Hello everyone, I also wanted to share with you my result at the last NBSK contest.
Last year, at my first participation, I received the “Kasaku” (佳作) award and it was a great honor for me, as well as seeing my work exhibited first at the Tetsu Museum in Sakaki machi (Nagano) and then at the Meiji Jingu in Tokyo.
The results were published in last days, and I can proudly say that I have confirmed the Kasaku award for the second consecutive year, in a context where the level is extremely high and the pursuit of perfection is constant.
This year, I decided to raise the bar with a more elaborate work and a more challenging execution technique: from the choice of an “archaic” hitatsura hamon, complex and highly dynamic, to the realization process itself, which led me to a nearly three-dimensional result. I worked in multiple layers, with different dilutions, using brushes and a shodō ink stick, following the teachings I received during my last trip to Japan and after countless hours of experimentation to find a balance that satisfied me. It was a process with no margin for correction. There are some imperfections but that's okay, we have to know how to accept them.
It was a long process—a true pursuit of perfection—almost a form of active meditation in which time seems to lose its meaning.
The choice of the kakemono (made in Japan), too, was not accidental: on the shirasaya there is an old label bearing the name of the blade, “Amanokawa” — the Milky Way — likely inspired by the long sunagashi and the brilliant nie that characterize it.
For this reason, we chose a display that would evoke, even if only from afar, a starry sky.
Below I leave you some photos, and thank you for your attention.