Under pines, beneath the moon. A new tsuba

[Ford Hallam]

This is this years entry in the NBSK Shinsaku competition. My teacher is happy with the workmanship and he feels I've achieved a composition and aesthetic that might please the judges....we'll see. Handmade steel, inlays of gold and silver.

 

 

If you're interested you can see some more images here.

 

 

and some images I took while making the piece are to be seen here.

As the title of the second album suggests I was influenced by the work of Matsuo Gassan although that probably only applies to the back. The front takes something from Natsuo but is essentially my own take on the subject.

 

regards,

 

Ford

 

p.s. It is available but it is quite expensive....although, if it does well in Japan it'll be cheaper now

[DirkO]

Stunning, I absolutely love the contrasting textures You continue to amaze us, even though our expectations of you might have become unrealistically high!

[Tcat]

Masterful I love the rendering of the reflection and the way the stream appears to undercut its banks!

[Soshin]

Hi Ford,

 

What a wonderful tsuba. :D Good to see you don't spend all you time on NMB. Best of luck at the contest.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[sanjuro]

Hi Ford.

 

I like it immensely! Its OK for a tsuba-like object

 

(Just kidding about the tsuba -like object). A beautiful piece, masterfully rendered. My congrats and good luck in the competition.

[b.hennick]

Hello Ford:

I love it. I am sure that you will do well in the contest. The design and workmanship are both excellent. I do not think that you need luck when you have quality like that.

[Brian]

Not to hijack the thread, but any inspiration from this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Samura ... 20c4f4daf0

Not something you see every day for sale. Shoshin?

Superb tsuba Ford...with very different feels on both sides. Are the pine needles the height of the original ground?

 

Brian

[Geraint]

Ford, it's beautiful!

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks Gents, you're very kind

 

Brian,

 

nope, that is a particularly garish, mid Meiji, electro-plated piece of tat. :-)

[Lindus]

Not bad for a man of your age

 

Roy

[Surfson]

Magnificent Ford!

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks very much, gents. I'll keep doing my best until my eyes fail me, Roy

[raaay]

Ford

 

 

wow

 

ray

[Ruben]

Hi Ford,

 

the tsuba looks impressive, with strong expression!...

 

I have a question about the patina.

May I ask how the patina is made?

You are not using arsen like in indonesian warangan process?

 

Greetings!

 

Ruben

[uwe]

Hi Ford,

absolutely impressiv workmanship

Let me ask a question, I have in mind looking at this tsuba. What is the meaning of (or depicts) this gold inlay "flowing" with the river?

Regards

Uwe

[cabowen]

reflection the moon is my guess....

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks all, for your kind compliments

 

Ruben, no, I don't use arsenic in the patination process. I could tell you how I create my patina but then everyone would be able to do it so I won't, sorry.

 

Uwe, Chris is absolutely correct :D ...it's the moon's reflection.

[uwe]

............don`t spotted the moon in the hitsu-ana at first

Uwe

[Jean]

  Quote

I could tell you how I create my patina but then everyone would be able to do it so I won't, sorry.

 

Generally, Ford, the right sentence ends by ".... But then I would have to kill you" :D

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Uwe,

 

the hitsu-ana plugs don't represent the moon. That would be far too literal for Japanese art It's enough that the moon is present merely as a reflection. It's actually Buddhist imagery.

 

"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.

The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

Although its light is wide and great,

The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. "

 

Dogen

[uwe]

.......so it seems to me, that it is not enough (only) to see :?

There is still much to learn.

Thanks Ford

 

Uwe

[Lindus]

Spent some time looking at this Ford,why do I think the reverse {URU ?} is much better work???, worries me & Les.

 

Open house for rebuff here

 

Roy

[Ford Hallam]

  Quote

Spent some time looking at this Ford,why do I think the reverse {URU ?} is much better work???, worries me & Les.

 

 

How would I know why you think that? I'm not a mind reader

 

Depends what you mean by 'better work' so I really can't say why you would feel that the back is 'better' You'd have to explain how you and Les evaluate Japanese metalwork and what your criteria are.

[Ford Hallam]

ok Roy...

 

You made your comments/critique 12 hours ago and I know you've been back to read the responses so I think it only polite to explain your disquiet in respect to how you judge my work.

 

To be blunt, you've thrown out an oblique criticism but not actually defined it. In fact you asked me to explain your dissatisfaction....which is quite a liberty really.

 

So, having publicly judged the reverse of my tsuba as being 'better work' than the front would you please explain what you mean by this?

 

I only ask because while for most readers this is just a past-time this pursuit it is, for me, a life-time commitment.

 

respectfully,.

 

fh

[kbt]

Take it as a compliment, I think both sides are amazing . Thanks for sharing.

Kim Toth

[runagmc]

Ford, you know what they say about not being able to please everybody all the time. :D Personally, I always like to see your work, so thanks for posting.

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks Gents, I appreciate the votes of confidence :D

 

The reason I've asked Roy to clarify his critique is not so much because it might have offended me (it doesn't at all) but because I'm honestly intrigued as how the work is seen by others. On my own forum we deal with critique as a part and parcel of our ongoing discussions, but all critique must be made clear and be well articulated or it's essentially meaningless.

 

As I hope is clear I go to a great deal of trouble in creating my work so when someone makes a comment like Roy did it leaves me a bit bewildered as what they are seeing because I don't see the front as being weaker at all. If what I'm spending countless hours on is not 'understood' then my aesthetic language is either failing or my audience is illiterate. Either way I need to know if I care about how my work is received.

 

What I'm getting at is; was Roy's view actually based on an assessment of the work, which is what implied when he wrote " much better work", or is it really just his personal aesthetic preference being expressed? The distinction is important because one purports to evaluate the work itself while the other tells us about Roy's own aesthetic taste. Both equally valid views but both very different things.

[Ford Hallam]

Not sure if this will help clarify things but here's a composite view of both sides together. In a sense this is how I often conceive of compositions.

 

[Brian]

If I may comment, that the first picture in this thread really doesn't do the pine tree justice. At that angle, it appears a bit rough and unusual. However if you go into the links and see other angles, and especially the one you have just posted, it is totally clear how beautifully and excellently done it is, and the 2 sides come together nicely. Apart, the 2 scenes appear by a different hand. Together..it all merges into one stunning theme/scene.

You really do need this frontal view to fully appreciate the work.

Masterpiece that I think is going to change the boundaries

 

Brian

[Lorenzo]

Ford you got good at photoshop too!! Beautiful collage