Some of you may remember when printmaker Jack Glover ( http://365project.org/allie912/365/2010-05-12) was a resident artist at my school. I bought several of his prints for my son, my daughter and myself. in addition to signing each print he also stamps it with his "chop" or signature stamp.
Here is what I learned about this custom:
The Chinese Stamp Art (or seal carving) is one of the traditional four arts, i.e., Chinese painting, calligraphy, poetry and seal carving. A personal stamp in red color is an integrated part of a Chinese artwork of painting or calligraphy, which is not only the signature of the artist on the artwork, but also an essential touch to liven it up.
Red is the color of a Chinese stamp. Red is the luckiest color for the Chinese. And red color strikes the eyes on an artwork or a paper so it stands for the importance of the stamp, particularly considering the small size of a stamp.
The stamp you see here appears on the lower left hand border of the print. When I asked him for the translation, he shrugged and told me it meant Jack. Really?
Great shot for the theme, Allison! I actually studied Chinese in college and spent a summer in Taiwan. I even have my own chop! It's just my Chinese name (Bai Dan Li), so ,, yes, really, his is just his name (probably not "Jack" - LOL! - but the Chinese equivalent).
I adore chop marks and this color and the paper and your framing look fabulous! When I was doing more of my art work, I loved using mine...and I had one made that I was told, said, "Louise"...but you couldn't prove it be me!
That's very interesting, you learn something everyday! I think it looks like "Jack" but you have to tilt your head to the side ... squint ... focus your eyes about 3 inches behind the ... naaa, never mind ... I don't see it either.
Wonderful information, and a nice shot! (and my high school friend and I DID recognize each other! Of course, it helped that we had reconnected through Facebook and so had seen some "current" photographs there! It was all quite fun!)
Having been a print maker a few years ago I love chinese name stamps. We saw a huge range from teeny tiny to big enough to hold in both hands at the museum in Peoples Park in Shanghai last year. Very cool.
August 31st, 2010
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