This is the Japanese Ka-mon (crest) of bamboo.It is the design I chose to carve onto a piece of lino block, ink in black and hand print on ecru colored parchment paper - for wedding invitations waaaaaaaaaaay back in 1971.
I found the image on a Cost Plus mug that had 12 Japanese crests on it.
All the crest designs were lovely, but I surmised that this one might be one of the easier ones to carve. E-Z factored into the decision, as I alone was in charge of the creation of and writing out all the invites.
At the time, I didn't know (or care)(ah, the impetuous decisions of youth!) what the emblem signified.
This morning I finally found out that the design is ........ bamboo.
Better 36 years later than never.
I do so enjoy bamboo - it's a renewable natural resource that has proven itself useful in many applications. Bamboo has been called the plant of a thousand uses.
The word alone is delightful!
Bam.
Boo.
What's not to love? Well, perhaps not to love is the fact that at the incredible rate the stuff grows, invasive varieties can overtake your garden (so think clumping if you decide to grow bamboo).
At this time (like most everyone else who has shopped at Ikea) I have 3 stalks of bamboo growing (well contained) in a tall, cylindrical glass vase in my art/craft room.
And get this - I just finished working on a little sewn item that involves a bit more printing of a bamboo image!
(post on that project to follow)
P.S. Bamboo stands for 'endurance and longevity' (Ya think?!?).
4 comments:
So beautiful! You don't have one of your wedding invitations to post a picture of, do you?
You know what other word I love? "Plyboo", which is the laminated bamboo used for flooring and such.
I was wondering where the only copy I have in possession of that invite might be.
During my extensive search through boxes, drawers and closets I did come across a few 'reject' invites - but with no writing on them.
I also found some Xmas cards I made in the 70's/ 80's. One in particular you'll like. Will show ya soon.
As for that wedding invitation - it's probably in a 'safe place' hopefully somewhere in the house/garage and I WILL come across it again. Someday.
looking forward to seeing the actual invite as well.
please post whenfound. great idea. we are looking into planting some clumpping bamboo soon. more posts on plantings soon.
It's always been a fantasy of mine to grow a forest of bamboo and then make cool stuff out of it.
I saw bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong - it was awesome!
Conn - since you've got the perfect weather for growing bamboo, I vote for you to be the one to plant, harvest and create with bamboo!
Yeah!
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