West Valley Art Museum

Yuriko: Japanese Sumi Painting
February 29 through May 25, 2008

"My goal is to see color in black and white.I love nature. If anybody who sees my paintings sees love,then my painting is a success."

If you recognize the artist’s picture as someone else, you are correct. Joan Koemptgen is a long time member and supporter of West Valley Art Museum. Yuriko is her Japanese name and the name she used when she was actively selling her artwork.

Joan was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1929. She graduated from Yamawaki Fashion School of Art in 1956 where whe studied English, Art, and Fashion Design. She married in 1957 and in that same year completed four years of private lessons in Sumi painting with Gashu Matushita and upon graduation received Name of Gaen (Elegant Garden). Receiving this name means she can both exhibit and teach. She and her husband moved to Moline, Illinois, in 1964. She studied oil painting and life drawing at Black Hawk College in Moline.

Through the years, Joan has had the opportunity to exhibit her work. She was accepted into the 4^th and 5^th Annual Mid-Mississippi Valley Exhibit in 1966 and 1967. During the first of these exhibits, the Director of the Davenport, Iowa Municipal Art Gallery admired her work and jpurchased a piece. In 1974, Joan painted a mural in the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church. She also taught at Mohave Community College in Lake Havasu, AZ from 1974 through 1981.

Joan continues to pursue her passion of art. She has studied many art medias including Japanese doll making, ceramic, silver smithing and enameling. She is a Docent and a Patron of West Valley Art Museum. She remembers one of the highlights of her career being a request from actor and renowned art connoisseur Vincent Price for an exclusive on all of her work. She declined.

Joan will be graciously donating her time to teach a workshop on Sumi painting at the Museum on April 16, from 9am - 3pm. Call the Museum for details.

What is Sumi?
Sumi-e, or sumi, is a style of painting that is characteristically Asian, and has been practiced for well over a thousand years. Literally ink painting, it is an art form that strives to distill the essence of an object or scene in the fewest possible strokes. A few carefully placed broad strokes that fade off abruptly, a few thin lines and a dot, and a bird is clearly called into being on the paper.

To paint with ink requires the use of the Four Treasures. This refers to the must-haves of sumi: an ink stone, an ink stick, a brush, and the appropriate kind of paper. The ink stone is a stone with a shallow depression carved into it; it is used to prepare and hold the ink for the painter. The ink stick is a black stick composed of pine soot, bound into a hardened form with resin. It is typically molded in cylinders or rectangles with a lavishly decorated bas relief, such as dragons, on the surface. The reliefs are often painted in gold or other colors, making the utilitarian stick of ink a work of art in itself.

The sumi painter creates the ink immediately before beginning the painting, by sprinkling a few drops of water on the stone and then holding the ink stick upright, making circles with the stick on the stone. The end of the ink stick releases some of the soot into the water, making the ink. A skilled sumi-e painter knows how much ink to prepare for the painting he or she has in mind and makes enough, but not too much. Ink is not stored to be used later. Making the ink is a form of moving meditation for the painters, during which they prepare themselves mentally for the painting process.

Brushes used in sumi are usually wolf-hair in bamboo - 'wolf hair' can actually be horsehair, boar bristle or other animal hair. The brush's ability to hold and retain a point is critical to a sumi painter, since one brush is used to create the widest and thinnest of lines.

Paper is very important; it must be absorbent without being too absorbent. A paper that draws all the ink of out the brush at once will be impossible to work with, yet it must be able to draw up some of the ink, since some strokes depend on the brush lingering to fatten a line. Most watercolor papers are not suitable, since the paint stays mostly on the surface. Rice paper is the most common paper used in sumi painting.The paint strokes out of which most paintings can be made are called the Four Gentlemen; these are the bamboo, the orchid, the plum tree and the chrysanthemum. Sumi instructors will insist that these be mastered before you progress.

A sumi painting is often accented with a red seal. The seal can represent the artist, or some message or theme the artist wants to incorporate. While many sumi artists add color to their painting, in its purest form, black ink on white paper is thought to be sufficient to convey the qi (variously, 'chi')-- the essence or spirit of the thing.

Sumi is a graceful, contemplative form of painting, enjoyable both to view and to create.