Latest paintings:

Today's paintings

Some more attempts at same method but with different brushes. These were done at my suburban location in Machida where I have a narrower range of brushes to choose from.

New paintings

This is the cover of my new book of translations of postwar Japanese poet Minoru Yoshioka. Available next month.

New notebook...

Today's paintings

Notebook

Recent paintings

Notebook

On a trip to the suburbs, I noticed some spider lilies (higanbana) blooming by the tracks and wrote this haiku in Japanese. My translation expresses a nuance of the word in Japanese not captured by the standard translation 郊外の駅の線路に彼岸花 On the tracks by the suburban station the flowers of the dead

Some more recents:

Here's the latest notebook addition.

Latest paintings:

The Machida studio. (Machida is a suburb on the far western end of the Tokyo metropolis, not far from the air base where Macarthur landed in August of 1945).

The Akasaka studio

I think I missed these recent paintings as well. Pretty sure I didn't post them here. So here goes...

Sorry. This is the most recent notebook image. Forgot to download it onto my PC.

Some recent paintings. These one on large pieces of paper thick enough one can almost call them "boards" of a sort, but not quite. The pattern in the background is how the boards are designed - already there before the painting.

Latest brushwork in notebook...

Today's notebook calligraphy... kind of a monster!

Spent the last week with the Gustaf Sobin uncollected works. Really satisfying read. Includes an interview of the poet where he talks about his life as an exile and his poetics. Highly recommended.

Today's session...

Notebook this morning...

One more for good measure

Tried a few pieces of calligraphy today inspired by the exhibit at the Tokyo National Art Center in Nogizaka. There were quite a few pieces that had edged into the region of the abstract, with no discernable connection to an actual kanji character at all.

Notebook: today's brushwork Similar to the last one. Strangely, things seem to be kind of "breaking up" in this one and the last one as well. Note sure what that means. These things reflect the psychological state in some interesting ways.

This is a photo of a page in my notebook where I pasted in copies of the three paintings, I made that day (and just posted). One of the paintings of course includes images from this same notebook. Hence, we have a picture of the notebook containing pictures of the same notebook - a hall of mirrors.

New paintings: These use the grid idea, while for text background, I made copies of pages from my own notebook. Text on one of the paintings ("The Work Contains its Own Critique") was written directly on the paper using a bold fountain pen.

Notebook... a few days ago

Yesterday's paintings "On the way to language"

Today's paintings "A dialogue on language"

Experimenting with dripping ink on wet paper...

Notebook

Notebook

This morning's paintings.

Notebook

Paintings from last week

I also continue writing daily in the notebook. This is my primary focus in writing, even more so than official, completed works, of which there have been few of late. This is some brushwork in the notebook, which I include as part of my writing practice.

Here’s another few recent paintings. I’m giving one to poet Nada Gordon now visiting Japan.

Paintings over the weekend in Machida. I've been finding it very restful spending time at our house in the suburbs surrounded by all of my books. Started to reread Spicer's poems. I think the paintings worked out well. Finding the right balance of messiness and spontaneity.

After some writing in the notebook after which I still felt a bit uneasy, I added some brushwork as a postscript... Now it's off to Fukuoka tomorrow for the IJET conference.

A couple of smaller works done this afternoon

Here's yesterday's painting (large size). I didn't really like this one so I didn't post it, but here it is anyway...

Notebook entry today…

One more last one that didn't get attached last try - Steven Forth may like this one.

Latest paintings...

Notebook today

Notebook

A new one, with blue acrylic added