accute japanophilia attack and an invite

this morning in front of the computer and with my coffee i checked into sharon b's  and being naturally curious,i  followed a link she provided.there it was the name of this tool i had bought years ago in sado-ga-shima! i once heard its name in a documentary i was watching, but not having a pen near not mentioning the darkness made it impossible to note down  and retain. this beautiful tool is called a baren  馬連、馬楝  and it is used as a brayer in block printing. once you know the name it's the proverbial piece of cake.with icing.

the find incited more knowledge acquisition :D  and as everyone knows one thing leads to another, another and yet another one. so i spent practically the whole day  in a very non academic research  rich with finds.

you are invited to follow my steps if you'd like to.

firstly baren and japanese brushes here. they are irresistible, and work like no other, trust me. you can give them  other uses than those prescribed.

there is a wealth of information in this one. some techniques are applicable to surface design.

over here you get the why and how of nikawa　膠 or binder glue and /or paper size that can be bought here.

for my book arts friends perhaps you already know this paper place that also carries japanese brushes.but the top shelf find are these papers.don't tell me they are not the essence of awesomeness. 

as they say here i'm  roaring like a motorcycle, como una moto. this is not to mention the amusing maiko and geisha groupies that i found and sakuran via joan lintault at facebook.

 but those will be subjects of another post.
i think i need a rest.

neki desu