When I was back in California I found an volume series of art books that my father owned and something tickled my memory. A faint visual of climbing up the bookshelf and taking one of these books down and accidentally tearing one of the pages came rushing back to me. I then recalled going through the color plates and words I couldn’t read and picking my favorite pieces. Strangely, I recollect being really fond of the collection of naked women, probably in the volume about Flemish and Dutch art. I could be wrong. I will let you know when I find out because I can still kind of remember what they looked like.

I couldn’t fit much into my suitcase, so I picked one out of the 10 volumes. Volume Nine: Chinese and Japanese Art.

The first chapter really struck my interest. It stated that he comparisons of art is Asian cannot be compared to one another unless the difference between Western and Eastern art are established. (At least to a certain degree) The thinking and direct comparisons were something that never really occurred to me until I read them in a comprehensive manner. This came at the perfect time since I had just started my bamboo sumi-e practices. And working on my admissions essay into Cornish. Which, jahjesus, I haven’t written in essay in forever.

My hunger to study more just grew. I’ve been bashed in the head repetitively by the Western standards of art and art aesthetics. Not like western standards of female beauty was not enough!

As a result I have come to conclusions to keep learning, so when the time comes to study in Asia, I can go in with both sides of the spectrum, as which I told one of my students recently who ended up getting a totally different perspective on the social issue she had chosen to make a presentation on.

Which then led me to much excitement and practically at a loss of words when I stumbled across Vincent Van Gogh and Ando Hiroshige’s pieces. I always had known about Van Gogh’s inspiration of Japanese ukiyo-e prints that started to spread across Europe but I didn’t know about his direct try with Hiroshige’s One Hundred View Famous View of Edo Series. He tried to replicate two woodblock prints from the series with oils on canvas adding western elements and interestingly enough Hiroshige was known for adding western elements into his prints.

I could get really into it. But it’s being saved for my essay. And just check them out. They’re dope and make me feel all good inside and stuff.