Tonight is Black and White Night in Hilo. Arthur asked me to do a piece for the gallery. I was toying with the idea of doing a linocut but he said why don't you do a painting... Okay, here's the rest of the story. Last Saturday in the gallery a couple came in and saw a painting of a full moon with a palm in shadow, very dramatic. The woman said it would be perfect if only there were a rabbit pounding mochi in the moon. The rabbit pounding mochi is what the Japanese see when they look at the moon. Americans see a man on the moon. Mochi is pounded hot sweet rice that is usually made for New Year's, made into flat disks and displayed with 2 or 3 on top of each other in descending sizes with a tangerine (with a leaf on it, very important) to symbolize plenty for the coming new year. Finally, a painterly blend of my illustration style. Mochitsuki is kind of a play on words. Mochitsuki means both making mochi and mochi moon.
