ON EAGLE'S WINGS EMA
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
WINTER 2015

     When I was researching the works of Japanese textile designer Keisuke Serizawa, I ran across the fact that he collected Japanese painted prayer (or wishing) plaques called ema. Serizawa was one of the key members of the Mingei (or folk art) Movement which expressed in Japan similar tenets as those of the Arts & Crafts Movements of Europe and America.  This interested me enough to find out more about ema and how they are connected to the art of prayer.  Eventually, it also inspired me to paint an ema on cedar.  I chose a bald eagle as my subject to paint because eagles are powerful symbols in many cultures.  As eagles fly upward, they make the transition between our world and the heavens.  British designer C.F.A. Voysey considered the eagle as a symbol for aspiration and revelation.  As the highest flier and farthest seer of the birds, eagles represent the heavenward quest (see CFA Voysey by Wendy Hitchmough, ©1995, pages 142-3).  I thought this would be appropriate for my ema.  The name for this ema comes from a popular devotional song that I recall being sung at my mother’s funeral mass in 2010 (“On Eagle’s Wings” written by Fr. Michael Joncas).  Leigh did the Latin translation for me as ALIS AQUILAE.  Inspiration for the design came from an image of the Empress Jingu Ema seen on the Shibui Japanese Antiques website (http://www.shibuihome.com/), as well as a wonderful eagle photograph by wildlife photographer Matt Shetzer.  Additional inspiration came from Torii Kiyomasu’s woodblock print “Hawk on Oak Tree” (see Ukiyo-e; 250 Years of Japanese Art, Roni Neuer, Herbert Libertson, and Susugu Yoshida. ©1979, page 75).  I made the frame out of red oak and pegged it to the cedar plaque.  I finished by painting the frame black.

DIMENSIONS:          HEIGHT:  14 ¼ inches
                                  WIDTH:  11 ¾ inches

                                                            PRICE $280
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Kiyomasu "Hawk on Oak Tree"

Empress Jingu Ema