Hiromi Paper International

WORKING WITH WASHI IN COSTA RICA

LANDSCAPES- VIEWS FROM ABOVE AND BELOW. All of the paintings would be made using polyester resin on Washi paper. I showed samples of my ideas to the director and she agreed to the exhibition. I then contacted Hiromi and asked if it was possible to purchase 40"x20" sheets of the triple thick DHM 11 KOZO MISUMI? Hiromi's reply was yes, if it was a "special" order. In other words, if an artist desired a size of paper not part of the stores inventory, it could be specially made in a matter of weeks, in Japan. viewed at the following: www.srjart.com.

One quality of the triple thick DHM 11 KOZO MISUMI that stands out is that each piece is unique. The feel and thickness is uniform, yet the surface texture of each of the twenty pieces I had made for the exhibition slightly varied. Because it is handmade, the edges of the paper have a thickness and irregularity that resemble a "one-of-a-kind" quality. It was because of that look I created a 3/4" boarder around the entire image, so who ever viewed the paper painting would see the natural paper and understand more clearly the beauty which was visible underneath the transparent pigments. When looking into the transparent pigment, an image is visible on the surface of the paper like that of a wind-swept sand dune. Polyester resin is tricky. It's toxic and requires a catalyst hardener to be added. Set-up time is generally within 15-20 minutes. I prefer using transparent pigments when working with the Washi paper. These see through colors allow the paper texture of the handmade washi to be highly visible. This is a tremendous asset for me as a painter. For example, I can apply overlays of blue over yellow to create various hues of green. In Costa Rica, that's important! I have never seen so many hues of green as in Costa Rica. When the resin settles into pockets of the paper, a stronger shade of green will appear. During my exhibition people would ask me about the paper- the texture, color, thickness, and irregularity. Paper is big here in Costa Rica. Especially banana and coffee paper. But Washi was a new experience for the visitors of my exhibition. It was not only viewed as a foundation for my resin paint and composition but illuminated from under my art and begged to be observed and touched. LANDSCAPES- VIEWS FROM ABOVE AND BELOW, went on exhibition at the Galeria Nacional, Museo de los Ninos in San Jose, Costa Rica, November-December 2003. The exhibition then was invited to be on display at the Centro Cultural Costarricense Noreteamericano, at three gallery locations- San Pedro, Cartago, and finally San Ramon, Costa Rica. The exhibition will be up through March, 2004. More articles and art can I suggested to the director my idea of creating work at the art colony in Ciudad Colon in July and exhibit the paintings in November. The subject matter and title for the exhibition-

In 1998, I was the recipient of a six week fellowship to paint at the Julia and David White Artists' Colony, located in Ciudad Colon, a rural farming community, 45 minutes outside of San Jose, Costa Rica's capital. In preparation for this stay, I included as luggage: acrylic paint, canvases, etc- my usual working art materials. My friend, JJ, suggested I visit HIROMI PAPER at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. I'm not a paper artist, I thought, but why not. The paper travels easy and I could include a variety of textures, such as Fabriano and Washi. It was the best decision I could have made. I began to paint increasingly more on the triple thick DHM 11 KOZO MISUMI paper- and not just with water colors and gouache. I discovered that polyester resin, a medium used for casting forms, laminating fiberglass to surfboards and boat hulls had an ethereal quality when applied to the textural and meaty Washi paper, especially with transparent pigments. Departure from LAX was at 11PM. A "red-eye" special! Oh, well, I could sleep on the way down to Costa Rica, arrive at 7AM and have time to investigate this foreign country for the entire day. About two hours into a six hour flight, our plane was attacked by relentless rain and lightening storms. A wild roller-coaster ride which lasted over two hours. As we approached Guatemala City, our stop-over before the one hour fight to Costa Rica, I viewed incredible landscapes- hills, rivers, and volcanoes back-lit by bolts and flashes of lightening and the rising sun. I began to draw these images with a renewed curiosity. I had never seen such a powerful display of nature and stunning natural compositions. By the time the plane had landed in San Jose, I had amassed dozens of drawings. I had the answer to what I would paint- aerial views of Central America! Since that first visit, I have traveled to Costa Rica numerous times, building up quite an inventory of drawings (all on air sickness bags). In February of 2003, I was invited to exhibit my art at the Galeria Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica. This would be my second exhibition at the National Gallery.

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