladies in attendance sat together, talking and laughing; but I stayed by myself, leaning against one of the pillars between the main hall and the veranda.

'Why so silent?" said Her Majesty. 'Say something. It is sad when you do not speak.'

'I am gazing at the autumn moon.' I replied.

'Ah yes,' she remarked. 'That is just what you should have said.'

~ The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon


It has been over a decade since I've read The Pillow Book but Gawain over at Heaven Tree has been talking about it (and her) again, so I dug out my copy last night. (Yes Gawain, the Ivan Morris translation.) The great thing about this book is that it consists of a collection of anecdotes, opinionated commentary & lists so one can open it to any random chapter & start reading. Makes it good for bus commuting as no bookmark needed. Honestly, there is nothing like a little eloquent Heian Court refinement to tune out all the people talking on their cell phones. The passage quoted above is the first one I read.
Whoa, hadn't I just been talking about the viewing the moon?
The autumnal equinox was three days ago & tonight my anticipated full moon had begun to rise above the houses at the top of the hill where I live. I went out & sat on on the front steps to look at it with a glass of cold saki in hand, but the mosquitoes finally drove me back inside. It was unseasonably warm: far too hot for a fall evening, but the heat had encouraged the Moon flowers to open & there were enough in bloom to sweetly scent the air. On a hot autumnal evening with a full moon, she might have been having one of her elegant things.
'Shaved ice mixed with liana syrup and put in a new silver bowl.'
In comparison, I know this will sound incredibly mundane & corny, not at all eloquent, or even remotely elegant.
Maybe it was the sweetness of the air, but...

I can only describe the moon as being the color of homemade peach ice cream & absolutely enormous.

Night & Day...

Astrophytum ornatum. Elongated, spherical, perennial cactus with a very fleshy, 8-ribbed stem. Crown of each rib bears 2-41/2in (5-11cm) long spines on each raised areole. Has yellow flowers, 3in (8cm) across, in summer. H 6in (15cm), S 5in (12cm). Min. 41F (5C), zone 10.

Well, hello! Mother Nature has been very generous in the past 24 hours. She has graciously reached into her bonnet & pulled out not only fragrant Moon flowers, but a lovely cactus flower as well. It was there to greet me this morning when I went out to get the Times.

The night is heavy with fragrance...

Ipomoea alba, syn. I. bona-nox, Calonyction aculeatum (Moon flower) Evergreen, soft-stemmed, twining climber with prickly stems that exude milky juice when cut. H 22ft (7m) or more. Frost tender, min 50F (10C), zone 10. Oval or sometimes 3-lobed leaves are 8in (20cm) long. Fragrant, tubular, white flowers, to 6in (15cm) long and expanded at the mouth to 6in (15cm) across, open at night in summer.

Indeed they do. Very fragrant ~ almost, but not quite overpowering. I planted them in a large pot, very late in the season so these are the first two flowers I've seen. (I missed the first one ~ if you look closely you can see it's remains on the step.) Needless to say, I'm hoping for a long, warm fall. The flowers do, indeed, look just like white silk and are very fragile, like brides dressed for a wedding ceremony. Look, I tore a blossom while teasing the flower out so you could see it. The blooms are withered the next morning so you have that ephemeral life-is-fleeting Japanese thing to ponder.
Here, then gone...
We currently have an ivory-colored gibbous moon that will be gloriously full in a few days. Moon viewing any one? Wouldn't it be lovely to have an bamboo trellis covered with gourd vines & Moon flowers, so that we could all view the moon, drink saki out of those aromatic little cedar boxes & compose haiku? 

Ah yes. Here, then gone.

Blindman's Bluff...

