#Staff Pick of the Week

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

My staff pick this week is the trade edition of The Tale of the Shining Princess by Japanese-born writer Hisako Matsubara (b.1935) and Japanese-Canadian artist-printmaker Naoko Matsubara (b.1937), published by Kodansha International LTD. Tokyo, Japan in 1966. 

As a artist-printmaker and bookmaker who makes woodcuts, I am greatly inspired by Naoko’s prints. Naoko Matsubara’s work carries on traditions of Japanese printmaking while having its own contemporary flavor. Her woodcuts are ecstatic, they are vibrating with movement. Her use of bold shapes and the white line of the the carving tool makes the most of what woodcut has to offer. In the book form, the active images carry the reader’s eyes through the book space. Her use of negative space activates the page. Additionally, her woodcuts have translated beautifully to commercial printing. 

The Matsubara sisters are daughters of a senior Shinto priest, and were raised in Kyoto. Both studied, lived, and worked in the United States. Hisako received her Master of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State College, moving to Germany where she continued her studies and became a prominent writer, publishing her work in Japanese, English, and German. In the 1980s she moved back to the United States, this time to California where she worked at Stanford University. 

Naoko received her Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now Carnegie Mellon University. After her studies she traveled across Europe and Asia. She returned to the United States and became the personal assistant to the artist and wood engraver Fritz Eichenberg, an artist who has been featured many times on our blog. Naoko taught at Pratt University in New York and at the University of Rohde Island. She also lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a time. Naoko is currently living and working in Canada in Oakville, Ontario, where she continues to work and exhibit nationally. 

The work of both Hisako and Naoko have had great influence inside the United States and around the world. So lets celebrate their accomplishments! 

This book has end sheets of mulberry paper with inclusions of Bamboo leaves, the cover is a red textured paper with a gold stamped design by Naoko. 

View some of our other AAPI selections for this month.

View our other Staff Picks.

- Teddy, Special Collections Graduate Intern

#staff pick of the week #The Tale of The Shining Princess #hisako matsubara #naoko matsubara #Japanese artists #Japanese writers #Japan #AAPI Hertitage Month #Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month #AAPI #canadian artists #trade edition #Matsubara #woodcuts #printmaking #color printmaking #fiction #stories #teddy

[moregraceful]

staring at my time begins fic like i have never been less activated by anything in my life

#staring at ALL my creative projects like i have never been less activated by anything in my life #jasbah was like i think you need to pick up reading or tv. do input rather than output. and i was like i can't read #it's making me so cranky in my nonwork hours like brain...please do something....please get activated.... #i know it's just bc i'm extremely tired from 10hr trainings every week and being on zoom legit like once a day for MINIMUM an hr #but also. i would like to be activated. i am becoming mirrorverse kasper without creating something #i met some of the onsite staff i'll be working with today and they were like ''do you feel ~connected~ to the ghost emoji'' #i was like..... yeah. yeah i do #fresno oilers.txt

[tequil-oneal]

Airmaxx🎤 (@nike2times) LaLaBluZa live performance

📍Columbia,SC

#hip hop artist #airmaxx #live music #photography #photo of the week #photo of the day #film photography #tumblr blackout #blackout #black out #staff picks #underground hip hop #hip hop blog #reblog #hip hop news source #discover artists #discover new artists #discover new music #discover music #rapper #be your own boss #byob #beyourownboss records #Bombsquad #squad #bomb squad #trending #blaze #strictly 4 my doggs #strictly4mydoggs

[autistic-shaiapouf]

Beginning to really wonder how much of my financial concern is manufactured and handed to me as opposed to something I'm genuinely concerned by

