Let me just start by telling you a few things about my dad…
My dad (white shirt) pictured with his childhood friend Falken who is also an artist. I love the emotion in their faces! And also I need a good picture with my dad darn it! But for now this will do!
He’s got curly, short white hair, a tanned face (from tending to his garden and having a Tongan grandmother), and good, kind features.
He gets tears in his eyes when he’s happy and a little quiet when he’s sad.
A master gardener, bamboo shakuhachi flute player, green tea connoisseur, my father Richard Bohn has been honing his Chinese hermit/ illiterati skills for over seven decades.
You can often find him reading out of print books of poetry on a lawn chair, practicing his sumi-e painting strokes, quoting haiku poets (and writing haiku!) enjoying barefoot walks in the grass, eating hand grown tomatoes off the vine, he’s the real “Artist’s Way” deal.
He lives his life as his art: each day, a stroke with light and dark, humor, humility and gratitude…and let’s not forget a good snack!
He also has a weakness for a good kettle potato chip, a glass of cold coca cola and some chocolate. As I write this I can almost hear his voice : “That’s not a weakness Auria, those are the simple pleasures of life!”
He does the “typical” dad stuff too..changes tires, drives a thirty year old red truck, drives across the state to help you move if you need it…he’s not perfect but he’s done the dad thing better than he gives himself credit for.
I haven’t seen him for nearly three years and I am not sure when I will next have a chance. We do a family zoom meeting every Sunday and that keeps us connected but it is not the same. Let’s hope things improve so we can all be with our families safely sometime soon!
Bellow are some pictures of a few of my father’s pieces I have in my home.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Little huts , tucked in a snowy hillside are one of my dad's specialities. Always a window glowing, a candle lit, a glimmer of hope when things are cold and dark.
Where the magic happens...paintings on rice paper ready to mount.
One of his landscapes in my home. A mountain view with a barefoot boy. Titled: Emptiness is a Long Story
Playing his shakuhachi flute perhaps?
Yin and yang ink swirls..couldnt resist!
Looming storms and crisp white snow, a trickle of water to let us know spring will always come.
These are not easy instruments to play...or paint!
My dad joked that it was more of a pea soup instead of green tea...the artist is never satisfied!
I love the swipe of darkness over the top as if asking if the stars will come out tonight after all?
I looove the combination of suminigashi and ink painting. Not an easy process to pull off. First you have to pull the "Perfect" print from a waterbath of floating ink...and then decide what to paint with it . It takes a lot of planning and skill!
Check out them brushes!! And all the essential bits and bobs of an artist life...including sunglasses...
I even love the creases in this paper! Imperfection, beauty..they are so closely tied!
I have always admired my father's handwriting - he's got his unique style for sure! Funny how well we know our parent's handwriting!