teapot no. 27 - kami 神 in the pot

Watercolor in a Moleskine watercolor journal.

I painted this in brush calligraphy style as if i were writing Japanese with the correct stroke order (20 strokes total). I used a small flat watercolor brush instead of the 筆 (fude = bamboo brush) used for 書道 (shodou = calligraphy). The red seal is one of the first I carved over 20 years ago and shows the full moon through a 鳥居 torii (gate).

A torii 鳥居 is generally part of a Shinto shrine compound and stands as a symbolic gateway, reminding the community of the presence of kami 神.
(Ono, S. 1998. Shinto: The kami way. Tokyo: Tuttle).

kami 神 = god(s), goddess(es), spirit(s).