#bc like. i'm getting by just fine. i don't have anything to be reasonably worried about #but also when i was a kid my father would break down my mother's paycheck and basically explain how broke we were #and that May Have Affected Me Somewhat #as well as just. the way you consistently see the advice to just save! don't get takeout! necessities! and i'm not intent on living like #a monk nor am i intent on being on that grindset for financial gain #it's like i don't intrinsically care but i have so many messages given to me about how i need to care a lot and it puts me in a weird spot #i am simultaneously standing still and moving at mach speeds #i mean right now i just need a safety net while in between jobs; after that i need to save up to move out of state bc the uh #political situation and upcoming presidential election don't seem very sustainable for someone like me anymore #they weren't to begin with but i don't wanna stick around to see how bad it's gonna get #but it's like. okay and then what? save for what? going back to school i guess? idk #i feel like i keep asking myself what i'm trying to accomplish and keep trying to force myself to have answers #here and now when i have to be okay with taking things one step at a time instead of having everything here and now #it's simultaneously fine and terrible and i am holding two conflicting yet equal truths #i feel i may have a clearer head once i leave my current job. i'm trying to look but nothing feels appealing given how #burnt out i already feel. i dread going back into my workplace and i fear it's showing to the patients and i don't want that #i want a month off to rediscover who i am as a person outside of getting yelled at in retail and then pick something back up #could be feasible. genuinely could be. i need to sort out the health insurance aspect but. that's lowkey the plan? #to construct a financial safety net and then slam on the breaks for a while; see if i can strike up a deal with the staff about me #coming in for specific tasks bc we already know i'm quick and efficient with the inventory so i do have a little leverage #you know what. this is getting some of it off my chest and i'm starting to feel confident again lmao #i won't be doing weekends starting either next week or the week after so that's a start! i just think i want everything done right now #bc i'm afraid i won't have the chance again but i will. i definitely will #i just need to let myself get to that point; it's just the immense drain from the register work and the Everything that comes with retail #also having to accept that it's okay to leave this; there's not something wrong with me like. ''not being able to handle it'' or w/e #no mindfulness or detachment could've saved me; it was shit and i'm hitting the bricks and that's all there is to it #i've been thinking a lot about it all lately bc it's what's most prominent in my life rn of course #idk. pondering. introspecting. as i am wont to do #anyways if you've read all this you're a real mvp and i am kissing you on the hand #shai speaks

[risingsunresistance]

been getting back into mother 3 after All That and every time i see the sunflower field im like. whoa. that's so neat. i am Not overthinking it !

#i am just making this post to ramble about the sunflower thing again kjfhdg #it's almost been a whole year. i was in the middle of replaying mother 3 last june #i was at the sunflower field scene and decided to stop playing for the night #and that is the same night ''so long nerds'' was uploaded #not to be dramatic or cliche or whatever but. feels very ''on purpose'' ya know #destiny or whatever #the game was a huuuuuuge turning point for me in coping with life and death which i was. Very Bad at before! #and im sure you can tell i still am *(@&*(&*%(&^* #i havent been able to touch the game since but im getting better at it. been watching some videos n stuff about it #i still havent picked it back up tho. idk if i can sit through that cutscene again #i already kinda associated techno with sunflowers bc of the whole rising sun stuff. the staff being a sunflower #but the fact that i was in the middle of that part of mother 3 made that association so much worse #now they're just like. the death object for me. remembrance flowers. idk actual flower meanings but that's what they are to me now #idk if anyone remembers this post but like a week or two after his death my aunt tried growing a sunflower #it was unrelated to me and that whole thing. just another coincidence #she passed this week. so the sunflowers are really back on my mind rn #that's why i turned off the inbox was bc i really didnt know what to do after that #her whole side of the family died this past year #i hate to vent or whatever but i feel like if i dont mention it i'll explode so i've buried this under many other tags #congrats if you read this far i just wanted to have that out there i guess bc i've talked about her a lot #the cats are fine if you remember them. orangey has a home and my uncle is watching thomas #grief #grief cw #i dont remember what ppl tag that as #chat #i'll probably delete this later but im also gonna reblog all the cats n stuff again bc i just want ppl to see them

[animblog]

Ghost Dogs -- 2021 Joe Cappa 10:45

#Ghost Dogs #Joe Cappa #2021 #vimeo staff picks #short of the week #sundance #oiaf #dog #ghost #horror #hand drawn #2d #humor #house #suburban #Youtube

[entropys]

