{"id":1405,"date":"2009-12-24T00:36:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T15:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-12-24\/1405"},"modified":"2012-11-08T11:39:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-08T02:39:50","slug":"stone-carvings-curves-crowns-an-ouchie-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-12-24\/1405","title":{"rendered":"Stone Carvings: Curves, Crowns, an Ouchie, and More…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSmooth Curves<\/span>\nLike a big sheet of plastic melting in the sun, sagging under its own weight\n<\/div>\n\n

Among the seemingly infinite variety of objects in the gardens behind the\nNishimura Stone Lanterns stone-carving workshop<\/a> in the mountains of\nnorth-east Kyoto, Japan, I was particularly<\/span> taken with the curved pieces. And of these<\/span>, there was quite a variety,<\/span> including water basins<\/a>, pedestal tops<\/a>, lantern-top\nadornments<\/a>, and sloping roofs like the one in the photo above.<\/p>\n\n

The roof of this piece looks thin and delicate, but the original block\nof stone it was made from must have necessarily been thick and substantial,\nonly to surrender most of its mass to the carver's chisel. The bulk of<\/span> that\noriginal block is now dust on the floor of the workshop<\/a>, and I find<\/span>\nthat amazing: the carver works on a huge<\/span> piece of stone for ages, but in\nthe final result you don't see a single<\/span> thing they did<\/b>, only the\nsmall part they didn't<\/i> do.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooks So Cute<\/span>\nbut it's actually quite large\n<\/div>\n\n

It looks so small in the shots above, but as I mentioned<\/span> after the “lack of scale<\/a>”\nphoto in a previous<\/span> post, it's huge.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExpansive<\/span>\n( I'm 6'4\"; my hands are not tiny )<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I also love how the stone is almost impregnated with moss and lichen.\nFrom a distance<\/span> it looks like oddly green stone, but when you look closely\nyou find an expanse of fine splotches of lichen and the occasional tiny\ntuft of moss.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“Sagging Roof” Foreground<\/span>\n“Three Kings<\/a>” way in the background\n<\/div>\n\n

The shot above is just a segue to a small<\/span> section on the trio of large\nstone lanterns that I labeled<\/span> “Three Kings<\/a>” in a\nprevious<\/span> post.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThree Crowns<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

I love the detail in the carving on the base of the middle one... the delicate leaves and such...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDetail<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nObligatory Context Shot<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Moving along...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f\/2.8 @ 16 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStart of it All?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The thing at the far left that looks like a cross<\/span> between a cinder<\/span> block\nand an outhouse appears to be quite new, but otherwise everything in this\nshot seems to be old.... really old.... including the path. I don't<\/span> even\nknow what to make of most of them... the small water basin at foreground\nright appears to be paired with the larger whitish stone under it (which\nitself has a square<\/span> water basin cut into it), but its use escapes me.<\/p>\n\n

Just behind it is another water basin with odd notches cut in, as if\nsomeone was making a gear<\/span> and gave up halfway. (I wonder<\/span> whether they're\nintended to cradle small bamboo ladles, somewhat like the ones seen in this picture<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 3600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnd Now For Something Completely Different<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOuch<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRestraint<\/span>\nI did not scratch “Fix Me” into the moss\n<\/div>\n\n

I don't know how fast moss grows, but once it covers the scar, the thing\nwill look good as old again.<\/p>\n\n

Finally, the garden had some of the red berries<\/a> that are\nfound everywhere in Kyoto during the winter, so to end the post with a\nChristmasy<\/span> feel, a bonus<\/span> desktop-background image....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Zeiss 100mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 4000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the seemingly infinite variety of objects in the gardens behind the Nishimura Stone Lanterns stone-carving workshop in the mountains of north-east Kyoto, Japan, I was particularly taken with the curved pieces. And of these, there was quite a variety, including water basins, pedestal tops, lantern-top adornments, and sloping roofs like the one in the photo above.<\/p>

The roof of this piece looks thin and delicate, but the original block of stone it was made from must have necessarily been thick and substantial, only to surrender most of its mass to the carver's chisel. The bulk of that original block [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,1,2,23,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}