I had the good fortune to live in Japan for a year when I was young. I
also had the good fortune to have a mother who was interested in a
lot
of things, including the art of fish rubbing, or gyotaku. She made this
fish rubbing 52 years ago and it's been framed and hung in various houses
(military family, we moved a lot) and when I saw it last month, it had
faded so much that the fish was almost invisible. The paper was dark on
one side, stained, and splotchy. So I photographed Mom's print, brought
out the details in the fish, then added my own touches, such as some
photos of metal, a clamshell, a circular "moon" image, a bit of grunge,
toned down the yellow colors, and came up with this. Mom died way too young, but a little bit of her lives on here. ©Carol Leigh
