Japanese Art: Taimatsu #1

Taimatsu 01

The inspiration for this picture

Obon is an event held in the summer in Japan where Japanese people pray to their ancestors. Obon usually lasts a week and the spirits of the ancestors are said to return home during this time. Each town and area has it's own unique way of celebrating Obon which includes visiting ancestoral graves and decorating the Buddhist family shrine. 

Another custom is to prepare the Mukaebi, a bonfire to welcome the spirits at the beginning of the festival. At the end of Obon is the Okuribi, another ceremonial bonfire is lit to send off the spirits on the last night of Obon.
Each household lights a lantern called a Taimatsu and burn incense to help the spirits not get lost when visiting and leaving the family home.

The Taimatsu is what inspired this painting.

"Okuribi" flame to send off the ancestral spirits 

Japanese Art: Takoyaki #3

This is the 3rd in the series of 3 pieces inspired by Takoyaki. This picture was developed from the last 2 pieces. The woman is holding the Takoyaki design from the 1st picture and in her hair is a "Kanzashi" from the 2nd piece.

You can see the other pieces here:
Takoyaki #1
Takoyaki #2

Japanese Art: Takoyaki #2

This the 2nd in a series of pieces and was developed from the previous Takoyaki #01. The main mediums I used here were water colors and pencil. I then added the "Kanzashi" (a traditional Japanese style hair ornament) using software.

Compared to the first piece, this has a more fashionable feel to it.

Japanese Art: Takoyaki #1

Takoyaki #1

Takoyaki#1

This is the first of three art pieces I created related to the theme of Takoyaki. In my art, I mostly deal with subjects related to Japanese tradition and culture. In this picture you can see the shape of the Takoyaki which I added some traditional Japanese patterns and colours to.

About Takoyaki and Japanese summer festivals 

During the summer and autumn months, there are many festivals are held throughout Japan. In each region these festivals are centered around local Shinto shrines where Kami or gods are worshiped.

In and around the Shrine grounds are a lot of stalls selling various popular cooked festival foods including Takoyaki, Yakisoba and Okonomiyaki to name a few. Festival goes love to eat these foods while wondering around and enjoying the various events going on. 

The photo above is of a takoyaki stand and was taken at the Yagumo Hikawa Shrine festival which was held last year on September 20th-21th 2014 in Tokyo.