Satomi Kawada - Enchanting with Sophisticated Hanazume

Satomi Kawada; Lush colors like a bouquet of flowers - the refined hanazume fascinates -

Hanazume is a popular Kutani ware technique. This is a gorgeous technique in which various flowers are painted as if they were laid on top of each other, and the outlines are finished with gold paint.

Satomi Kawada is now the focus of attention for her Hanazume technique. Her works are so popular that many people are eagerly waiting for them to be completed.

We interviewed her about Hanazume, which is as beautiful as a bouquet of flowers, how she became a Kutani ware painter, and other topics.

Mainstream Kutani ware: Hanazume technique using Western pigments
instead of Japanese pigments

Japanese paints are generally used for overglaze painting in Kutani ware. When fired, Japanese paints become glassy and thick, which gives Kutani ware its unique sense of solidity. On the other hand, Western-style paints used in hanazume can be painted like watercolors. The light watercolor-like colors of Western-style paints are framed with gold paint to bring out the flowers in a gorgeous manner.

Satomi's hanazume are delicate, refined, and truly beautiful. You would think you could even smell the fragrance wafting through the air.

Painting realistic depictions of real flowers, just like making a bouquet

When we spoke with Satomi, she told us that she paints real flowers, not abstract imagined flowers.
She says, “I sketch the flowers, and I also understand their structures and put them in my mind. I check the parts of the flower that I can't see, such as what the gak looks like in the illustrated book. I draw flowers with an understanding of everything about them.

Each flower, each petal - Just draw them carefully and correctly -

“Look carefully at the relationship between light and shadow” - this is what my drawing teacher told me when I was in training.  These words are still ingrained in her mind today.
Satomi says, “I look at the object carefully and try to correctly capture the bright areas and the shadowy areas so that there are no inconsistencies.

Satomi says, “In this chrysanthemum in the center, the tips of the petals are illuminated by light, so I lightly applied color to make them brighter. The overlapping petals in the back are in shadow, so I used darker colors."
The flower on which the bird perches is also a chrysanthemum.

”Even the same flower is not the same. Even the same chrysanthemum has its own personality. I draw them differently. The shading is also different from one angle to another, and so are the colors.”
She takes this into consideration for each flower and paints each petal one by one. It is a daunting task. ”What's more,” she added, ”If there is too much water in the paint, it will look like a puddle, and the finished product will not be beautiful. I have to adjust the paint and carefully apply it to each petal one by one.”

In order to express the beauty of real flowers and the gorgeousness of a bouquet of flowers, it seems that not a single detail must be left out.
Satomi shrugs her shoulders and says, “That's why it inevitably takes so long to complete a single piece of work.

Additionally, “When people found out that I was his apprentice, they asked me to paint birds on hanazume, and from there I started painting birds as well,” she said. 

She also had a great influence on the way he draws birds.
Satomi has taken over Toshito's baton and now teaches thin-painting at a training center.
“In my classes, I tell students that they cannot express themselves unless they look at things carefully. You have to look at things carefully and input them into your mind, and then output them, in other words, express them on vessels. Repeat the process. Repetitive practice. Practice until you have the expression you envision. Practice never betrays you,” she says.

Flowers express the lightness of plants with Western paints. 
Birds are painted with Japanese pigments to express their weight as animals.

Hanazume is painted with Western-style paints, but the bird is painted with Japanese-style paints.
“If you paint the bird with Western-style paints like Hanazume and outline it with gold paint, it will look glaring and lose its cuteness. If you paint only the bird in Japanese pigments, it becomes glassy. The difference in texture from the Hanazume's Western-style paints makes the bird stand out.

Western-style paints are ideal for depicting the lightness of flowers that sway softly when the wind blows. On the other hand, Japanese paints have a more dignified finish, so I feel that birds painted with Japanese paints have a weight that only animals have.“

It takes patience to draw out realistic flower arrangements and birds, but it's not hard.

We asked her about the difficulties of the hanazume technique.
She replied, “Actually, I don't think it's particularly difficult. But it does take time. But if you keep on painting, you will finish it someday. I don't mind painting, so it's not painful.“

Since childhood, she has always loved to draw. And as her love grew, she set herself the challenge of challenging herself with her drawings.
“When I was a student, newspapers were black and white. When I was a student, newspapers were black-and-white, and of course photographs were also black-and-white. It was a world of black and white, but you could tell whether the object in the picture was made of metal or wood. So I challenged myself to see if I could draw a picture using only black dots so that even the materials could be identified,” she said.
It was not for any particular assignment or competition.
“It was just a hobby. I was challenging myself just for fun (laughs).“
This story shows that he is not bothered by the painstaking effort of painting.

How to decide on the composition and how to arrange the colors

According to the story,“When I actually paint, I decide on the location of the bird, decide on a flower on which the bird will perch, and roughly complete the composition. The rest is improvised on the spot.“
Satomi draws hanazume just as a florist chooses flowers on the spot to make a bouquet.

