Meiji Screen panels – done!
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I have to say, I’ve done pretty well. I mean, who else is going to praise me?
In three weeks, I managed to do what I had been trying to get through for three months at the summer cottage. I finished these panels! They are for the Japanese screen I showed in my post before last.
The photos also give you a pretty accurate picture of what my workshop has looked like for the past three days. Dust everywhere, sawdust everywhere, and naturally I’m covered in both as well.
Originally, there were supposed to be four panels. According to the auction house description, the screen is double-sided, so I found myself facing a dilemma: should I make the reverse side too, or not?
My laziness told me to forget about it, my conscience quietly kept gnawing at me, and my inner child was practically in tears over the sheer impossibility of making a decision.
In the end, the decision turned out to be very simple. I came back to the workshop, looked at the panels under proper lighting and even under a microscope — which, by the way, is dangerous, and I strongly advise against doing it just out of curiosity. Then I made two more panels… and gave up.
Fast-forward three weeks, and I suddenly find myself in the workshop with eight finished panels.
So, as you can probably guess, the screen is going to be double-sided after all!
I’m very happy with the result. The decoration is already in place: little golden branches and flowers, plus some subtle tinting on the wooden elements.
Now I can finally breathe out — although there are still another eight (!) panels waiting for me. Fortunately, they are many times smaller than the ones I’ve just finished, with only a tiny bouquet on each. These miniature panels will sit below the main ones.
And now I can finally start working on the carving design for the actual frame.
There are hinges to make too. And little wheels!
Which, strangely enough, I can only be happy about, because the most demanding and nerve-racking part of the work is already done.