The workshop will be based upon the watercolors of Shinji Isozaki and his series of 36 paintings, "36 Views of Los Angeles," inspired by the 19th Century Japanese wood block prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai, drawing from the tradition of utamakura, or poetic place names in Japan (e.g. "36 Views of Mt Fuji," etc).
Charles Trumbull mentioned in Frogpond 35:5 that utamakura "would seem to have more promise than kigo, or season words, for Western haiku because words that are outside the literary tradition... can be used."
image of Paramount Studios above - copyright by Shinji Isozaki
In Los Angeles, where Shinji came to specialize in historical restoration and renovation, he also nurtured his natural talent as a renderer by sketching continuously while traveling the world, eventually branching out into watercolors. His dream of creating a cohesive series of original paintings depicting city landmarks in graphite and watercolor was realized in his “Thirty-six Scenes of Los Angeles,” inspired by the woodblocks of famous places in Japan by Hokusai and Hiroshige.
Gregory Longenecker has published haiku in many journal including bottle rockets, Frogpond and Modern Haiku. He is currently editor for the Southern California Haiku Study Group's Annual Anthology.