Several folks have asked why I didn't post the original painting from the Siege of Lanka series (see previous post) along with my version. Well that was, indeed, my original intention but I couldn't find an image on line and the one in the catalog ran across two pages, adding an exceedingly ugly fold line. The Lanka paintings are attributed to Manaku of Guler; the one above is actually signed by him. Blindman's Bluff (ca. 1750 - 55, from The Kronos Collections, at The Met) is a true little gem of Indian painting. Only 9 5/8 x 6 3/4 in. but so much beauty & detail in such a tiny package ~ a postcard from the Gods. It really is very special. Let me tell you why. It's night, but there is the light of a full moon picking out the details of the foliage & blossoms; an indigo sky spangled with stars. There is Krishna with his pale blue skin, his eyes covered while the plump cowherds run to hide behind & even in the trees. There is a sly detail that you will have to look closely to see. Krishna is peeking! Such a rascal. He's very, very gently lifting one of the fingers covering his eye. See, to get what they want even the Gods will cheat sometimes. There is also something mildly erotic about that threesome. A voluptuous sensuality literally infuses this picture, like incense. The evening must be hot & the humid air is probably heavy with the scent of sweat, dung & flowers. Every now & then there are hushed whispers & low laughter ~ even the cows are languid. One always associates Krishna with the Gopis. All that flute playing & seduction with the girls.

Apparently he liked to play Hide & Seek with the boys as well.

Demons & Monkeys & Bears, oh my...

Well, normally these exercises don't get shown to anyone but I'm feeling brave so here it is. This is my version of a captivating Indian painting illustrating a scene from the Ramayana. The original was part of an exhibit of four centuries of Indian court painting that was at the Met in 1997. I will now take a deep breath & give you the full title: Rama, Surrounded by the Armies of the Great Bear and Monkey Clans, Pardons Two Demon Spies. (Guler, ca.1725-30.) See, I said it was a mouthful. I'm not going to dwell on the details of this delightful piece because the original was just a springboard to get me going with watercolor, and to put an end to one of those fallow periods I was going through. You see, if I'm blocked, I find it is a great help to paint a picture of a picture. Not a copy, but a sort of abstracted meditation. A study piece where I can fiddle around with form, technique & materials and don't have to worry about content. While my version focuses on the basic forms, the original has delightfully individualistic renderings of all the demons, monkeys, & bears.

The demon king Ravana is in there as well; he has ten heads, twenty arms & is said to be very, very greedy.

Take your medicine like a man...

Surprise! Pomegranate juice is rather tasty ~ especially if you add a generous slug of tequila. So very red & isn't the pomegranate juice bottle cute? There is the added health bonus of antioxidant protection from free radicals, it's possibly good for both the prostate & heart, best of all, it may even lower your blood pressure. (I, in fact, have malignant hypertension. For some reason my Doctor [who is also my best friend] seems to delight in pointing this out to me. I then point out that my triglycerides are considerably lower than his ~ without the aid of medication. What can I say. It's just something we do while he's shaking the Martinis.) There is, however, one small side effect. Get bored on a holiday week-end, over medicate & one is likely to do something silly. Something like, oh let's say, last Saturday's drunken post.
When I started this little blog escapade, I swore on a month of Sundays that I would never do that particular kind of post here. No public whining about personal issues. So, what happens? A few (well, more than a few) lonely drinks in the interest of medical research & I'm out there cryin' in my beer, or in this case my possibly-very-healthy pomegranate juice & tequila. Granted, the vast crowd of two people who read this blog were very supportive, but I still wish I hadn't posted it. I'd even considered deleting the post, but decided instead to leave it as a reminder. A very red reminder.
By the way, there must be something valid in the claims being made about the pomegranate juice.

I should have felt like crap on Sunday morning, but didn't have a trace of a hangover.

Yet again, maybe...

So. Here I am considering taking up the paintbrush once again. I stopped working with the intent of showing in 1987, mainly because I didn't like the direction that the gallery scene was heading. I did, however, continue to work but with progressively longer fallow periods, punctuated with spurts of intense productivity. My work always been very process driven & each piece contained a comment on previous work & a hint of what was to come ~ at least when everything was working together properly. When the short gaps became long, it became harder to maintain continuity so about four years ago I finally threw in the towel & decided to give it up altogether. Not a decision lightly taken. I had hoped that the museum work would provide enough creative stimulus, but it doesn't. The mount work's thrill is definitely gone and the other part of my job (maintaining a historic mansion) is nothing more than a highly skilled cleaning person ~ I dust a lot.
Think I miss drawing the most & not working is beginning to make me feel rudderless, plus I need the intellectual focus that the creative act provides. In a way it's like chess, but I'm not going into detail on that one.
I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. I suppose putting it out there in the public eye will reinforce the intent.

Or not.