For some reason today I found myself rumaging thru my little collection of stamps, some I've made, others are vintage like the one above. I bought it many years ago in a Camberwell shop that specialized in Japanese antiques. I didn't buy this stamp with the intention of using it with clay. I bought it simply because the characters pleased me. I have no idea what the characters mean. I'm nearly certain that it isn't anything rude. I used this stamp for several years and then just forgot about it. So it was quite pleasant to stumble across this little reminder of my old Melbourne home. Sometimes, I return to the old familiar just because it is comfortable. Not because I've run out of ideas. Some things are just pleasant to work with, calming even.
These disks are tiny, earing size. It's sort of strange to me that I'm using impressions in the clay. Most of my designs have raised patterns. I even have a stamp I made that reverses the pattern so that the characters are raised. But today it just felt right to go this way. Maybe it's the heat, 93 degrees, which means in my studio it is 100 + degrees. Heat can do funny things to my brain.
But all in all it was a pleasant day. Except for the printer that died. But I'm not letting a tiny thing like grumpy technology get in my way.
If any of you can read Japanese, or know someone who does, I'd love to know what this stamp says. It's probably something completely mundane. Maybe it's better not to know and just retain the mystery of it.
Cheers, LeAnn
6 comments:
LeAnn - I will send a link to my pseudo-sister-in-law, whose daughter spent a year in Japan - to see if she knows. In the meantime, my daughter and I LOVE Japan (we were both there, separate trips) and I would love to be able to lay claim to two pairs of these wonderful beads!
Sue, thanks so much! Having lived in the Asia Pacific for so many years, and being a potter first, Japan and the Asian aesthetic always creeps into my work. Consider a pair of these yours! My only regret is that I didn't visit Japan when I lived so close.
I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like! I am a total fan of Asian culture and think those disks are going to turn out really cute :o)
Katie, I've got a few ideas but just have no clue really at this point. They were made completely as a whim.
Hi Le Ann, these stamps are really beautiful, but i believe they are not japanese, but chinese kanji.
Take a look at http://www.lexilogos.com/clavier/kanji.htm# you may find them in 6 traits for the first one, and 2 traits for the second. But i am unable to translate them in our words.
Kisses from France. Let me know if you find something, i am really interested in.
Véronique
Many thanks Veronique. I will check on the link.
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