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I presented 'Plan B' as a
series of simple steps, but they didn't all happen
right after each other. Quitting the job was easy,
as was getting over the Pacific Ocean. Getting into
Japan wasn't quite so simple. Some months before we
left, I had applied to the Japanese consulate in
Vancouver for a student visa, giving them details
of how I intended to study woodblock printmaking.
After extended delays, this was refused, with no
reasons given.
But we came over anyway, and found out upon
arrival that because I was married to a Japanese
citizen, I was thus eligible to apply for a 'spouse
visa', and would be permitted to stay under those
terms. This was a great bonus, because unlike the
official student visa, a spouse visa permitted one
to work, exactly what I needed.
Once we were in, we went to her home in the
countryside to spend a peaceful month or so before
heading for Tokyo in the fall to arrange a place to
stay and to get to work. That summer, while down in
the countryside, I made a full oban-size
print.
(click image for a larger
version in a 'popup' window)
Reproduction? Original? You tell me ...
It is, of course, another of my 'originals' (in
quotation marks!) I clipped and stitched together a
head from a photo in a kimono magazine, a body from
some kind of girlie magazine, and the railing was
the one right in front of my face as I sat
sketching (if I may use that term!).
It had the title 'Ato', a word in
Japanese that can mean either 'after' or 'back',
something I thought at the time was a pretty clever
title for this one.
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