How does Satomi go about coloring the flowers?
“When it comes to color, the knowledge of graphics that I learned when I was a student comes in handy. I quickly change the colors in my mind, and since the flowers are real, I assign colors to each of them without any sense of discomfort, while keeping the overall balance in mind.
The color ability test she took when she was a student has also helped her a lot now that she has learned about coloring.

The reason why it takes so long to complete a piece is because of the repetition of painting and firing.

Satomi's works take time not only because of the careful painting, but also because of the number of times they are fired.
First, she paints bones (outlines) in a grayish blue color and fires them for the first time. A light color is painted and blurred, and the second firing is done. A third firing is done after more color is applied.

The fourth firing was done after the white heaping up and drawing of the bird with Japanese pigments.

Finally, the final firing is done when the outlines are outlined in gold paint.

The firing temperatures used to produce the beautiful colors and to fix the Western and Japanese paints and gilding on the vessel are different for each, so the number of firings is inevitably increased.

What inspired her to enter the world of Kutani ware was the pottery her parents worked on when she met them at her part-time job

Satomi's father was a Kutani ware potter and her mother a tsukemono painter. Kutani ware had been around her since childhood, but it was not something that intrigued her. However, when she was attending a technical college in Nagoya to study graphics with the aim of becoming a creator, a major turning point came when she saw her parents' pottery being used at a Japanese restaurant where she worked part-time.

“The owner of the restaurant took great care of the dishes. The customers who came to the restaurant enjoyed the dishes as well as the tableware. Seeing this, I changed my mind. Until then, I had only seen the making of pottery from my parents' perspective, but through my part-time job, I was able to experience the feelings of the people who use the pottery. That is when I realized that Kutani ware might be a good idea. So instead of becoming a creator, I returned to Ishikawa and dove into the world of Kutani ware,” she said.
With the encouragement of his parents, she began studying at the Kutani ware training institute.

Meets the master, Mr. Toshito Nakamura and learns the existence of Western-style paints

At the training institute, she learned how to handle Japanese paints, which are the mainstream in Kutani ware. Satomi says that although she jumped into the world of Kutani ware, she was actually unable to fall in love with the profound charm of Japanese paints from a young age and grew up without it. Then, in a class taught by Toshito Nakamura, she learned about the existence of thin paints (Western-style paints).
She says, “Western paints were very interesting because I could paint like a watercolor painter. It didn't have the heavy feeling of Japanese paints. I was hooked.

Artists who paint with Western pigments instead of Japanese pigments are in the minority in Kutani ware. At that time, I wanted to become an assistant to Mr. Toshito,” she said.
Several years later, Satomi's wish was granted and she became an assistant to Toshito Nakamura, and she continues to work on her own pieces as well as in Toshito's studio.

How to draw Hanazume and birds, the base of which is by Toshito Nakamura

”I started painting hanazume when I started working in Mr. Toshito's studio, where he taught me how to paint flowers. It was there that I learned how to paint flowers.”

Additionally, ”When people found out that I was his apprentice, they asked me to paint birds on hanazume, and from there I started painting birds as well,” she said. She also had a great influence on the way he draws birds.
Satomi has taken over Toshito's baton and now teaches thin-painting at a training center.
”In my classes, I tell students that they cannot express themselves unless they look at things carefully. You have to look at things carefully and input them into your mind, and then output them, in other words, express them on vessels. Repeat the process. Repetitive practice. Practice until you have the expression you envision. Practice never betrays you,” she says.

Will continue to paint mainly Hanazume and birds for a long time to come

”When I was at the institute, we had ikebana classes. I would leave the flowers I arranged in class on my seat in the classroom, and at that time I thought it was nice to have a space with flowers. Although my works are not flower arrangements, I would be happy if people could look at my flower arrangements, display them, and enjoy them.”

This is a bit of a digression, but the gold brocade and Japanese painted birds she uses as accents in her work are also wonderful!
The gold brocade around the neck of the beckoning cat is gold brocade.

Do you work mainly with gold brocade or Japanese paints? To the question, “No,” she answered emphatically.
”I have always painted flowers, and I will continue to do so. I want to meet the expectations of customers who buy my hanazume works. I want them to feel that they have bought a good product, so I can't cut corners. Just as there are differences even in the same flower, I want to make each hanazume piece different. I am particular about this because it is hand-painted. I will continue to draw with the goal of always achieving 100 points of perfection.”

In response to the question, “What kind of work would you like to paint in the future?“
“I would like to create works that customers who buy them will look at for a long time. I would like to draw hanazume that are fun to look at,” said Satomi.
 

We are sure that Satomi will continue to fascinate us with her beautiful hanazume and bird worlds, carefully and meticulously painted.

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