YOUNG MAPLE-OLD PINE
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
WINTER 2024

     A pair of nuthatches find themselves in a dichotomy of old and new.  A young maple grows beneath an old, wizened pine.  The maple's autumn color previews the coming of winter when its leaves will be only a thing of memory, leaving the pine to provide the only color till spring.  Youth is fleeting.  Meanwhile the nuthatch couple revel in the moment, seemingly unaware of the generational drama around them.  After all, it’s the here and now that matters-the past is gone and who knows what the future brings?  Make the most of it.  My painting was inspired by Japanese Edo Period Ito Jakuchu’s hanging scroll Old Pine.  The maple leaves and pine needles were influenced by many Japanese painted folding screens (byōbu).  In homage to the Japanese Rinpa School, I used tarashikomi, the “dripping in” effect, for the trees by allowing wet paint to diffuse over the design.  My nuthatches were influenced by Northwest Coast Native, Japanese, and Celtic art traditions.  I made the frame for this painting out of red oak using pegged, hand-joined, mortise-and-tenon construction methods.   I used the Japanese technique (shou-sugi-ban) of charring and oiling the oak to finish the frame.
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DIMENSIONS:          HEIGHT:  26 inches
                                  WIDTH:  16 inches

                                                        PRICE $530

Ito Jakuchu--Old Pine

Gary Giovane
La Conner, WA
[email protected]