Another Cloudy Moon on Shikishi

This is another cloudy moon shikishi for a Bonsai Artist in the Midwest. It is painted
by Mariusz Szmerdt of Poland. This scroll is in a Nidan Hyougu style. The black center cloth is a Pure Silk (Shoken) and the top/bottom is a dark khaki colored shike cloth. The jikusaki is an ebony (kokutan) and the hanging string is the old three color (Kodai San iro)
Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	86	10.26
上中廻し	Ue Chumawashi	34	4.06
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	80	9.54
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	90	10.74
柱	Pillars	18.5	2.21
下中廻し	Shita Chumawashi	16	1.91
地	Chi	50	5.96
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	117	13.96
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	276	32.92

If you would like a commissioned scroll made for  you please contact to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com

Cloudy Moon Scroll

 This is similar to a scroll posted back in April. Both of these kakejiku are already sold. It is the same cloudy moon by Polish Artist Mariusz Szmerdt, but the moon is more obscure and the painting is a little darker. The difference with this scroll is it is done in a three step style called Sandan Hyogu (三段表具）

I used a ginran 銀襴 instead of a kinran 金襴 for the ichimonji bordering the     artwork. This means that this cloth is made with silver filament thread instead of the gold filament thread. It is very beautiful. I used a silver for the chuumawashi of this cloth as well, but the difference is that it has a smaller Karakusa (arabesque) pattern in the cloth. For the Ten/Chi I used a gray/slate colored cloth that has a hint of blue.

The Ichimonji for this scroll has a black lacquer with gold/silver fleck in it. It really adds some extra character to the scroll.

Dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	93	11.09
上中廻し	Ue Chuumawashi	40	4.77
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	13	1.55
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	115	13.72
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	285	34.00
柱	Pillars	23	2.74
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	8	0.95
下中廻し	Shita Chuumawashi	30	3.58
地	Chi	62	7.40
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	161	19.21
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	518	61.79

Bonsai Scroll Order

This scroll is my only bonsai order for the year so far....

I worked hard on a larger piece of artwork, but the scroll did not work out. It was ruined in the final process. But the lemons are lemonade, because I think this is a more appropriate scroll to use for a bonsai display. It is still a little on the big side, but with a larger tree should work in a display environment well.

The sumie artwork was done by very talented Polish artist Mariusz Szmerdt. He has done several works for me, and I hope he felt that he got his money's worth. The cloudy moon is detailed, yet faint at the same time. I used the silver cloth with the large flower Karakusa (arabesque) pattern for two reasons.
a. To provide a good contrast between the very dark painting and
b. To encourage the viewer to feel the moonlight is completely enveloping them as well.
The style of the scroll is a Nidan Hyougu which is a Semi-formal scroll, and it should go well with any type of plant with which it is displayed.
The Ten and Chi portion is a Golden to be neutral and allow for either a summer or fall themed display.

One thing viewers will notice missing is the Ichimonji (cloth) bordering the top and bottom of the artwork. I chose to do it in the Nidan Hyougu (Two Step) style, because it is the most informal of the Semi-formal scrolls, and would allow flexibility to be used with any type of tree or plant.

It is finished with a Nezumi (mouse color) kakehimo to go along with the silver Chuumawashi and an Enshu Kokutan 遠州黒檀 jikusaki. The Enshu Kokutan has a little flare and lip on the outer edge which provides a subtle, old feel to the scroll. 

Size of the scroll:
Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun (Inches)


天 Ten 116 (13.84)

上中廻し Ue Chuumawashi 45 (5.37)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 118 (14.08)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 262 (31.25)

柱 Pillars 20 (2.39)

下中廻し Shita Chuumawashi 35 (4.18)

地 Chi 76 (9.07)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 158 (18.85)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 534 (63.70)