Category: Art Gallery

Art Gallery – Adorable kimono artwork!

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I spend a lot of time on an internet community called Gaia Online, and I’ve met many incredibly talented artists there. I mostly collect artwork of my little avatar on the site, but every so often I find an artist whose style and skill urge me to ask them to do something a little more exciting, and I commission them to draw me in kimono. I thought it might be fun to share some of them.

Today’s is an incredibly cute and fun watercolour by Abbakus. I think her art style worked really well with the graphic vintage feel of the outfit that I wore to ToyCon October 2010! She was a total sweetheart to work with, very careful to work with me to make sure all the details were accurate. It’s making me want to wear this ensemble again soon. XD

To see a larger version, you can click the image or click the link to view her DeviantArt gallery.

Art Gallery – Flower and butterfly kakemono

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Many of my beloved friends and family members appreciate and encourage my kimono addiction, but when it comes to giving me gifts they openly admit they’re not comfortable buying kimono for me – either they’re unsure of where to start, they’re not familiar with sizing structures, or are just not familiar enough with my tastes or the specifics of what I want/need. This has led to a wonderful trend of people giving me gifts of artwork that are related, either directly or indirectly, to my passion for Japanese aesthetics.

I love all these pieces, and while I can’t really carry them around outside to share with the world like I do when I wear kimono out, I realized there’s nothing stopping me from sharing them with my wonderful readers who would probably appreciate them as much as I do.

This one is a gorgeous kakemono or kakejiku, a painted wall-scroll attached to a fabric backing, usually for hanging in an alcove in a traditional Japanese room. It was a gift from a dear family friend – I’m not entirely sure where he got it, I think it was found in a box while he was cleaning out his mother’s house. Wherever it’s from, it’s really lovely. The painting itself is a cascade of pink flowers and a tiny stylized butterfly. I often find depictions of butterflies a bit twee and frilly in Japanese art, but this one is sort of geometric and absolutely original, and fits perfectly with the stylized flowers.

I’m not sure if the painting itself is Japanese or Chinese in origin (a lot of these are also made for the Chinese export industry), but here is a close-up of the calligraphy on it – if anyone has any ideas what it might say I’d love to know.

I hope you enjoyed this odd little venture outside the specific realm of kimono, because there will be at least a few more of these to come in the near future!