:-) things are getting better september truly is a month of new beginnings

#yesterday i went out to the grocery store late at night and bought so much yogurt i think that was my turning point i am forever changed #and today i went to the mall with my mom and bought myself a pair of sunglasses that i really wanted for so long #and the guy that works there recognized me 😭😭😭😭 #i went there before to buy my cousin a graduation gift and honestly i came back bc i wanted the same ones i got for her they’re so cool #anyway the staff recognized me and gave me a special discount bc im a ‘regular’ even tho this is only my second time buying from them 🥹🥹 #that was so nice of him bc if it wasnt for that dicount i probably wouldnt have bought the sunglasses bc theyre a bit pricey for my budget #anyway i got them 🥹 so im feeling a bit better #also! i bought myself a little rice cooker for one serving so i don’t starve and stop ordering so much food that i don’t have money for #i think this month is spending on myself month #and tomorrow im going out to celebrate my friend’s birthday 🥰🥰 we’re going to a bakery then to a museum and im bringing my camera with me <3 #recently i’ve fixed my 10 year old camera and its so perfect i love it so much i found a manual online and im gonna learn how to properly #use all the effects and settings it has #i bought it with my mom in 2013 and honestly we picked the best design ever it looks so coooool god i love my little camera im taking it #everywhere with me 🥹���💛 #anyway .. the last episode of uncanny counter 2 aired today 🥲🥲🥲 im gonna make myself some rice in my new rice cooker and watch it 🫶 #then i’ll take a warm shower and finish off my friends bday gift #im making them a crochet cat keychain i hope it comes out well #alsoooo LETTERS WITH NOTES OUT TOMORROW im soooo excited i love you september #anyway i came here to talk about my week bc it was nice :-) i hope everyone’s september is going well too <3

[sharkneto]

If I could block discourse over the new Tumblr web UI I would. I do not care, I do not care, I am so tired of seeing the vitriol and complaints about it

#the problem is i like following some of the tumblr staff and the official tumblr blogs for info on what all theyre up to #so i cannot escape all the complaining unless i stop doing that #but they are my tumblr newspaper #if there's an accessibility thing about the change other than the usual Tumblr Hates Change then go on trying to get them to change it back #but most of what ive seen is people just *really* mad they changed it #like we'd get mad when staff changed the blue but i feel like everyone got over it after a week or so #its been *weeks* now tho #like it's not going to change back staff has been very clear about that #gotta pick your battles guys - there's other changes on tumblr that are more worth time and effort #and part of this is not just I'm tired of skimming through complaints - some of y'all are super nasty #like be mad at staff if you want but that's also still a real human being on the other end who has to read that mean shit #sending hate mail does not get your opinions or needs hear louder or better #dl #i am the ben affleck smoking jpg about this

[pepprs]

not to keep liveblogging the retreat but it’s over now (it has been for most of the day). i cried so much today and it was amazing. im so sad and so happy and so relieved and so tired and so proud

#purrs #retreat tag #i was rly anxious facilitating today and overwhelmed bc we had to pack (i didn’t help at all and felt terrible) and i didn’t finish writing #notes to ppl and i had to facilitate and i was nervous abt the emotions. and then we got there and i said the final words and started crying #and this time EVERYONE was looking at me. but it wasn’t sad tears it was like…. wow. look at this. we made this together. we went through so #much this week and also for three years and we did it and it all mattered so much and we’re here together. and i felt all my past and future #selves and pods and cohorts in that moment and all the ones i didn’t get to see too. and it was so… wow. and then i was bawling when we were #hugging goodbye and someone in my pod hugged me for like a solid 2 minutes it felt like and we were just rocking each other and crying 🥹🥹🥹🥹 #it doesn’t even feel real but also it was SO real. i can’t believe it’s over. not to keep talking a but crying but i cried for like an hour #when i got picked up and we went back to the hotel omg.. like this was MONTHS of intensive prep and planning plus 2 years of the heaviest LY #lifts to put on diminished versions of this magical thing and we got to do it this time and everything that led up to that mattered and the #ripples will roll out forever. im a little scared bc part of me feels distant from it bc i know so much now and have a lot of experience w i #it but like.. this program changed my whole life. introduced me to so many of the people i love. exploded my world into light. and i got to #be part of doing that for 43 other people. i feeel so lucky and warm #i feel cringy for talking abt it on here liek it’s disingenuous / just for performance but i rly mean that its just thisis my public diary 🥴 #like omg. 5 years ago. and 3 years ago. and last semester. and now it’s over???? but also it’s just beginning. wild #naur also im a staff coach now and it was kinda sad the distance i felt. like they were scared of me / felt like i was untouchable a little #bit but it’s like… im only a couple years older than you. someone in my pod was a year older than me! so that was sad. but it was good

[think-im-kind-of-gay]

I just...miss my job okay...

