Mizuko Jizo Gesture Cards, Angie.

Mizuko Jizo Gesture Cards.
Angie.
Watercolor.

:::

about the pieces.
Last summer, my beautiful, wise, amazing friend Janis sent me a catalog she bought in Japan when visiting an exhibition at a Buddhist temple from an artist monk. She translated the titles throughout the book onto post-its.She was de-cluttering, saw the book and mailed it to me. When I received it, I was immediately enchanted and inspired. I know nothing of kanji, but I love calligraphy, and mostly it is calligraphy scrolls. I instantly thought of ten things to do with these pieces, and then ten more when I put it down. Then one morning, while I was drinking my coffee and trying to get out of the house by 9am, I somehow thought that it might be a good time to paint a card or two based on this little page I found in the monk catalog. I paint jizo cards for my babylost friends when they are reaching a birthday or milestone, if I have time. So, sometimes I like to sit down and paint them as gesture paintings, spending a little time on each of them, and working through meditation. I opened the book and found two jizos flanking a Guan Yin, which is also a female Bodhisattva of compassion. Mizuko jizo has become very important to me in my grief, and painting them are like little meditations. So, I used this inspiration for some gesture watercolors, and well, they took over my desk. - Angie

about the contributor.
Angie is the editor of still life 365. Her second daughter Lucia was stillborn after 38 weeks of pregnancy on December 22, 2008. She died on winter solstice. She writes about her experience with grief and mothering at still life with circles and is a regular contributor to Glow in the Woods. You can read more about Angie in the about the editor section.