arfink Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Hello Pham! I have just finished an art project which has been in the works for a very long time now, and it's been very special to me, so I want to share it with all of you. First, lets start with a picture, because honestly, that's what is most important. :) This is an image of Mary and Jesus done in an older Japanese style. The idea to make an image like this came to be back in 2006 when I happened to visit the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC and saw a very beautiful image of Mary done in a Japanese style there. I never did make an image back then, because my school schedule didn't allow me the time to do much of anything besides study and do seminarian stuff. Years passed, and then about a year ago I got the urge to make a Marian image in a Japanese style once again. I went hunting for photos of the image they had in the National Shrine, but couldn't find any satisfactory ones. It was painted on a curved apse as I recall, and the Shrine, like most churches, has horrible dim lighting. Which meant all the photos of it were basically horrible. Unsatisfied, I kept looking for other images, and eventually stumbled upon a collection of Christmas cards which had been made by an anonymous cloistered Carmelite nun at the Carmel of the Holy Trinity in Tokyo, Japan. You can see them here. I initially made some rough sketches using one of those as a model, but was unsatisfied with my efforts and decided I needed to learn some more before I could try it again. I finally had that opportunity this past week, and invested many hours of work into completing the design and preparing it for laser engraving. The engraving itself is made from 1/4" craft plywood, and is currently unstained and unvarnished. I do not think I will stain or varnish this particular piece, as I enjoy the natural wood grain, and as I did not prepare the piece of wood properly for varnishing prior to engraving it. I plan on making these for sale, either in this light colored wood, or in a darker cherry wood, and they will be for sale if you would like to support my artistic work. Thanks for looking! :) -Arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Oh man. You are my favourite person right now. That exact gallery of images has been my computer screensaver for years now. I will absolutely buy one from you if I can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 They will be for sale once I can work out the last couple of flaws. I absolutely will do my best to make sure they are affordable. You'll be the first to know. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I am very much looking forward to it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Oh wow. I love this. Tremendous work! I will definitely buy one if possible :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthephysicist Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Hello Pham! I have just finished an art project which has been in the works for a very long time now, and it's been very special to me, so I want to share it with all of you. First, lets start with a picture, because honestly, that's what is most important. :) This is an image of Mary and Jesus done in an older Japanese style. The idea to make an image like this came to be back in 2006 when I happened to visit the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC and saw a very beautiful image of Mary done in a Japanese style there. I never did make an image back then, because my school schedule didn't allow me the time to do much of anything besides study and do seminarian stuff. Years passed, and then about a year ago I got the urge to make a Marian image in a Japanese style once again. I went hunting for photos of the image they had in the National Shrine, but couldn't find any satisfactory ones. It was painted on a curved apse as I recall, and the Shrine, like most churches, has horrible dim lighting. Which meant all the photos of it were basically horrible. Unsatisfied, I kept looking for other images, and eventually stumbled upon a collection of Christmas cards which had been made by an anonymous cloistered Carmelite nun at the Carmel of the Holy Trinity in Tokyo, Japan. You can see them here. I initially made some rough sketches using one of those as a model, but was unsatisfied with my efforts and decided I needed to learn some more before I could try it again. I finally had that opportunity this past week, and invested many hours of work into completing the design and preparing it for laser engraving. The engraving itself is made from 1/4" craft plywood, and is currently unstained and unvarnished. I do not think I will stain or varnish this particular piece, as I enjoy the natural wood grain, and as I did not prepare the piece of wood properly for varnishing prior to engraving it. I plan on making these for sale, either in this light colored wood, or in a darker cherry wood, and they will be for sale if you would like to support my artistic work. Thanks for looking! :) -Arfink Another amazing artwork from Arf :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Thanks everyone. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriela Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 (edited) Really very beautiful, arfink. :-) I actually like yours better than the ones you linked to! Edited April 28, 2013 by curiousing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToJesusMyHeart Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 :notworthy: :bravo: :like3: Great work Arfink!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploomf Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I love it. Really beautiful. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kateri89 Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 That is beautiful!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 What a God-given gift you have, ARFink..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzytakara Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Please make your work available in Canada, that's beautiful! =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Will do. I think I can ship to Canada just fine, I'll have to check shipping costs tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 They are definitely higher, but usually not to an insane degree. I swap books and sometimes knives online, so I ship to the US fairly regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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