#do i think baking cookies would be fun? yes. but i just...don't care about it. #yes this is something i want to do because its fun #but i just dont think im ready to do anything until i can look at a comic book and not cry #like....it wasn't just a job to me #i cared so much. i may have lost the plot around the time my manager barked STAND UP at me. #but i cared everyday. i wanted to make people feel seen. i wanted to make the world better. #i miss working with canva everyday. that stupid fucking frienemy of a program. i miss creating. i miss learning. i miss restocks. #i miss previews. i miss the stupid fucking statues. i miss the stupid chat ding. i miss joe being joe. i miss mike. i miss jeff. #i miss jamie. i miss froggy. i miss tiny. i miss sarah. i miss Trevor. i miss seth. i miss josie. #it doesn't even matter if they didn't love me like i loved them. they were nice to me so i would go to war for them. i have a complex. #i miss them. #i miss the batgirls computer background. #i miss being excited about pride in December. i miss being excited about the doctor who mtg drop. i miss the paper stars. #i miss my staff picks sign. i miss when the shop was collectively ours. i miss the rainbow tape on the one ceiling tile. #i miss the comic of the week being ridiculous to get in and out of the slot. i miss the amount of product counts. #i miss learning about new rpgs and games and comics #i miss reading before we opened #i miss variant covers. i miss pre orders. i miss the sun blinding me mid day. i miss the ridiculous audacity of customers. #i miss “hey. im looking for a comic from this week if you have a sec?” i miss making displays. i miss paint restock. #i miss enthusing with customers over media and comics and books. i miss critical role. i miss dnd. i miss deck boxes. i miss card sleeves. #how dare you fire me and basically tell me i suck at my job. no. fuck you. i suck at YOUR JOB. i was damn good at the job i was hired for. #im so sorry i didnt want to stalk people and was busy finishing the pride display you effectively gave completely to the only gay. #and was finishing the restocks you gave me to finish #you dont get to take away all of my responsibilities and decide that i boil down to my weaknesses instead if playing to my strengths #you dont get to decide that i boil down to my WORST 3 weeks. when i would bleed for that job. #i was GOOD. AT MY JOB. I DID MY JOB.

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

Growing up near the Ganga River in the cultural wellspring of Mithilia, Rambharos Jha spent much of his childhood observing the natural world and traditional arts of the region. When his father began working with a government project to breathe life into local art traditions, Rambharos had the opportunity to study Madhubani women painting walls and courtyards in their renowned Mithilia style utilizing natural dyes and pigments to depict people engaging with nature and deities.  

Inspired by these encounters, Rambharos began his artistic painting career in line with the traditional motifs of Hindu mythology but has since evolved his practice to better represent his personal experiences and experimental mediums. Waterlife, published in 2012 by Tara Books, is a culmination of Rambharos’s efforts to balance the delicate traditions of Mithilia art with his contemporary ideas. Waterlife is silkscreen-printed by hand on handmade cotton paper and masterfully plays with adding movement and new subjects and environments to the classic Mithilia medium marrying Rambharos’s childhood memories and folk legends.  

View more Staff Picks here.

-Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

#Staff Pick of the Week #rambharos jha #waterlife #tara books #mithilia art #screenprinting #handmade paper #staff pick #silkscreen #Indian art #Madhubani India #Jenna #artists books

[thedreadvampy]

aaaaaaaaaaa work is so overwhelming just now I feel like my brain may explode

#red said #i can't tell if i have too much to do or if I'm just being disorganised in doing it!!!!!! #but i was meant to have a full data report done by tomorrow and i haven't found more than 20 straight minutes this week to look at it #the new boss keeps ASKING ME THINGS and ASKING ME TO DO THINGS #and the fucking. readability argument filled up SO MUCH of Monday and Tuesday with both back and forth and silent seethe #i have to be in all her meetings and she's sending me a bazillion things for social media #and my colleague's off on leave so I'm picking up his social channels too except I'm NOT cause i don't know what to PUT on them #need to put together a new video ad by next Friday #need to do like 5 more blogs #and the staff newsletter! gotta get that out by lunchtime!!!! haven't started it!!!!!!! #3 meetings today. gotta do vo recording tomorrow. and both today and tomorrow are short days #cause i have therapy today and I'm taking kofi for a Birthday Treat tomorrow afternoon so i gotta knock off at 12:30 #it's all very well to say work to live not live to work AND I DO but the expectations remain!!!!!! #and i feel like I'm failing and being lazy if i can't easily do everything that's asked of me. is my problem. #it's very important to have a manager who understands that their job with me isn't too drive me forwards #but to manage the amount of work that hours my desk because I WILL try to do all of it and i WILL usually manage #but it will absolutely fuck me long term #crying wailing i miss my manager 😭 10 months!!!! come back!!!!!!! #we don't always have the most idyllic work relationship but she knows me very well and i trust her to help not hinder with my stress levels #and also like if i tell her i am spiralling like this she would always help me prioritise #but i don't yet know or trust the mat cover well enough to talk to her about overwhelm. and i feel the need to establish myself first. #like I gotta prove that I'm hardworking and reliable and that when i say i can't cope i mean it and I'm not trying to dodge work #which. boy. working life as a disabled person sure does colour your thinking huh. #gotta first prove I'm EXCEPTIONALLY committed and hardworking and Good At Job BEFORE i can allow myself to struggle

[lyekisses]

truly dreading work today!!!

#first of all. im hungover and sleepytired #but that’s my own fault lol #it’s just SO OVERBOOKED for parties today #and my manager and i are the only 2 people today who know how to check them in #my bestie will not be there bc she is going to disneyland (we love this for her) #and ugh ANOTHER GIRL just called out we are down like 4 people from our regular staff #ik im going to be picking up so much slack today im just not looking forward to it #AND the owner is getting on my nerves sending passive aggressive texts bc i came early the other day to CLEAN SAND OUT OF THE PARTY ROOM #like she doesn’t want to give us hours anymore #or schedule ‘extra’ people during the week so we have more time to clean #yet whenever she comes in she complains that shit is messy it’s like. no shit!!!! #and omg stop my friend who stayed w me last night was just like ‘yeah ill be working too :(‘ FROM UR IPAD AT HOME!!! #which ik is also a real job LMFAO im just like really. really ur gonna say that to me rn #also i lost one of my pretty nails from last night already :( #ok stay tuned for gripe updates im sure they are to come

[chalet2000]

official confirmation i was #1 fruit pick leader this year 💪🍎🍐🍇🏅

#32 picks which was 10% of the total and more than staff 💁‍♀️ #proportionally less than last year (30 but i started 3 weeks later) but all things considered #anyway suck it **** who shit talked me to all the other pickers for no reason and then was inexplicably nice to me tonight #idk what your game is but i'm not playing but i'm still winning

[outarou-mikado]

Did not account for "small town gossip" when I accepted a job at a small town....

#something...weird? happened yesterday and we wont find put until next week since all us staff will be out on different days #but some old lady came in with some weird gossip and...was saying some concerning things from what i picked up while listening in

[steelycunt]

girl i work with texting the work gc to ask if we are allowed to wear red white and blue to work on the weekend to celebrate the jubilee….literallt someone shoot me like a lame horse i can pay you handsomely for your troubles

#that’s a joke I can’t pay you handsomely because up until a few months ago my work was paying me illegally low wages xx #anyway. OH also the girl is antivax too xx literally gnawing on my fingers ready to quit this job fr fr #this week on ridi hates their job!!!!!!!!! #(ridi's) bigmouth strikes again #also apparently my boss is going up to customers asking if the service is okay ‘otherwise my staff will just have to go’ l #ma’am I am DESPERATE to go PICK ME PICK ME!!!!!!! fire ME it’s ME EYE jusr have to go!!!!!!!