Contemplations of a Closet Curmudgeon

Sigh. I really wish I was a better painter. Painting well is difficult to begin with and I always end up painting on surfaces that aren't flat!

Aha. I shall claim my style is "loose and impressionistic...." Let's see if anyone actually buys it.
 
And on that note, I am going to get out of the house for awhile because I need to. Even if it is raining.

This is the hiogi I started more than a year ago. It's been sitting idle because I could not decide how I wanted to decorate it.
The new detail sander was just the ticket - edges have been smoothed and evened out pretty nicely.

I re-laced the pivot joint with the steel beading wire and right now the sanded, laced fan is very carefully laid out downstairs. (I'll have to re-lace the top, but I'll do that after it's painted.

The trouble is, I STILL cannot decide what I want to paint on it. Version 1.0 had a pine tree on one side and the back never got finished. I wasn't wild about it.

The good news is that I've now seen a few examples of period hiogi that don't have painted backgrounds and much more naturalistic renderings of plants and trees on them.
http://www.miho.or.jp/booth/html/artcon/00001861e.htm

http://flickr.com/photos/8014448@N07/3014233061/in/set-72157608781706279/

EDIT. (OK, PICK SOMETHING ALREADY! This fan has had BIRTHDAYS!)  White plum blossoms have been dabbed on one side. I'll do red plum blossoms on the other.

I had almost forgotten about this genius idea I had back in April. Almost. Then I remembered it a day or two ago.

I spent this afternoon after work turning 1/32" x 3" x 24" basswood strips into 1/32" x 5/8" x 16" strips. I ended up with about 55. I may pick up a couple of more basswood slats tomorrow just to make sure I have enough, because you KNOW I'll split a couple when I start piercing them for threading. I learned my lesson on the one I made for Twelfth Night - take the time and pierce each one separately with an awl instead of trying to clamp them all together and use a drill. The darn things skated apart under pressure and I ended up with uneven holes. 

Japan's Miho Museum has an extant hiogi dating from the 14-15th century or so. Details show that it was decorated with glitter and that the pivot joint was made of knotted silk. If I get pressed for time and end up not painting it, well, unpainted hiogi were for men - and are still used ceremonially by Shinto clerics.

In semi-related news, one of the guys at work has an Asian pear tree in his back yard. I brought home a few of the less ripe ones he brought in and tucked them in the veggie crisper in my fridge. I'm thinking slices arranged to represent a chrysanthemum would make a pretty dish for the party at the House Of Cheerful Monkeys.